Traps

[ektemple]

Remko's post about luring monsters reminded me of a discussion I've wanted to bring up.

Roguelikes traditionally have traps. I don't think Kerkerkruip needs to follow them in this. Rather, I wonder what you guys think about giving the player a limited ability to set traps?

There is already one sort of "trap" that a player can set, which is the teleportation beacon. If you turn it on and have a teleportation scroll yourself, you can spoil Malygris's getaway. Yeah, that's not really much of a trap.

But what if you there were a watch-and-trigger device that could be connected to a grenade (or a clutch of grenades) and then left behind? It would make the grenades forever unusable in their normal form, but would explode the next time that any actor entered the room where it was left. You could place the device in the room with the teleportation beacon and...hope that you don't need to use your own teleportation scroll after that! Or you could leave it in a room that you expect Malygris's pet demon to walk through, or even try to leave it for the Reaper.

Or maybe there's a scroll trigger device--stick a scroll in it and it will read it when some specific condition comes to pass.

I think this sort of thing might give a really satisfying sense of devious, clever making-do that would fit nicely with the themes of the game. What do you guys think?

[rvdpluijm]

So,

First of all, I like the idea that one can plan ahead. However, the majority of the creatures cannot follow you (for good reason; after all, it is necessary for the game to work that one is able to choose which creature one wishes to defeat first). Therefore, setting traps should require quite some time in most games and setting traps in a room with a monster already there sounds a bit silly to me. There are a number of solutions to this:

1. Let monsters be able to walk around, but, alert the player each turn if there is a monster in a nearby room. It would folllow the old BSD-game wumpus style. I'm not certain whether this would work.
2. Allow players to set traps both in rooms without and with monsters, but in the latter occasion only when the player has some form of stealth (e.g. not yet seen / invisible).
3. Let traps have influence in multiple rooms (although this raises issues regarding activation (perhaps turn-based?)).

[ektemple]

Thanks Remko, I should clarify: I wasn't thinking in terms of radical changes to the game, like enemies patrolling the dungeon at will. Instead, I was thinking that the player would need to exploit the existing situations where monsters move about: the Reaper, Malygris, Malygris's pet demon, the smoke demon, the imp--all of these are enemies that move. And any level 1 to 3 enemy can move if the Overmind's power impels it. All of these situations should require quick thinking to take advantage of via traps, and could also be potentially dangerous for the player as well.

If we want to open up the realm of possibilities, we could introduce items that allow the player to inspire limited movement in enemies: a Scroll of Teleport Other that could be cast on an enemy, for example, or items that might force a monster to move a room or two toward the player (or some other goal), or something like that.

If the trap triggers only when someone new enters the room, I don't think it really matters whether another monster sees the trap being set. It would be very difficult for the player to exploit that situation to harm the monster that saw the trap, at least without causing harm to himself as well. But maybe there are situations I'm not thinking of?

The scroll trigger device I mentioned could have a wider range of uses, where it might make sense to prime it in the room with you. It could act as a second attack, for example: maybe the PC is undead and he sticks a scroll of death in the trigger device. The imp blinks into the room, and between the scroll of death and the PC's direct attack, he is able to kill it. (Scroll trigger devices might work on other principles than a new enemy entering the room, too, which could drastically alter their scope.)

[rvdpluijm]

With regard to trap setting when monsters are in the room: I was thinking about a time-released type of trigger here. So: I plant a bomb somewhere, set it to two turns and try to run away. Naturally, this would only be interesting if:

1. Running away can be prevented by monsters (i.e. by a successful 'trip' attack, made at a -3 attack penalty, but which prevents the player to run away and takes away a turn); or
2. It takes time to plant the bomb, during which I am vulnerable to an attack; or
3. I can only try to plant the bomb under the circumstance that I am hiding (via a cloak of shadows or something akin), while risking to get caught and entering combat.

Another thought: perhaps players could sacrifice other types of variables (such as weapons) to build such a trap. It would then require something like a 'tinkering book' or 'scroll of tinkering', which transforms a weapon of choice (or, if cursed, at random) into a trap.

[VictorGijsbers]

I like this stuff. I'll think about it more once release 8 has been released. :)

[ektemple]

Another trap idea: throw a teleport beacon into the lava lake. The beacon should melt after a certain number of turns, so you'd be gambling that you could convince someone to teleport in that period--and not want to to do so yourself!

[VictorGijsbers]

That is an awesome idea.

[curiousdannii]

Is that already possible? It's a great idea!

Also I want to revive my idea of throwing grenades through a door/portal.