Putting D23 on the March: The Gripilli Spear Trap

 My goal with the Putting on the March series is to take elements from adventures and tease out components that can move around your campaign; that is, to turn loose the gems of a published adventure so they can chase down your players beyond the scope of your adventure.

For my first Putting on the March entry, I am mining a trap I used for my D23 Project. My D23 dungeon is an Aquatic temple hidden over 100 miles ashore in a massive swamp. the original inhabitants of this temple have long since gone, and the structure is now occupied by a wild nature cult of Gripilli and Boggard worshipers. These cultists have adapted the hunting tools of the Upach, the Gripilli ethnicity they are descended from, to secure their settlement. Easily the most common trap in the Temple of the Leaping Oracle is the Gripilli Spear Trap, an insidious piercing hazard designed to deliver an injury poison to an unwary victim.

GRIPILLI SPEAR TRAP    HAZARD 1

 

UNCOMMON

MECHANICAL

TRAP

 

Complexity Simple

Stealth DC 20 (expert)

Description A Poisoned spear rigged to jab into a doorway when triggered.

Disable DC 14 Theivery (Trained) on the door frame

AC 19, Fort +11, Ref +3

Hardness 6 HP 24 (BT 12) Immunities critical hits, object immunities, precision damage

Poison Spear  Trigger The door is opened; Effect The trap makes a +13 Melee strike on the creature that opened the door; on a hit the spear inflicts 1d6+3 piercing damage with a DC 17 Spear Frog Poison effect

Spear Frog Poison (Alchemical, Injury, Poison) Saving Throw DC 17 Fortitude; Maximum Duration 6 rounds;

Stage 1 1d4 poison damage (1 round)

Stage 2 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round)

Some traps can be converted into snares, player-usable hazards accessed through the Snare Crafting Feat. Below is an adaption of the Gripilli Spear trap into an Uncommon snare. The same tool can be used to scale the spear trap up as a higher-level hazard

GRIPILLI SPEAR SNARE    ITEM 1

 

UNCOMMON

CONSUMABLE

MECHANICAL

SNARE

TRAP

Access Upach Gripilli

Price 4 gp

This snare consists of a hidden spear held under tension above the frame of a door; moving the door releases the tension causing the snare to strike against the creature at the door. The trap makes a strike using the crafter's crafting modifier as its attack modifier; on a hit, it deals 1d4 piercing damage. The trap can have a dose of injury poison applied to it to improve its damage effect.