Help Trapping a Warehouse

[DiscipleofBob]

I'm running a D&D game set in a modern city (still same classes, rules, etc. just with skyscrapers and guns added in).

When the last game let out, the three PC's, all level 5 gestalt, a Fighter/Warrior, Cleric/Sorcerer, and a Rogue/Warmage are preparing to investigate this warehouse where an arms deal between a kobold gang and the elven mafia is taking place.

Being kobolds, I'd like to ward the warehouse with interesting traps. The warehouse is on a dock, so I figured pit traps might work well with actually falling into the water where sharks might be, but so far that's the only real idea I have.

I've thought of a few clever puzzle-esque traps, but the problem with that is the party rogue is also a Warmage, and would sooner blow up a tricky lock then disable it. I could persuade him that if an explosion goes off their cover will be blown and make things a lot more difficult for them, but I feel that will only work for so long.

I also really don't want to use a lot of magically-based traps for plot reasons. The kobolds are trading guns for magic, so they should be pretty low.

Any suggestions?

[Raum]

Is the warehouse used for more than an occasional meeting place? If so, for what? Traps in a warehouse used to transship goods through will be different than one the kobolds live in. And both will differ from an abandoned warehouse only used as an occasional meeting place. The last is likely to have two types of traps, a significant number simply make noise to raise the alarm in case a meeting is interrupted while others are disarmed during meetings but set to kill / trap / warn off intruders when there's no meeting. A used warehouse will probably only have alarm traps on the entrances.

I'd probably avoid the sharks in the ocean bit though, they wouldn't be that common in a harbor.

Consider environmental hazards as traps. The drop into the bay doesn't need to be caused by more than rotted wood. Splintered wood becomes caltrops. Wood slick from sea spray may be a simple balance hazard or a slide into the bay.

Some created traps may include alarms / noisemakers:
- bucket of stuff over a door
- string tied around several glass bottles and the door handle
- squeaky floors / gravel on floor
Others may attempt to injure:
- crossbow triggered by opening a window
- angled nails / broken glass on walls, window sills, or cubbies you may reach into
- crates set to fall if brushed
- a levered plank set to strike someone stepping on the end (think stepping on a rake)
Don't forget ambush traps:
- kobolds looking through a spyhole with a crossbow
- kobolds triggering the falling crate trap when they see someone walking below
- kobolds triggering a trapdoor to drop intruders into the sea

[holywhippet]

Assuming you can justify them having the resources to do it, I'd set up some golems and with orders along the lines of "kill everyone who isn't a kobold or an elf". Or you could just order them to kill everything they see - put them in a crate and use some kind of tripwire or pressure sensor to open the crate when someone walks in front of it. The actual workers will know better than to walk in that area.

If the crates are stacked high, I'd also have traps which make crates fall on the person who triggered them.

[Bosaxon]

If you ask me, there needs to be two types of traps. Anti-intruder traps and anti-cross traps.

Anti-cross traps would most likely be some sort of explosive on the merch in case the deal goes bad. How do the kobolds know the elves are going to play fair?

Anti-intruder traps might just be a series of tripwires or other small, easy to assemble traps that, depending on the location, are either easy to assemble, repair, or replace. Pits would also work well if they plan to use the location infrequently. These should be supplimented by a lookout or a series of guards and/or sniper(s).

[RS14]

Being kobolds, I'd like to ward the warehouse with interesting traps. The warehouse is on a dock, so I figured pit traps might work well with actually falling into the water where sharks might be, but so far that's the only real idea I have.

I'd stay away from sharks as well, though I can imagine clogging the area under the dock with sharp, rusty scrap metal, rotten ropes, wood, rocks, and barnacles, making it very difficult to move around in. Perhaps consider having the kobolds flee that way.

[Soup of Kings]

In regards to keeping the rogue/warmage from resorting to explosions, and assuming they need to INVESTIGATE as opposed to ELIMINATE (and that they want to avoid collateral damage) fill all the storage in the warehouse with something explosive. This makes for interesting encounters, as anything that could conceivably blow the explosives becomes a hell of a lot less useless.

And there are lots of simple traps that can be rigged pretty easily in a warehouse along the lines of cranes dropping crates, rotted, damaged wood, etc.

[Triaxx]

Then again there's always the reflective door puzzle with the secret decoder wheel. From the door hangs a paper circle, and a card with 5,24,16,12,15,19,9,22,5 18,21,14,5,19

The circle is the standard alphabet numbered 1-26.

The door itself is activated by a button detected by a DC5 search check.

[vicente408]

After misreading the thread title, I now have an overwhelming desire to see/create a Warforged Werehouse.

[Lucyfur]

So, you wanna trap a Werehouse huh? Be careful, I hear they're simmilar to WereGazebos. You'll want a very large pit trap, and some logs, and lots of people to push.

[Citizen Joe]

Classics:
Swinging hook. Normally this hook is used for loading and unloading of cargo. In this case it is set up to smack someone at a specific location. Manual release and reset.

Collapsing wall. A wall of crates, barrels, whatever is precariously stacked near a wall. With a little leverage, a kobold can topple the whole wall on someone.

Falling cargo net. This could either be full of stuff, like just unloaded crates, or empty to act as an entangling snare.

Rising cargo net. A net may be laid out on the floor for loading cargo, if someone steps on it, a kobold could release the counterweight, capturing the victim.

Rolling barrels. A large stack of barrels are held in place by a pin. Pull the pin and they roll out down a long corridor.

Flaming hay bales. Horses for the cargo wagons need to be fed, and have bedding. This hay could be set on fire to cover an escape. Possibly set on fire on a wagon and pushed into enemies as well.

Drop away hatch. More realistically, these hatches would open up/into the building but the classic trap drops people into the water.

Snipers in the rafters. Classic prevention of double cross tactic.