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| Advanced Dungeons & Dragons | - | Dragon #115 | - | Dragon magazine |
Before any Dungeon Master mentions a
phrase akin to the title, he must be prepared
for the consequences. Statements
such as these send players into a blind
panic, when all you wanted was to add a
little interest to your game. If you mention
that there?s something unusual about the
floor, the players will understandably
want an explanation that is concise and
descriptive. If you aren't ready with it, the
chorus of arguing voices soon deprives
you of game control. In extreme circumstances,
players may get carried away and
assail the weaker characters or NPCs
(magic-users and thieves, in particular),
binding and gagging them in order to test
the effectiveness of any possible traps
concealed in the floor. Events such as
these can ruin your game for the sake of a
well-conceived diversion or trap, and it is
to avoid such perpetual chaos that this
article was written.
As the DM, you can?t really blame the
players for their irrational behavior (unless
their characters start sacrificing their
lackeys and shield bearers, of course). In
any scenario, people get nervous if they
can?t trust the floor they?re standing on.
I?ve had similar experiences as a DM, and
the pandemonium resulting from an illprepared
idea bordered on insanity. It was
those attempts at spicing up my games
that inspired me to create a list of alterations
and modifications that can add spice
to your dungeons and citadels, increasing
the excitement involved in casual explorations
of otherwise bland or empty rooms,
while at the same time instilling fear into
your players with a few quicksand floors
or other specialized traps.
Unusual floors make for interesting
traps as well, giving players an alternative
to the ever-present grey ooze, trappers,
green slime, and yellow mold. Characters
who show no respect for your dungeons
will have their humility meters adjusted
and may start prodding the floor with
spears or rolling small expendable objects
down the corridor. This should not always
betray an unusual floor, but if one or two
traps are so triggered, your players will sit
up and take notice. Many of the special
floors in this article are just mind-teasers,
designed to make players more interested
in the game.
A word to the wise: Too many rolls from
this special chart and your dungeons will
become too difficult to traverse, even in
going from one room to the next. In addition,
your players will become very paranoid
and may eventually become bored
with the surprises in every other room.
One surprise carpet trap for every 25
rooms is ample, as you could throw in
other traps that aren?t triggered when
players set foot in the doorway.
As the DM, it is your task to apply your
good judgment in placing any room that
could cut characters off from another
level. Some floors are not meant for
kitchens or barracks. Avoid putting teleporter
floors in lavatories unless you?re
certain your players are in good spirits,
but this could be a suitable humiliation if
your players are in the habit of picking up
copies of DRAGON® Magazine and memorizing
player aids before you do. You can?t
make them forget any DMG tables, but
you can make them regret their sins.
Assume that only one in 20 rooms (roll
of 20 on a d20) has an unusual floor. Use
the following tables in that event. Some
die rolls require secondary rolls for details.
There is also a secondary table with
new ideas for modifying the average pit
trap.
| Dice roll | Property of floor |
| 01-02 | Contact with floor causes concentric
waves to spread out across its surface, like the surface of a pond |
| 03 | Floor constantly rolls in a tidal,
wavy fashion |
| 04 | Floor temporarily retains footprints
on its surface for 1-8 rounds, after which footprints disappear |
| 05-09 | Floor is an illusion (roll 1d6):
1-2 — illusion of safe floor over a pit 3-4 — illusion of safe floor over (roll again) 5-6 -- illusion of an unusual floor over a normal floor (roll again for appearance) |
| 10-12 | Floor is covered with a layer of
skin/scaled skin/cloth |
| 13 | Floor is covered with/comprised
of thick, tangled vegetation (10% chance it is still alive) |
| 14 | Floor is a giant mirrored surface |
| 15 | Floor is the surface of a pool of
some molten substance (1-3? deep) |
| 16 | Floor is a horizontal wall of force |
| 17-19 | Floor is a net/web suspended at
the level where a floor would be (with appropriate weight limit, if desired) |
| 20 | After a given period of time, the
floor folds along its center and snaps shut like a book 1-4 rounds later, doing a specified amount of damage to those caught within it |
| 21 | Floor absorbs the sound of anything
making direct contact with it (i.e., footsteps, prodding poles, skidding chairs, etc.) |
| 22-23 | Floor is partly/entirely removed
(roll 1d4): 1 -- the only remaining floor is a path around the room?s perimeter 2 -- there is no floor, but there are stepping stones suspended in midair, 2-5? apart 3 -- while there is no floor at all, a character will be telekinesized to the point in the room that he or she wishes to go 4 --there is no floor; a series of tightropes connect any doors present |
| 24-26 | Floor has an alignment and only
allows those of similar alignment to touch it (others suffer cause light wounds) |
| 27-32 | Depending on the nature of the
room (i.e., whether it is a prayer room or a vault for gold), the floor can cast a malevolent or benevolent spell on those who enter the room (automatically so for those effects which are harmful, and a percentage chance determined by the DM for those spells which are of benefit; beneficial effects should only be checked once per day at the most, regardless of time spent in the room by characters). Harmful spell effects (at 12th level of ability; roll 1d10) include: l -- fear
Beneficial spell effects (at 12th
1 -- dispel exhaustion
|
| 33 | Floor rises to meet ceiling in one
round under specific conditions, doing exceptional crushing damage |
| 34-38 | Floor dumps characters into pit
(roll ld4): 1 -- floor opens like a pair of shutters 2 -- floor slides under walls like a pair of elevator doors 3 -- floor unlocks and spins on a central axis, spilling unfixed objects 4 -- portion of floor over pit goes temporarily ethereal or astral |
| 39 | Floor lowers like a ramp/elevator
platform to the next level |
| 40 | Floor is an opaque block of ice |
| 41-42 | Floor (and ceiling and walls) are
carved and painted to look like a monster's mouth |
| 43-48 | Floor's size and shape are inconsistent
with those of the room (i.e., square peg in a round hole) |
| 49-52 | Floor has a painting or mosaic on it (1-10% chance it is prophetic or magical, portraing players in combat, etc.) |
| 53 | Floor appears solid, but is similar to a trampoline when stepped upon |
| 54-55 | Floor is divided into sections of varying heights (10% chance that these dsections rise and fall at random) |
| 56 | Floor is divided into tiny squares
that record the portraits of characters over 0-level who enter the room |
| 57-61 | Portion of floor is magnetic |
| 62 | Sections of floor are removed; the holes serve as viewing/entry portals from other planes of existence |
| 63 | Floor is shaped like (roll 1d4) 1 - a bowl 2 - an inverted dome or bubble-shape 3 - pyramid 4 - upside down pyramid |
| 64-67 | Floor is covered with a jagged, crystalline growth |
| 68 | Anything touching the floor is rendered invisible |
| 69 | Invisible caltrops on floor |
| 70 | Floor alternates from solid to semisolid state at a given interval (like a transmute rock to mud spell) |
| 71-76 | Floor has a trap door leading to a set of stairs or subchamber |
| 77-79 | Floor is metallic and gives off echoes when walked upon with hard boots or metal-shod feet |
| 80 | Floor is covered with dust of choking |
| 81-84 | Floor gives an electrical shock (damage and saving throw potential determined by the DM) |
| 85 | Floor is transparent/translucent, and acts like a (one-way?) window to the next level |
| 86-87 | Floor is quicksand, made to look like sandstone |
| 88 | Floor makes random, unusual noises when touched |
| 89-92 | Floor is phosphorescent |
| 93 | Under certain conditions, floor emits sleep gas |
| 94-95 | Runes or glyphs carved into
floor's surface (5% chance that each party member reads a different writing) |
| 96 | Persons standing on floor begin to speak a different, random language (as per tongues, reversed) |
| 97-98 | Objects (and, optionally, people) in the room that are in contact with the floor blink (as a blink dog) at random intervals to random locations |
| 99-00 | Floor alternates between 2 different states; roll twice and apply results as desired |
Here are some suggested modifications
to the most obvious floor hazard, the pit
trap, as a supplement to the ideas in Appendix
G on page 216 of the DMG. Most are unsuitable for low-level
characters as
presented below. Unless otherwise stated,
modifications come into effect when something
hits the bottom of the pit.
| Dice roll | Property of pit |
| 01-09 | Pit is an illusion to cover a trapdoor entrance to another level |
| 10-16 | Floor of put lowers 10-40' like an elevator |
| 17-20 | Spikes extend from the walls of pit when something hits the bottom, preventing climbing attempts. |
| 21-26 | Pit cylindrical and spins victims who fall inside, pressing them against sides of pit |
| 27-36 | Pit narrows as it descends |
| 37-38 | Pit appears to be (and actually be) bottomless |
| 39 | Persons making contact with the pit bottom of the pit are plane shifted (save vs. spells allowed) |
| 40-42 | Pit has a guardian monster which is released when someone falls into the pit; monster immediately fights party (could be used in conjunction with a locking-and-flooding pit) |
| 43-45 | One wall of pit is actually a stone
golem, stone guardian, or cary atid column, and it attacks the victims in the pit |
| 46-55 | Pit has ethereal spikes that come
into phase when victim hits the floor |
| 56-65 | When something hits bottom of
pit, a horizontal portcullis slides out, separating party from victim( s) |
| 66-69 | As above, but portcullis is replaced
by a blade barrier |
| 70-79 | Pit is enclosed in a silence spell, as are its victims |
| 80-89 | Pit is 50-75% (45 + (5 x 1d6))
filled with (roll 1d100): 01-60 -- water 61-66 -- acid (1-8 hp damage/ round of exposure) 67-73 -- grey ooze/green slime/ other mold 74-90 -- garbage 91-00 — webs |
| 90-96 | A mischievous creature teases
victims in the pit (roll 1d4): 1 -- doppleganger 2 -- leprechaun 3 -- pixie or sprite 4 -- unseen servant (performing automatic activities) |
| 97-00 | Victims who fail to save vs. spells
undergo a gradual alignment change |
NOVEMBER 1986