It's a Trap!

     Traps, from a simple covered pit to a Gygax inspired inescapable killing rooms, are a staple of any Dungeons and Dragons game.  As a GM thinking of ingenious ways to bring about the doom of party of would be do-gooders is always a fun endeavor.  In this installment of It’s a Trap! we’ll discuss a real nasty one, a trap meant to lay waste to the entire party of adventurers.  It all starts with a sword.

The Trap: The Best Sword Ever!

     This trap works best in a dungeon or somewhere confining like the underdark.  The party will find a sword, the more mysterious the better.  The GMs job here is to make one of the party physically pick it up, preferably the squishiest member.  Now the fun begins.

The Sword +4 Fireburst Longsword

Name:            Intransigent

Alignment:   LG (Very Very Very LG)

Ego Score:    36

Stats:              Int 10, Wis 14, Char 26

Abilities:        Speech, Telepathy, Darkvision 120ft, Blindsense, Read Magic, Read all

                        Languages

Powers:         Detect Evil (At-Will, Always Active)

                        Bull Strength 1/day wielder only

                        Cure Critical Wounds 3/day

                        Dominate Person 3/day (Empower metamagic, Repeat Metamagic)

                        Raise Dead 3/day

                        True Resurrection 1/week (Wielder only)

                         Zone of Truth 3/day

Special          

Purpose:       Defeat Chaotic Evil

Dedicated

Power:          +2 Luck Bonus to Saves, Attacks, Skill Checks

Save DC:       Save versus powers is 18+Spell Level

      Immediately the Player who holds the sword will be thinking himself nigh invincible and swooning over its powers.  Let the player use the sword on various occasions to chop enemies to pieces to build his confidence.  The player will probably not think too much of that Will Save he failed that gave the sword dominance over him.  The party will eventually enter a room, cavern, or any other large contained space.  Inside there will be four enormous black pillars, one at each of the corners or evenly spaced against the walls.  The pillars will detect as magic, strong abjuration.  On the far wall is a raised throne with a crystal ball on the right side.  The throne detects as evil and magic, enchantment school.  Anyone sitting on the throne who is evil will be blessed as the spell.  A good character sitting on the throne will be cursed as the bane spell.  The Crystal Ball will detect as both magic and evil, both overwhelming.  The school is also abjuration.  The Crystal Ball is the focal point of the trap.  It has no powers that a normal Crystal Ball has; its only function is to keep the four nasty creatures trapped in the pillars.  It is also brittle and easily broken, hardness 2 HP 5.  Once the sword detects the overwhelming evil on the Crystal Ball it will smash the thing without hesitation.  The Pillars will immediately dissolve revealing…… (Drum Roll Please)

Pillar 1:          A Balor- Angry and wanting to cause some destruction after being

                        locked in a pillar for a very long time.

Pillar 2:          Beholders- Two of them, enough said.

Pillar 3:          Zombie- Colossal in size.

Pillar 4:          A Mature Adult Red Dragon-  Burn Everyone!

     Intransigent will attack immediately and force the wielder to fight to the death, if any of the other players try and flee the sword will cast Dominate Person on them to force them to stay and fight as well.  Goodnight party of do-gooder adventurers, we barely knew ye.