Comments on: Bad Trap Syndrome

By: Andrew Short

Andrew Short — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:51:34 +0000

In regards to the point of the GM designing his complex interactive trap only to have it summarily located and disabled, it seems to me a sensible course of action would be to allow the rogue her schtick and disable it, but then put the prepared trap aside in a kind of ‘to-do list’.
This way, the time seemingly ‘wasted’ on designing the trap can be saved by not having to design one for a later encounter.

By: Gumby

Gumby — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:39:05 +0000

Do you feel any better about the 4e traps? They can still be disabled with Thievery, but usually require several standard actions to be spent in the danger zone doing so.

By: Sham aka Dave

Sham aka Dave — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:26:58 +0000

Thanks Ben, you are a class act. And you’ve made me feel a little less sheepish! Carry on with the great ideas and I’ll end this momentary interruption now.

By: ben robbins

ben robbins — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:25:58 +0000

Thanks Sham, I appreciate that. And don’t let it stop you from using the ideas — all these ideas are made to be used, otherwise what’s the point?

By: Sham aka Dave

Sham aka Dave — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:35:00 +0000

errr I guess it would help if I sent you the link. http://shamsgrog.blogspot.com/

Again, sorry for the improper links in the original posts!

~Sham aka Dave

By: Sham aka Dave

Sham aka Dave — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:14:29 +0000

Ben, I wanted to comment here about how great your two trap posts were. So great in fact, that I carelessly took your ideas and unintentionally passed them off as my own thoughts over on my blog. Apologies are in order, and I feel quite sheepish about the whole thing. I’m going to rectify this by linking in the appropriate posts, and at your request I can even remove said posts.

Keep up the great blog.

~Sham aka Dave

By: ben robbins

ben robbins — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:56:31 +0000

“I like the terms “zap” and “interactive” traps. Did you come up with that terminology?

Yep. I suppose I should say I’ve been using them for years, but really they only crystalized as I was writing the article. I considered and discarded a lot of other terms that didn’t seem to hit the nail on the head.

By: Yax

Yax — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 06:19:07 +0000

I like interactive traps that are triggered during combat. It adds an extra strategic element to a fight that is unique to the scene.

I like the terms “zap” and “interactive” traps. Did you come up with that terminology?

By: Roleplay

Roleplay — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:16:18 +0000

Meh, traps are too predictable. We should call them puzzles.

By: Encounter-a-Day » Archive » Random Encounters: Nine

Encounter-a-Day » Archive » Random Encounters: Nine — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:40:59 +0000

[...] at Ars Ludi you can see a two-part series on bad traps and what you can do to fix [...]