Reece's Dungeon Rooms

Last session, my players reached a room in my mega-dungeon that I had designed months ago. I’d been looking forward to seeing how they would tackle it, and their solution didn’t disappoint. Here's a breakdown of the room. The Setup The chamber is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide. At the far end stands a large, heavy door, secured by two chains that split off to separate winches and handles embedded in the floor. Near the entrance, there are two glass enclosures containing large snail shells, home to a pair of Flail Snails. The glass enclosures have sliding doors similar to the main exit. To open the door and proceed through the dungeon, two party members must grab the handles and pull the chains southward. This requires two players to commit fully to the task, leaving them unable to contribute to combat. If they let go of the handles, the chains snap back, and the door slams shut, resetting their progress. Here’s the catch: the winch mechanism also controls the glass doors of the Flai...

Quick Overview: When designing traps, there are a few principles I like to stick to: Avoid HP tax A trap that just triggers and deals damage is boring. Damage can be one possible outcome, but if there’s no way to detect or anticipate the trap beforehand, it feels unfair. I want traps to engage players, not punish them arbitrarily. Telegraph the trap Players should have a chance to suspect a trap and actively work to avoid or disarm it. Surprising players with an instant, unavoidable death or injury isn’t satisfying. I prefer giving subtle hints that allow them to deduce the danger and respond accordingly. This is why I find traditional arrow traps a bit dull. They often boil down to players endlessly searching for pressure plates, which can slow down gameplay. Even if you leave clues like holes in walls or shattered arrows it’s often too simplistic to solve or avoid. Reece's Slightly More Interesting Arrow Trap.  Here’s my take on an arrow trap. Not currently in my dungeon but I...