In
this scenario, the character(s) activate the rolling boulder to
release when they get close enough to it that it will build up speed
faster then they can run, such as down a long incline. The ball may
also roll along a flat, level floor if it stars up in a chamber above
the main hall, enough to give it the momentum it needs to crush
people. At the end of its path it may be deposited in a secondary
chamber or niche, waiting for a monster or magical thing to reset the
trap.
[2]
The Path
In
this scenario, the boulder is large enough and wide enough to be set
at the end of a hallway or long room which is difficult for people to
traverse. Such as in the example picture; tight walkways that the
ball can travel over in a straight line, but people will have to
follow a long and winding path, meaning there is no way to escape
this except by hanging on to a ledge and letting the boulder roll
over your hands. Could also be fit in a room filled with mud and just
a few thin rails that the boulder rolls on. Essentially- the boulder rolls faster then traverse the room.
[3] No way Back
This
trap is set up to gather speed but not actually to crush the
adventurers. Instead, there is a side passage or door the adventurers
can easily escape through that has a small tunnel. The ball then goes
over a ledge or through a secret wall and falls into a chamber where
it stops. This blocks the way back, thus meaning that the adventurers
cannot follow their own route back through the dungeon- this serves
as a method to cut them off from the familiar paths they've taken
before.
[4]
Fake Safety
The
boulder trap in this scenario starts rolling towards the group, but
with some speed or luck you can get through a side passage to safety.
This side passage should only be through a very thin wall or on the
end of a ledge that is impossible to climb the other direction. The
ball rolls past them, but as they catch their breath from running
away the boulder will come back, either smashing through a false wall
or coming down a long and seemingly unconnected corridor. Hopefully,
the targets of this trap will be caught unaware as they try to catch
their breath. Secondly, this second fake safety chamber could have
doors or hallways leading off that just lead to brick walls or don't
actually exist, being illusions or tricks of the light, thus keeping
them stuck in this hallway. Essentially, this boulder gets two passes
to try and crush the people who activated it.
[5]
Trap Niche
This
method is much more cruel then the above, and would probably make
people upset if you used it in an actual game. The boulder is on a
slope but with perception and speed you can get out of the way into a
small niche or side passage. However this niche or side passage is
always a dead end; with the floor having a false bottom or secret
depression that is activated shortly after the trap is sprun. The
boulder stops rolling in that hole and essentially just traps whoever
went into the side passage behind the rock. This could be anything
from wasting several turns to destroy the boulder or pry it loose, to
having the person inside suffocate after several hours or even starve
to death over many weeks. I also like the idea of this trap letting
you only “escape” it if you essentially reset it; you have to
push the rock back up in to place and avoid triggering it to move
past, since even if you unblock the side passage the main passage
would be blocked.
[6]
Fake Boulder
Finally,
this trap subverts the entire boulder trap. From a distance, the
boulder appears as a round object that will roll towards you and
crush you, but it is actually a large piece of worked stone. It may
have a chain or weight that, when activated, slowly moves towards the
players. It can't go far though because the chain it is connected to
instead pulls a new trap in motion- the sliding of the floor or a
bunch of spikes come out or some other trap is activated down the
line where people will run to avoid the rolling boulder that they
think is coming. This also acts as a plug for the hallway as nobody
can squeeze past the boulder; the space behind it could be empty or
simply require you to activate the trap and let the “boulder”
fall down far enough you can step around it to go past it.
[Bonus]
The classic boulder trap is sometimes said to be flawed due to the
ability to dive into a the corner of a square hallway in order to
escape it. I do think this could be a legitimate tactic depending on
the size of the hallway, but one way to fix it would be to have
raised corners or filled in tracts running alongside the main path.
You could even set this up to be secreative; have the corner space of
the hallway near the floor filled with dirt, slanted edges to act as
“drains” or pipes from further on down in the dungeon so pesky
adventurers can't escape a crushing boulder.
lol nice
ReplyDelete