Modern traps

[NecroticBanana]

I'm reading thru an old (like theres any new ones  ) d20 modern adventure, there is a perticular part, a door in the bedroom of an old mansion that is boobytrapped with a dart trap dipped in octopuss venom...really? c'mon now, in all honesty who the hell sets a trap like this in modern times?

Does anyone have any fresh, and more belivable ideas than some D&D booby trap. And something a little more imaginative than a gun rigged to the knob.

[backstabbist]

you mean like hiding a cat in an Armoiure?

Or you want something sinister
like the handle taking your fingerprints and topical DNA samples,
that the badguy will synthesize to use as fake evidence to frame the hero for murder,
that the heros will have to hire a lawyer,
but that lawyer was killed and the BBeG placed his man as the hero's lawyer
giving the dopplelawyer access to the party's ID & info,
that the BBeG uses for identity theft and drains the party's Wealth by 2d6 each.

Yeah,
DNA Murder Rap Dopplelawyer IdentityTheft trapped doorknob,
they shoulda seen it coming

[NecroticBanana]

LOL fantastic...exactly the thinking i'm talking about.

[Lonewolf the Hunter]

How about this as a Trap:
Balanced Grenade Trap CR:1-2? Craft(Mechanical) DC 5, or Demolitions DC 5 to create, Spot/Search DC 5 if door is partly open, or 20 if the door is closed, Disable Devise DC 25.  this trap consist of a  armed fragmentation grenade suspended in a glass container and balanced on a door nob, when the PC's open the door roll on the standard deviation chart to see were within the 5 foot square the grenade lands, oppon landing the glass shatters, and the safety arm pops off. 

[j0lt]

Someone needs to go watch Home Alone again...   

[veekie]

Someone needs to go watch Home Alone again...  

The first few were awesome on that end.

[j0lt]

And they don't even have to be actual "traps", there are hazards in the modern world that are just naturally occurring, but the mechanic is basically the same:

Icy steps in winter, weak floorboards, bucket of water positioned over a doorway, etc...

[Chemus]

...there are hazards in the modern world that are just naturally occurring...bucket of water positioned over a doorway, etc...

Interesting nature in Japan,

Real traps, like mines are probably not what you're looking for, but tradecraft (spy craft) may have some of what you're looking for. Special positioning of items, or the placing of something as simple as a hair over an opening to tell whether it's been disturbed...

The placing of a valuable item, say jewelry, in a dangerous location, say a small aquarium containing a blue-ringed octopus, might be considered a trap.

[Bozwevial]

For another example, play through the Ravenholm level of Half-Life 2. That might be a bit extreme, but it's a good example of "modern" traps.

[j0lt]

That was one of my favourite parts of the game, aside from the driving sections in Chapter 2.

[Melblen_Cairn]

"Let's see. Electro-axe. Energy mace. "Plasma bow"?? You just took a D&D equipment list and stuck techy words in front, right?"
"Don't be stupid."
"Ten foot laser pole..."

My motto when in doubt (or just plain short on ideas on the spot) just grab stuff from Traps and Treachery and throw techy names on everything 

Though I really like Backstabbist's idea

[backstabbist]

Plasma Crossbow?



Check my Sneavious Crossbows thread
<sneaky & devious>

[AnimeSniper]

Take an appropriate sized mason jar filled with acid and place it over a slightly ajar door that the hero needs a keycard to access with the jar balanced precariously at an angle and when the hero opens the door the jar falls either smashing on their head or shattering on the floor splashing the hero...

[backstabbist]

Go down to the basement,
or in a closet if you dont have a basement,
and dig a 5x10 pit 10' deep, and then angled down to a single 5x5 10' below that.

plate of lil choc donuts with some cherry pie filling... nuke 20sec

oh... sorry... lets see...

10' up from the bottom of the pit you build a false floor, and stairs from house to false floor.
Glue a door to the pit wall so it appears to be steps down to a lower level entry door.

Now, trap the false floor to dump trespassers into the smaller lower pit,
and have the flooring and stairs come down all PickUpStix on top of them.
The guy in the pit cant dig himself out (have to remove debris in order from top)
and his pals will be busy trying to shut off the pipe gushing unlit gasoline at the pit.

Oh, did I mention the unlit gasoline that will be going into the pit with the guy that cant get out?
My Evil I mean, My Bad
This really adds a sense of urgency to getting him out before the PCBQ
<its like a BBQ, but with a PC>

 

[backstabbist]

The carpet on the floor of the room is a projection,
it is a 20' deep pool of water.

Anyone attempting to walk into the room gets a passive spot or search chech.
Fails of the DC25 Passive Spot or DC16 Search will result in them walking into the pool.
At that point, one last RefDC20 in the featureless hallway can prevent dropping onto the pool.

Once one or more folks drop into the pool, a trapdoor in the ceiling dumps blocks of ice into the pool,
AoE, 3x SwimSaveDC20 1d4
and the impeller at the bottom starts churning.

To exit, the victim must make a Swim DC20 to get to the outside of the rotating icy vortex,
followed by a RefDC20 or StrDC15 to pull himself out (1max dry AideOther +2) .
Each failure moves the trapped closer to the bladed impeller,
from the Ledge to the rotating ice, to the vortex,
then its a permanent vacation in Margaritaville 

<or, if you want, SwimDC75, 100d6, back to 'Rotating Ice' and repeat>

[emissary666]

Backstabbist, you...are...AWESOME

[BowenSilverclaw]

All that's missing is friggin' sharks with friggin' lasers on their heads