My First Trap - Too complicated?
First of all I wanted to make a trap that also hinted at the wider world and generated questions in the players’ minds. In this case it was to get them thinking about the witch faction.
I am calling this trap Limwdd’s Limb. It is a subterranean tunnel the entry point for which I am placing in hex 1206 and which leads to The Scared Glade in hex 1006.
My plan is to incorporate this into the fleshed out location of A Baker’s Dozen which I am currently working on. The entry point will be a trap door in the tool shed which will have a connection to a cellar in the cottage but also be part of a bigger and older (witch) tunnel network spanning hexes.
The trap itself,
Upon entering the tunnel there will be a notable absence of torches and thus light. From the light from the trap door moss and lichen can be seen covering the walls. It smells strongly of pine sap despite being underground.
Further down the passage a little light is coming from the ceiling but whatever aperture is producing that light appears blocked. If players are observant they will notice a well on the surface the location of which seems to match where the tunnel below is. It is a fake decoy well, there is no water in it, it acts as an air shaft (there will be another active well on the property. A large rock has been placed over the grate and thus is blocking light entering the tunnel. Other player may use torches (though as shown later this is a mistake) or light producing spells.
If they manage to get more light into the tunnel they will see the tunnel is about 15ft long and quite narrow. At the end they will see a rocky wall with a fresco painted upon it. The image is of Limwdd the Wood God worshiped by the witches. The palms of its clawed hands are open and there are holes with ledges in them holding candlenuts (naturally flammable, chestnut like in appearance). The face of the god is made of a shiny, reflective material unlike the rest of the fresco the paint of which is worn away in places.
They will also notice the presence of an ochre resinous dust in the air, covering the walls and floor of the latter half of the passage. This appears to be originating from holes in the wall near the floor. There are also rats scattered across the floor, immobile but twitching.
There is a pressure point in the floor noticeable by a disruption in the dust close to the fresco. If pressed, flames shoot out of the palms of the fresco igniting the dust. The dust is Ishwagrande (DCB p 426) which upon burning turns into a dense purple cloud of smoke which if a Save Vs Doom is failed causes unconsciousness and visions. I am changing the effect in the book slightly to be visions of whichever entity its followers wish. Therefore players get visions of Limwdd - perhaps a random table for the types of visions.
To continue down the passage players need to figure out that you must shine light onto the face of the fresco which will cause the wall to shudder into the ground. Broken glass of a mirror on the floor is a clue for this. Once the players have revealed the rest of the passage it will continue far into the distance. Along this route they will find a ladder which leads to the cellar of the cottage. On the other side of the fresco wall is a pressure point that causes it to fall to allow backwards travel.
Initially I am thinking that the tunnel was part of an initiation process for new witches joining the sect of Limwdd. They are given visions of the god with the dust/gas and then continue to The Scared Glade for the full ceremony. This is an ancient tunnel system that the bakery happens to have been built over some time later. I am placing the bakery in glade so it’s like a connection of two glades.
I may expand this later so the tunnel system pops out in other places but this is what I have so far!
Please let me know what you think, whether it’s two convoluted and anything that would make it more punchy/streamlined?
Thanks!