Random Selectors 1d6 Roll On... 1 Table 1 2 Table 2 3 Table 3 4 Table 4 5 Table 5 6 Roll Again Table 1 1d10 The party encounters... 1 ...The Tower of Hope pg. 146 2 ...The Holding Cells pg. 148 3 ...The Pit of Pendulums pg. 150 4 ...The Open Chasm pg. 152 5 ...The Wave Pool pg. 154 6 ...The Firevault pg. 156 7 ...The Switchback pg. 158 8 ...The Titan’s Trap pg. 160 9 ...The Mossy Hill pg. 162 10 ...The Lava Floor pg. 164 Table 2 1d10 The party encounters... 1 ...The Turntable pg. 166 2 ...The Perilous Crossing pg. 168 3 ...The Swimming Statues pg. 170 4 ...The Octogenarium pg. 172 5 ...The Piston Palace pg. 174 6 ...A Miniature Fortress pg. 176 7 ...The Gear Box pg. 178 8 ...The Dungeoneer pg. 180 9 ...The Underport pg. 182 10 ...The Ball Pit pg. 184 Table 3 1d10 The party encounters... 1 ...The Sand Pit pg. 186 2 ...The Oozing Throne pg. 188 3 ...Shadow’s End pg. 190 4 ...The Cursed Treasury pg. 192 5 ...The Garden of Reflection pg. 194 6 ...The Cavern of Cages pg. 196 7 ...The Wall of Despair pg. 198 8 ...Tomb of the Forgotten pg. 200 9 ...The Tumbler pg. 202 10 ...The Rotten Temple pg. 204 Table 4 1d10 The party encounters... 1 ...Construct Loop pg. 206 2 ...The Monstrous Closet pg. 208 3 ...The Final Ballroom pg. 210 4 ...Goblin Gully pg. 212 5 ...The Doors to Elsewhere pg. 214 6 ...The Elemental Laboratory pg. 216 7 ...The Hanging Pool pg. 218 8 ...The Chained Champion pg. 220 9 ...The Pixies’ Palace pg. 222 10 ...The Hive pg. 224 Table 5 1d10 The party encounters... 1 ...The Armory pg. 226 2 ...The Bramble pg. 228 3 ...Those Four Pools pg. 230 4 ...The Fungal Sanctuary pg. 232 5 ...The Narrows pg. 234 6 ...The Horrible Maw pg. 236 7 ...The Bogmuck pg. 238 8 ...The Chow Line pg. 240 9 ...The Ascent pg. 242 10 ...The Herbalist’s Greenhouse pg. 244 random dungeon chamber generator To select a random room from the Dungeon Chambers section, start by rolling 1d6. Choose the appropriate table as outlined on the first table, then roll 1d10 to select a chamber.
The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons 251 Connecting the Chambers While these individual spaces are meant to serve as supplements to other established spaces in your own adventures, you can also present them as part of a continuous dungeon crawl you create on the fly (assuming your players enjoy chaos and the significant possibility of a TPK). If you want to create a connecting series of chambers, start by using the entrance table below, then roll on the Random Dungeon Chamber Generator to select the first room in the dungeon. Once your party leaves this room, roll on the Halls and Walls table to describe the path to the next chamber—at the end of this path, roll again on the Random Dungeon Chamber Generator. Repeat as necessary until you’re ready for the party to reach a finale, at which point sub out a roll on the Random Dungeon Chamber Generator for one on the Big Finish table. Entrance Table 1d6 The party arrives at... 1 ...a massive stone door blocked by one of this book’s gateway puzzles (roll on the table on pg. 248). 2 ...a gateway shaped like the face of a long dead king. The gateway can be unlocked if the party pull his rotten tooth (the backmost bottom left molar). The tooth smells of decay even though it is made of marble, and its rot could be discovered with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check. 3 ...a large iron door surrounded by three dead highwaymen. The door is trapped with one of the painful traps in this book (determined by rolling on the table on pg. 246). 4 ...a door shaped like an ancient dragon’s egg. A DC 15 Wisdom (Nature) or Intelligence (History) check would reveal that most eggs hatch after experiencing a bit of heat. At GM discretion, if the door is heated (through the use of flame, spells or other means), it would open. 5 ...a portal that swirls and crackles with arcane power. When a creature enters this portal, roll twice on the tables on pg. 250 to select two random chambers. Number these chambers 1 and 2. Any creature that enters this portal must roll 1d10, arriving in chamber 1 on an odd roll and chamber 2 on an even roll. 6 ...the entry to an abandoned crypt, its doorway sealed with a random puzzle (pg. 248) and a random disruptive trap (pg. 247). Halls and Walls Table 1d6 Halls and Walls Table 1 A curved corridor with two doors on the left and one at the end. 2 A narrow, 5-ft. corridor that stretches longer than is comfortable, with a door at the end. 3 A crossroads-like hallway that features a door at the end of three other halls. 4 A hall that seems to dead-end, but features an illusory wall. 5 A hallway that features a random trap and leads to two doors. 6 A corridor that circles back on itself with three doors along the right and one on the left, barred with a random gateway puzzle. Big Finish Table 1d12 The party encounters... 1 ...an adult green dragon’s lair. 2 ...a grotto where a clever aboleth lies in wait. 3 ...a mummy lord’s resting chamber. 4 ...a hag coven’s cavernous hut. 5 ...a death knight guarding a secret. 6 ...a portal to elsewhere haunted by a cursed archdruid. 7 ...a behir couple’s nest. 8 ...a gathering of 8d10 zombies. 9 ...a young black dragon’s swampy lair. 10 ...the roost of 2d4 + 1 wyverns. 11 ...a marilith ready for battle. 12 ...a powerful purple worm.
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Copyright 2022 Topix Media Lab Published by Topix Media Lab 14 Wall Street, Suite 3C New York, NY 10005 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Certain photographs used in this publication are used by license or permission from the owner thereof or are otherwise publicly available. This publication is not endorsed by any person or entity appearing herein. Any product names, logos, brands or trademarks featured or referred to in the publication are the property of their respective trademark owners. Media Lab Books is not affiliated with, nor sponsored or endorsed by, any of the persons, entities, product names, logos, brands or other trademarks featured or referred to in any of its publications. ISBN-13: 978-1-948174-98-5 ISBN-10: 1-948174-98-7 Media Lab Books For inquiries, call 646-449-8614 CEO Tony Romando Content Designer Glen Karpowich Senior Editor Trevor Courneen Associate Editor Juliana Sharaf Assistant Managing Editor Tara Sherman Designer Mikio Sakai Copy Editor & Fact Checker Madeline Raynor Junior Designer Alyssa Bredin Quirós Assistant Photo Editor Jenna Addesso Vice President & Publisher Phil Sexton Senior Vice President of Sales & New Markets Tom Mifsud Vice President of Retail Sales & Logistics Linda Greenblatt Chief Financial Officer Vandana Patel Manufacturing Director Nancy Puskuldjian Financial Analyst Matthew Quinn Digital Marketing & Strategy Manager Elyse Gregov Chief Content Officer Jeff Ashworth Director of Editorial Operations Courtney Kerrigan Creative Director Susan Dazzo Photo Director Dave Weiss Executive Editor Tim Baker Cover: Shutterstock Photos: Shutterstock Maps by Jasmine Kalle Illustrations by Kyle Hilton Editorial contributions by Jasmine Bhullar, Jeremy Brown, Jasper William Cartwright, Jeremy Cobb, Ben Egloff, Alexander LeFort, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo and Colby Whittaker
Author’s Acknowledgments CREATING AN ENTIRE BOOK OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS IS A LOT LIKE A CLASSIC DUNGEON CRAWL—you can certainly try to do it by yourself, but you’ll very likely end up a hollowed-out corpse before you reach the end. As such, the following individuals served as this title’s adventuring party, and I couldn’t have made it through this complex crucible without their aid. To Jasmine Kalle, who often took ideas as vague as “a dungeon chamber that seems like a mini-game designed by the team from American Gladiators” and somehow came up with 50 cleverly conceived encounter spaces as well as the maps associated with this title’s three oneshot adventures, and to Kyle Hilton, whose illustrations accompany some of the traps in this title, the quality of your work speaks for itself, but I like to tell people anyway: You’re awesome. To one-shot contributors Jasmine Bhullar (“The Spire and the Scab”) and Jasper William Cartwright, Jeremy Cobb and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo of Three Black Halflings (“Skhalhammer Manor”), it was an absolute blast to work with you on these adventures and I’m certain players will enjoy experiencing your work as much as I have. To puzzle contributors Jeremy Brown, Ben Egloff, Alexander LeFort and Colby Whittaker, your creations kept me guessing even as I was scanning the solutions copy, so I’m certain each of your puzzles will find permanent homes in the nightmares of players who encounter them for years to come. As well they should. Massive thanks to the entire team at Media Lab Books, but particularly to Tim Baker, Trevor Courneen, Glen Karpowich, Courtney Kerrigan, Madeline Raynor, Phil Sexton, Juliana Sharaf and Tara Sherman, whose efforts on and contributions to this title are the only reason it exists. No matter how many times I felt trapped or puzzled by this title, one (and in many cases all) of you knew the way out or the answer. Finally, to my wife, who endured her own dungeon crawl during the course of this book’s production but somehow managed to find time to listen to me kvetch about whether or not my traps were deadly enough or my puzzles difficult enough or my dungeon rooms weird enough (or, in at least a few cases, perhaps too weird): I love you endlessly.
Your GMs JEFF ASHWORTH is a writer, editor and storyteller whose credits include The Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters, The Game Master’s Book of Non-Player Characters and work for Disney, Hasbro, Nickelodeon and World Wrestling Entertainment. When he isn’t working on special projects for Media Lab Books, he enjoys playing and designing RPGs with his friends. He and his wife live on the East Coast with their dogs, Zelda and Lincoln. JASMINE KALLE is a writer, illustrator and editor with a Master of Arts (Writing, Editing and Publishing) from the University of Queensland. She has over half a decade of TTRPG experience and her credits include The Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters and The Game Master’s Book of Non-Player Characters. She spends most of her days trying to survive the Canberra winters while working for the government, and her nights dreaming up all kinds of fun and painful encounters to put her parties through next. JASMINE BHULLAR is an actress, internet personality and content creator best known for her daily livestreams at twitch.tv/thatbronzegirl as well as the many RPG productions she’s been part of. She’s not only an experienced tabletop RPG player but a skilled game master as well. She got her start on Geek & Sundry, which led her to play the infamous Beryl the Brutal on Relics and Rarities. She’s also the creator, host and GM of Shikar, a new D&D 5th Edition game on Twitch. When she’s not reading science fiction novels, Jasmine enjoys creating video game, RPG and comic book content. THREE BLACK HALFLINGS is a podcast by Jasper William Cartwright, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (but everybody calls her Unati) and Jeremy Cobb: three nerdy friends with strong opinions and even stronger Charisma scores. Join them in their quest to explore diversity in the incredible worlds of D&D and pop culture while doling out DM tips, thoughtprovoking conversations, a band of guests and good times! KYLE HILTON is a recent role playing convert and illustrator whose work regularly appears in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and others. He lives in Jackson, Mississippi, with his wife and daughter. JIM DAVIS AND JONATHAN PRUITT are the founders of the popular YouTube channel Web DM. Since 2015, Web DM’s mission has been to inspire gamers to play emergent and player-driven TTRPGs. Through professionally produced, carefully researched videos about all aspects of tabletop gaming, deep topic podcast dives and heartfelt actual play streaming, Web DM helps hundreds of thousands of people play better games every month.
TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS Plus 3 One-Shot Adventures! A punishing collection of bone-crunching contraptions, brain-teasing riddles and stamina-testing encounter locations for 5th Edition RPG Adventures Jeff Ashworth the game master’s book of WHETHER PART OF A PREPLANNED ADVENTURE or a random encounter, these brainteasers, puzzles and traps will make every dungeon crawl, fortress break-in or temple sacking that much more fun—assuming you find the prospect of death at every turn to be a good time. GMs will find dozens of challenging puzzles, four unique trap categories and 50 modular dungeon chambers, each with its own set of variant encounters, meaning you can generate a fully functional death maze with a few rolls of the dice. With maps, trap illustrations and one-shot adventures written by Jasmine Bhullar and the creators of the Three Black Halflings podcast, The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons is the ideal tool for any GM hoping to put the fun back in fun-geon.* THE GAME MASTER’S BOOK OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS provides endless options for populating your adventures with perplexing riddles, puzzles, spiked pits, Rube Goldberg-style death traps and much more— everything you need to push your adventurers to their limit and bring new levels of excitement (and anxiety) to your campaign. BECAUSE CHALLENGING YOUR PLAYERS SHOULDN’T BE SO HARD... Unforgettable Dungeon Chambers and One-Shot Adventures Rhyming Riddles, Integrated Ciphers and Intricate Door Puzzles Deadly, Painful, Disruptive and Complex Traps for Various Party Levels INCLUDES *Not a word Compatible with your favorite 5th edition Fantasy Tabletop RPGs! @GameMaster_5e Foreword by Jim Davis & Jonathan Pruitt Illustrations by Jasmine Kalle & kyle hilton contributions from Three Black Halflings & Jasmine Bhullar TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS Plus ne-Shot 3 O Adventures! A punishing collection of bone-crunching contraptions, brain-teasing riddles and stamina-testing encounter locations for 5th Edition RPG Adventures Ashworth Jeff the ag e m b s’ retsa m oo k of or a random encounter, these WHETHER PART OF A PREPLANNED ADVENTURE brainteasers, puzzles and traps will make every dungeon crawl, fortress break-in or temple sacking that much more fun—assuming you find the prospect of death at every turn to be a good time. GMs will find dozens of challenging puzzles, four unique trap categories and 50 modular dungeon chambers, each with its own set of variant encounters, meaning you can generate a fully functional death maze with a few rolls of the dice. With maps, trap illustrations and one-shot adventures written by Jasmine Bhullar and the creators of The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and podcast, Three Black Halflings the is the ideal tool for any GM hoping to put the fun back in fun-geon.* Dungeons THE GAME MASTER’S BOOK OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS provides endless options for populating your adventures with perplexing riddles, puzzles, spiked pits, Rube Goldberg-style death traps and much more— everything you need to push your adventurers to their limit and bring new levels of excitement (and anxiety) to your campaign. BECAUSE CHALLENGING YOUR PLAYERS SHOULDN’T BE SO HARD... Unforgettable Dungeon Chambers and One-Shot Adventures Rhyming Riddles, Integrated Ciphers and Intricate Door Puzzles Deadly, Painful, Disruptive and Complex Traps for Various Party Levels INCLUDES *Not a word Compatible with your favorite 5th edition Fantasy Tabletop RPGs! @GameMaster_5e Foreword by Jim Davis & Jonathan Pruitt Illustrations by Jasmine Kalle & kyle hilton contributions from Three Black Halflings & Jasmine Bhullar