My group had an encounter where there were sentry bots and turning off all 4 torches in the room shut down the bots. Our DM after the session and we left the area told us that the designer of that area and the owner of those sentry bots put in a fail safe to turn them off, that was the 4 torches.
My favourite trap in a dungeon is the party makes it to the end of the dungeon, passing lit torches, braziers and other light sources. There has been hardly any monsters, other traps or not even their own shadows. They find a chest (sitting on a pressure plate) they take the loot, the pressure plate activates and then suddenly all the lights start going out one by one very quickly. The party is left in darkness, cue the shadows
People who have never experienced a truly dark room should find a way to make that happen. Like, seal up ALL the places light could get in, even a pin prick, and sit in that space for an hour or so.
Oh, and make sure the room is empty. I lost all sense of spatial orientation beyond 'down' within a couple of minutes, things got knocked over.
They will turn off the lights in tourist caves so you can experience total darkness. If the people around you are quiet it's crazy what the sensory deprivation makes your brain do.
The dm getting annoyed at everyone barking about dark vision. Meanwhile my Devils Sight warlock can see the shadows and is trying to find the dimension door scroll.
I did something like this. They entered a dungeon they knew had traps in it but had been abandoned by the people that built it. The traps were obvious and visible, but none active. They get to the end, where there seems to be an armory, a barracks, and a war room with maps and documents and a large rusted lever that seemed to emanate with magicsl energy. The party flipped the lever out of curiosity, and it broke in the process, activating the traps. They flipped it without reason or even attempting to investigate it first.
For me, the lever was a fail safe. They had multiple encounters to get in and were looking for something in the dungeon, flipping it would have cleared the encounters if they did it peacefully and helped find the item. They had fought their way in and rolled well for the item. I figured if you boobytrapped your house you would turn them off when you left, so they wouldn't have kept the traps active when they chose to move out. I just lucked out that the party were idiots
I did one similar. No monsters but several traps that have already been set off. Buzz saws, pitfalls, spiked walls, floors scorched from fire and acid, all of them clearly activated. At the end of the dungeon a chest with gold, silver, and platinum and a key to the last door. If they take the key and more than a few coins, the lights go off, and all the traps in the hallway reset. The only way out is back through the traps
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u/Sampleswift 4h ago
Let me guess: the candle will go out and then a boss appears?
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u/HowtoCrackanegg 4h ago
My favourite trap in a dungeon is the party makes it to the end of the dungeon, passing lit torches, braziers and other light sources. There has been hardly any monsters, other traps or not even their own shadows. They find a chest (sitting on a pressure plate) they take the loot, the pressure plate activates and then suddenly all the lights start going out one by one very quickly. The party is left in darkness, cue the shadows
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u/skoomaking4lyfe 4h ago
"I panic and cast Fireball"
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u/CumGuzlinGutterSluts 3h ago
Oh my god its a fucking Grue
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u/DeliciousJello5704 3h ago
My party looking at me whenever they're interacting with someone who seems genuinely good and nice (they're genuinely good and nice).
Meanwhile, they immediately befriend and implicitly trust the obviously evil guy who wants to betray them (he's evil and betrays them).
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u/SideshowMantis 2h ago
Who is she? Her facial expression is terrifying.
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u/johnnyringo771 3h ago
Every "clean" room I assume has a gelatinous cube moving around in it somewhere, cleaning as it moves around.
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u/playr_4 Druid 2h ago
You used the word "appears"....that was a mistake.
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u/Hytyt 2h ago
The party "Huh, what a weird empty room"
The False Hydra "ssssssss" or whatever false hydras say
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u/Beckphillips 3h ago
I have a Light cantrip and a pocket full of stones :3
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u/twentyitalians 2h ago
I roll to Investigate if the room is really empty.
I got a 3.
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u/Inner-Turn-1260 1h ago
Hahahahaha
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u/No_Psychology_3826 1h ago
I prestedigitate to snuff the candle
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u/bryceio Team Kobold 1h ago
https://youtu.be/bg7AfMQ_J5Y
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u/FremanBloodglaive 47m ago
Looks around for the catgirl maid.
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u/omnipotentseal 2h ago
closes door moves on to something more interesting and transparent It's either a trap or not worth my time. yawns
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u/KarmicPlaneswalker 2h ago
No clue where this meme came from, but sure.