monk
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 237
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Post by monk on Sept 4, 2012 14:38:29 GMT -6
I just found a copy of this today and have been reading through it. Though I remember it from back in the day, I don't recall ever having used it. I was interested to see that it was first published in '81--I'd always mistakenly assumed it was a product of the late 80s.
Does anyone use these types of traps regularly? I must admit that my adventures are pretty light on traps of any kind, particularly the complex and/or mechanical type. I'm thinking of tossing some of the more simple ones in for variety, though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2012 16:12:57 GMT -6
I've never owned a copy of GT but I've encountered them a few times as a player. Deadly, everyone one 'em, if memory serves.
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Post by coffee on Sept 4, 2012 23:59:04 GMT -6
I have Grimtooth's Traps Too. Never used one of them.
They seem too deadly for my characters (I've never run a high-level game.)
Remember, though, that these were created for Tunnels & Trolls. Maybe they have better saving throws in that.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Sept 5, 2012 2:28:17 GMT -6
Remember, too, that they were created in the early 80' when referees were expected to try their best to kill PCs.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 7:00:10 GMT -6
Remember, too, that they were created in the early 80' when referees were expected to try their best to kill PCs. I began playing D&D in the 70's and I'm happy to say I never ran into that mindset. I'm not saying nobody ever played that way back then, but I believe it likely it wasn't near as prevalent as folks believe. |
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monk
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 237
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Post by monk on Sept 5, 2012 11:10:50 GMT -6
The deadliness factor is the reason I've not used them in the past. They seem geared toward a certain style of play--like maybe "see how far you can get into the dungeon before you croak". That might make for a pretty fun one-shot, especially if the players knew there were deadly traps around every corner.
I think what I'm really looking for is complex puzzle-type rooms, doors, etc. My players like to solve puzzles every once in a while, like a door that has clues inscribed and you have to put colored stones in a certain order, or something like that. They like the tension of discussing it and tinkering with it, and all the while hearing me roll the d6 every so often to see if a wandering monster is going to show up.
Anyone know of a good source for puzzles?
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Post by Vile Traveller on Sept 5, 2012 17:55:39 GMT -6
Remember, too, that they were created in the early 80' when referees were expected to try their best to kill PCs. I began playing D&D in the 70's and I'm happy to say I never ran into that mindset. I'm not saying nobody ever played that way back then, but I believe it likely it wasn't near as prevalent as folks believe. There you go, you started in the seventies! Actually, I do remember that type of thing coming in more with the newcomers during the early- to mid-eighties, rather than us old grognards. Very young, very inexperienced DMs. But, yeah, My tongue was at least partially in my cheek there. I have also never used a Grimtooth trap because of the lethality, although I've frequently thought about modifying them and then using them. |
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Post by tacojohn4547 on Sept 5, 2012 18:07:31 GMT -6
I've seen a sampling of Could Kingdom Games riddle and puzzle books at GenCon every year, but I just haven't picked any up yet. So I cannot vouch for whether they're any good or not. But I think these books have been around for quite a while. I think you can order directly from them via their online store: www.cloudkingdom.com/Home.aspx |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 18:13:01 GMT -6
There you go, you started in the seventies! I apologize if I gave offense, I just wanted you to know that I was speaking from experience and not "well, I heard it was this way back then ..." I realize being around back then doesn't make any more an authority than anyone else. However, I can at least reference that time from actual experience and not secondhand knowledge. I'll trouble you no further. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 5, 2012 18:28:20 GMT -6
There you go, you started in the seventies! I apologize if I gave offense, I just wanted you to know that I was speaking from experience and not "well, I heard it was this way back then ... I don't think you gave offense. His comment was followed by a wink, suggesting to me that he was imagining an old codger saying something like "dang kids, get off of my lawn."  If not, the two of us old-timers could gang up on him and whack him with our canes. ;D Anyway, I had a couple of the Grimtooth books and they were fun to read but totally theoretical. The traps were just too deadly. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2012 18:33:40 GMT -6
No sweat, I'm not offended by what he said.
It's just that I'd rather err on the side of caution and do my part to help keep this a friendly gathering of gamers than yet another internet war zone.
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Post by derv on Sept 5, 2012 18:49:23 GMT -6
The traps seemed very deadly and I think they were meant to be very deadly from the few GT's I looked through. I mean, look at that evil smirking goblin on the cover.
But, a couple gave me ideas that could be modified to be less deadly and more just a challenge to PC's (ie Magnificent Marble Misadventure, Ball Bearing Corridor, & the section on door traps). They're definately idea generators.
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Post by DungeonDevil on Sept 5, 2012 21:27:14 GMT -6
I first saw a Grimtooth book back in Junior High: a friend on the bus had a copy and I looked through it, startled by the exceedingly diabolical designs and was quite glad that I was not in any game where the traps were even remotely similar.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Sept 5, 2012 22:37:50 GMT -6
I apologize if I gave offense, I just wanted you to know that I was speaking from experience and not "well, I heard it was this way back then ... I don't think you gave offense. His comment was followed by a wink, suggesting to me that he was imagining an old codger saying something like "dang kids, get off of my lawn." If not, the two of us old-timers could gang up on him and whack him with our canes. ;D Ha! You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want to offend me. ;D Even so, I guess it's easy to over-generalise about attitudes back then because we were a lot more geographically isolated pre-internet - the only way you found out what gamers outside your face-to-face group thought was through magazines (magazin e, in my case, I could only afford one so I went for White Dwarf). So, you're right, I shouldn't be talking about a prevailing attitude back then because I, like you, can only speak from personal experience. In the same spirit of goodwill I will also concede the possibility, but not the likelihood, that you are an older codger than I. And you may have two canes on your side, but mine is telescopic and spring-loaded, so be warned! |
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Post by Sean Michael Kelly on Sept 5, 2012 23:01:15 GMT -6
It's just that I'd rather err on the side of caution and do my part to help keep this a friendly gathering of gamers than yet another internet war zone. And may your tribe increase! I have a copy of GT, and yes, as already mentioned, it's great theory/inspiration but way too deadly. |
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Post by giantbat on Sept 11, 2012 22:32:01 GMT -6
I had all the GTs back when they were in print. I never really considered inflicting them on my friends, but I enjoyed reading them. They were kind of like "Spy vs Spy" comics for DMs.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Sept 12, 2012 10:02:49 GMT -6
A number of the traps certainly came from actual games (I've been lucky enough to play in some sessions run by Ken St. Andre and his Gristlegrim dungeon can be deadly!) but I suspect that as the series progressed more and more of them were designed as entertainment for readers of the book, rather than being intended for use.
There were always exceptions to the general rule of lethality (I was fond of the indestructible vase containing a valuable gem: tip it out and the gem is yours, but if you touch it your hand temporarily balloons in size... so if you reached into the vase to grab it then you suddenly found yourself with a club for a hand) and later books explicitly included more annoying, embarrassing and inconvenient traps instead of instant killers. A couple of my traps appeared in Traps Ate and you'd have to be quite unlucky to get killed by them.
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