Fun Indy Traps

[Espella]

A few of my friends and I were planning on running a Fate Accelerated game on a long trip, and somebody suggested that we do something like Indiana Jones but fantasy, so basically just looting trap-filled temples.

I ended up getting picked as the GM, so I've been trying to find ideas for traps that are less "you failed to notice this, take damage" and more a fun puzzle to work through. Anybody have any good ideas?
I'm also planning some joke traps, like ones where lighting all the torches Zelda-style just summons the monster (and the door was actually unlocked if they had bothered to check), so if anybody has ideas for those they would also be appreciated.

[Khedrac]

Most traps of this sort of theme tend to be puzzle traps which means a couple of things:

1) The Players must be willing to try and solve the puzzle (which is sounds like you have covered)

2) The more physical representations of the puzzles you can give/show them the better.

OK, that said:
a) an array of symbols, of which the characters must push the correct set to proceed. Usually they will have clues around.

b) watch some of episodes of The Crystal Maze - a lot of their puzzles would work.

c) Stolen from Nodwick

Spoiler

Show

Hint you have to be bother lucky and clever. Two doors, one of which is correct, looking around finds a coin which bears the symbols of the two doors on it - toss it and use whichever door come up on the toss.

More boring are the obligatory
d) swinging blades
e) darts/arrows through holes in the wall - often triggered by pressure plates.
f) flooding with water/sand

Note: one viable trick is that the exit is at the top of the chamber - triggering the water fill actually is correct - one can float up to the exit and carry on investigating. Does make getting out again interesting though...

This also gives us :
g) Secret door in the bottom of the pit trap.

h) Throwing something too tough into the meat grinder (e.g. a piece of metal or hard stone) stops it - and when stopped the way through can be seen.

One thing to watch out for. One technique I have long favored is the "breakout" approach.
If the trap mechanisms will require a fair bit of space then breaking out of the passage and into the "trap space" will give the party a much safer route.
Now, I think David Eddings made this the correct route though a maze in his novel The Sapphire Rose (been a long time since I read it so may be mistaken).
I also think that in one Relic Hunter episode it was how they got back out of a trapped tomb.
Personally I like to reward such an approach, but if you don't want characters doing this, then have each chamber's traps separated from the next - breaking out then does not advance the party at all.

Edit: Oops I forgot:
i) If you have a set of Tangram or similar shapes and have the characters/players have to fit them into different templates to activate things.

[Espella]

Thanks! I'm especially liking the secret passage at the end bottom of the pit trap, I'll probbaly make the pit trap really obvious for that one so they avoid it on purpose.

[Telok]

Look up the old Grimtooth books. Those should have a couple hundred traps ranging from nuisance to death and from puzzle to stupid.

[Mutazoia]

You may want to check out some of these ;)

[Khedrac]

Look up the old Grimtooth books. Those should have a couple hundred traps ranging from nuisance to death and from puzzle to stupid.

Actually I strongly recommend avoiding the Grimtooth books completely!

With the exception of Grimtooth Traps Lite they were all stupidly lethal.
They did not tie in the the rules for any game system - and the effects (more important for non-lethal ones) would be complex to rule with any system I know.
They were also usually designed to be unavoidable.

[Telok]

The super-mega-splatter-death traps are the ones you remember. What you're forgetting are the traps designed to frighten, panic, and maim. And the ones made to thwart careless and clueless adventurers. They're also usually pretty avoidable with some common precautions. If you just take the first five skull rated trap and stick it in a dungeon without any warning against a party that doesn't take any precautions, yeah it's saughter.

The Grimtooth traps are system agnostic because there are people who don't play AD&D. You're expected to be smart enough to manage the game mechanics yourself.

[infinitum3d]

While I agree most Grimtooth traps are lethal, isn't that what a trap is supposed to be? Traps are meant to kill.

Now, on the other hand, it was always easy for me to take Grimtooth traps and downgrade them to scary/annoying/silly/fluff with a bit of imagination. They're a good starting point if you don't mind editing for your needs.

Also, most are so large and elaborate they could never truly exist, so you almost have to say that magic created them. Entire rooms that turn upside down? Magic. Glass ceilings holding up tonnes of sand or oil or acid? Magic. Thousand foot deep pits filled with spinning blades and a giant crocogatorpus in the bottom somehow staying alive for centuries unfed? Magic.

Most are ridiculous, but exciting if you use them properly. I say you should at least give them a chance.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Yeah, I must say, I prefer Indie traps. Way better than that mainstream Gygax stuff.

...Oh.

[infinitum3d]

Yeah, I must say, I prefer Indie traps. Way better than that mainstream Gygax stuff.

...Oh.

HA!

I just got it. ;-)

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Thank you, I do try. Mostly fail, but I try.