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[CognitiveDissonance]

I have this great idea - I run a weekly D&D group, and with the holiday season, attendance is in a lull.
Then, I've been reading this forum a lot, and some truly aweful dwarven ideas come out of here.

So, here's my idea: Make a fortress for my players! (or bring in one of your favorites)
Give it traps, your most creative ones.
Coliseum, pressure plates, caged skeletons are all great.
Locked workshops with berzerk dwarves are even better.
HFS? Yep.
I'm going to let my players take their favorite characters, and throw them down into the fortress, and see if they survive. I doubt they will, but it will be bloody gruesome terrible fun!

Oh, and of course I will post a play-by-play journal of how they do, what they find, and how they respond.

[Flying Carcass]

Bet they won't make it past the first lever they come across. 

[CognitiveDissonance]

Bet they won't make it past the first lever they come across. 

That's what I'm counting on!

[Lav]

The problem is that D&D player's AI is quite different from goblin AI, so there are plenty of traps that will work on players but not on goblins and vice versa.

[Lav]

Here's a DF trap that should work perfectly against live players AI (or against a lone adventurer in adventurer mode). It won't work against goblins because goblins simply won't path into this dead-end. It might work against lever-pullers though.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

  #######
  #77777#
  #77777#  <- magma reservoir, 14+ units of magma
  #77777#
  ###-###  <- Floor Hatch A
    # #
    # #
##### #
 l>## ###############  <- Lever A
##<          lX_X      <- Lever B, Floodgate A, Pressure Plate A, Floodgate B
 ######-#-###########  <- Floor Hatch B, Floor Hatch C
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
####### # #
#      _  #  <- Pressure Plate B
###########

Legend.

Adventurers come from the west and must proceed to the east.

Floor hatches A and C are remotely controlled and locked.

Floor hatch B is remotely controlled and open.

Pulling the Lever A opens and closes Floor Hatch B.

Pulling the Lever B opens floodgate A and floor hatch A.

Pressure Plate A is activated by magma 1+ and opens Floor Hatch C.

Pressure Plate B is activated by magma 1+ and opens Floodgate B.

How players are caught.

Players see hatches A, B and C, levers A and B, and floodgate A.

They can easily and without any risk to their health find out that Lever A controls Floor Hatch B.

Floor Hatch A is quite high above, so they cannot check it's temperature.

Floor Hatch B is open and must be closed using Lever A if they want to cross it.

Hatch C is remotely controlled and cannot be opened by players.

When players pull the Lever B, two things happen.

First, the Floodgate A opens (but Floodgate B remains closed).

Second, Floor Hatch A opens and a stream of magma pours down the corridor, cutting the players' only way of escape.

What happens next depends on whether or not Floor Hatch B is closed. Note that the players must split the group and cut the retreat for the advance group in order for the plate to be open at this moment. So most likely it will be closed and the players will be burned to crisp. :-)

However after the corridor is filled with magma, Pressure Plate A activates and the floor hatch C opens, releasing magma down the reserve chute and draining the main corridor.

Once there's magma in the bottom chamber, Pressure Plate B activates and the Floodgate B is opened, finally opening the way to the treasure (or a group of hungry goblins).

How players can pass through.

Someone must stay behind at Lever A and open the Floor Hatch B once the rest of the group crosses it.

Then the players can safely pull the Lever B and all magma will pour down the left chute without any risk for the players.

Floor Hatch B can then be closed and the group reunited.

The idea of the trap is that in order to proceed the players must make two highly uncomfortable decisions - to split the group and to cut the retreat for a part of the group while pushing a lever with unknown effects.

A subtle hint: if the players know a bit of geology, they might recognize that everything except Lever A is made from bauxite. If anyone of them knows a bit about Dwarf Fortress, that might help.

Note that the trap only works once so after activation the passage will remain open forever. It is possible to make a self-reloading version but it will take more time than I presently have.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Here's a DF trap that should work perfectly against live players AI (or against a lone adventurer in adventurer mode). It won't work against goblins because goblins simply won't path into this dead-end. It might work against lever-pullers though.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

  #######
  #77777#
  #77777#  <- magma reservoir, 14+ units of magma
  #77777#
  ###-###  <- Floor Hatch A
    # #
    # #
##### #
 l>## ###############  <- Lever A
##<          lX_X      <- Lever B, Floodgate A, Pressure Plate A, Floodgate B
 ######-#-###########  <- Floor Hatch B, Floor Hatch C
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
      # # #
####### # #
#      _  #  <- Pressure Plate B
###########

Legend.

Adventurers come from the west and must proceed to the east.

Floor hatches A and C are remotely controlled and locked.

Floor hatch B is remotely controlled and open.

Pulling the Lever A opens and closes Floor Hatch B.

Pulling the Lever B opens floodgate A and floor hatch A.

Pressure Plate A is activated by magma 1+ and opens Floor Hatch C.

Pressure Plate B is activated by magma 1+ and opens Floodgate B.

How players are caught.

Players see hatches A, B and C, levers A and B, and floodgate A.

They can easily and without any risk to their health find out that Lever A controls Floor Hatch B.

Floor Hatch A is quite high above, so they cannot check it's temperature.

Floor Hatch B is open and must be closed using Lever A if they want to cross it.

Hatch C is remotely controlled and cannot be opened by players.

When players pull the Lever B, two things happen.

First, the Floodgate A opens (but Floodgate B remains closed).

Second, Floor Hatch A opens and a stream of magma pours down the corridor, cutting the players' only way of escape.

What happens next depends on whether or not Floor Hatch B is closed. Note that the players must split the group and cut the retreat for the advance group in order for the plate to be open at this moment. So most likely it will be closed and the players will be burned to crisp. :-)

However after the corridor is filled with magma, Pressure Plate A activates and the floor hatch C opens, releasing magma down the reserve chute and draining the main corridor.

Once there's magma in the bottom chamber, Pressure Plate B activates and the Floodgate B is opened, finally opening the way to the treasure (or a group of hungry goblins).

How players can pass through.

Someone must stay behind at Lever A and open the Floor Hatch B once the rest of the group crosses it.

Then the players can safely pull the Lever B and all magma will pour down the left chute without any risk for the players.

Floor Hatch B can then be closed and the group reunited.

The idea of the trap is that in order to proceed the players must make two highly uncomfortable decisions - to split the group and to cut the retreat for a part of the group while pushing a lever with unknown effects.

A subtle hint: if the players know a bit of geology, they might recognize that everything except Lever A is made from bauxite. If anyone of them knows a bit about Dwarf Fortress, that might help.

Note that the trap only works once so after activation the passage will remain open forever. It is possible to make a self-reloading version but it will take more time than I presently have.

That's awesome! I have been toying with the idea of making such a fortress myself, and I will almost certainly incorporate your idea.
I would just prefer to "explore" a creation other than my own with the players

[Lav]

Well, as I said, the trap is nearly useless in a real DF fortress.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to make a fortress where an adventurer in the Adventurer mode can theoretically survive but most likely won't. It might even become a contest. :-)

[warhammer651]

Try putting them in headshoots. Their architecture is so bizarre you would have a good excuse for putting an eldritch abomination.

[Julius Clonkus]

I say go for making them attack Nist Akath. And I mean to the time where The Captain and all of the other champions are still alive. Make it their objective to kill Ironblood and watch them cringe when they fail horribly.

But why am I even talking? I don't know anything about D&Ds rules so-OH HEY ELVES IN THE MAGMA TRADE DEPOT TRAP!

[CognitiveDissonance]

Let's try this once more before the topic dissapears into posterity.
Anyone have a particularly creative trap-fortress for me to explore via my D&D players? Or willing to design one, to have it explored by real people?

Obviously, I can do it myself. But it's not as much fun!

[Jack_Bread]

This is basically a succession world which is soley to make a bunch of interesting adventure mode fortresses. I've never read it, though.

[CognitiveDissonance]

This is basically a succession world which is soley to make a bunch of interesting adventure mode fortresses. I've never read it, though.

Thanks! Investigating as we speak!

[Doomshifter]

I dunno about traps, but I could certainly think of some nice fortresses for them to explore, even if just to look around ^^

I saw a green glass fortress that was underwater in a river! I think it should be on the DFMA.

As for other things... Hm... Oh!

I made a map that was effectively a giant steel mecha! Sorta like a Warhound Titan from WH40K. Wasn't particularly impressive, but it was a fun idea ^w^

[Vayre]

I'm not sure how possible it would be to actually explore the fortress in adventure mode, to do this with more than one player you would need to just ake the fortress, and then use that as a guide for you.

As for traps, its not in a fortress but a wooden bridge, 25 z levels long and with 5 floors total, crossing a section of water, numerous bits of floor are missing resulting in many dead ends, and many pieces are so weak they will collapse when stood on (pressure plates)

Or maybe a 3d maze, but when the adventurer reaches the end they must pull a lever to open a door elsewhere, this then opens a floodgate welsewhere in the fortress, releasing a slow trickle of magma, as this magme progresses it trips various pressure plates in its path, causing the 3d maze to slowly collapse, so the player has to excape before it all falls on his head/drops him into a pit.

Pit with water and alligators, this must be done. For extra points put some treasure/ the only way forward at the end of an underwater tunnel located inside said alligator pit.

The next idea is a bit cmplicated, it uses what I call an undead propulsion system

U = Undead
H = Floor HAtch with open space under it
O = Open space, opened floor hatch
# = Wall
P = Pressure Plate
+ = Floor


+++++++++++++
#O#       #H#
#+#########+#
#+#########+#
#P#########P#
#+++++U+++++#
#############


As the undead thing trips one pressure plate the Floor hatch on its current root opens, clockign it off with a hole, but the other pressure plate closes, opening an alternative escape route and luring the undead over there, this cycle repeats constantly. Pressure Plates linked to other things (such as bridges or spikes) can be placed in the passageway the Undead walks down, and so are constantly activated.

From this create a room Completely filled upright spikes linked to one of these, with safe points littered across it, players must figure out the pattern of the spikes to make it safely across.

[CognitiveDissonance]

You, my friends, are awesome.
I love that undead idea. Gonna have to do it.