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#30 Traps for Tombs (PFRPG) $3.96
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#30 Traps for Tombs (PFRPG)
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#30 Traps for Tombs (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 09/14/2012 07:31:33

The hidden pit, the swinging blade, the falling block, the gush of flame or the odd poisoned dart... standard traps installed by tomb-owners of many worlds to keep the rif-raf (or at least, marauding adventurers) from disturbing their eternal rest. Here, however, are an assortment of fiendish devices to make your tombs - or wherever else you choose to situate them, a bit more interesting and exciting for your unwelcome visitors.

The traps are neatly grouped together in four separate tombs, as well as a few stand-alone ones of note, some 55 traps in total. Full details are given in a listing by CR level, to enable you to pick the most suitable ones for your needs. What is really interesting is that the tomb write-ups come complete with background history, and within them the traps are arranged in such a way that multiple traps combine to make interesting and challenging encounters. Use them as is (or with the back story altered to fit in with your campaign world or plot requirements) or treat them as inspiration when designing your own tombs and other trapped locations.

Each trap is described in detail, including game mechanics and what the characters can see or detect, many with diagrams and associated information. For example, rolling ball traps are popular - perhaps forcing characters to flee into other traps that they might have noticed had they not been running for their lives. If you want the ball to 'reset' for the next bunch of hapless adventurers, add a spot of reverse gravity to send it back to its starting point - this is all laid out diagrammatically so that if you, like me, want your traps to actually 'work' you know how it operates. This approach also allows the more mechanically-minded characters a chance to figure out a trap and attempt to disarm it by role-play rather than merely rolling dice. Some might even want to design traps of their own, to defend a lair or the vault in which they store their loot!

There's a lot crammed into these pages, well worth a look whether you are looking for a few traps or enjoy the sort of 'dungeon' exploration where there are masses of traps to challenge adventurers.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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#30 Traps for Tombs (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Dark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/09/2011 10:54:26

30 Traps for Tombs by Rite Publishing

This product is 19 pages long. It starts with a cover,and credits. (2 pages)

Tricky Traps (14 pages) We start off with a IC introduction and a page of information about the product, as well as a location of tombs where the traps are. Though of course you can use them anywhere. There is 30 traps in this book but they are all very elaborate with several parts to them. You could in most case pull out each part and make it, it's own trap. In which case you get 28 magical traps, 25 mechanical traps and one combo trap.

It ends with a OGL and ads. (3 pages)

Closing thoughts. The art work is black and white, it ranges from fair to pretty good. Editing and format are very good, I only noticed a single error. The traps are imaginative and interesting. Plus as I mentioned while there is 30 traps pretty much all of them have several parts to them which if you want to pull them apart gives you less interesting traps but nearly double the number of traps. The one flaw I would say this book has is no puzzle traps. The other one and this isn't a flaw really is, it made me want more of them. I would now love to see a couple of more books. Perhaps 30 more traps including some puzzle traps and a 101 book of simpler traps. So what's my rating? Well the traps are very good and interesting. While I do lament the missing puzzle traps not enough to deduct a half star for it. So I am giving this one a 5 star review.

Trust me, I'm a Succubus.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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#30 Traps for Tombs (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Dawn F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/02/2011 15:16:22

If you are a Game Master who wants to include traps that are different from the typical ones in the Pathfinder Core Rules and are like me and simply don’t have the time to come up with clever ones, this is your book. Although this book clearly emphasizes tombs, treasure and the attempt to keep said treasure out of the hands of opportunistic thieves. There are enough ideas within to use for other settings. A GM can never have too many traps to throw at the players. Using the same old traps again and again gives the players too many chances to recognize the signs and use the appropriate skills to remove or circumvent them.

The element of tongue-in-cheek celebration of popular “geek” culture within Rite’s books always gets a chuckle out of me. The cover page has a quote from Renee Belloq of the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Next is a highly appropriate quote from the real Howard Carter when he first entered King Tut’s Tomb from The Tomb of Tutankhamen. Trevor’s artful in-character letter to Owain Northway, a fictional character well-known to those who read Rite Publishing’s products; and his use of clear descriptions sprinkled with advice for GMs on how to use the traps is fun to read. It is little extras like these which help to make the 30’s series of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game supplements worthwhile purchases. The supplement gives a useful setting for those who don’t already have something in mind, Rafikabeer a necropolis encounter location. The story behind Rafikabeer is an interesting one and leaves questions to be answered by the individual GM in a manner that best fits his or her campaign. Tantalizing hints of something darker at work in the city prior to its existence as a necropolis are wonderful tools for the GM to fuel the imagination. This is not an adventure, yet with a few additions of encounters, characters and plot it could easily become one.

Whether you use the background material or not, the traps described herein can be used by any GM who needs to provide a not-to-pleasant surprise for players. Some traps are interconnected. These give players fits when they think they have discovered the trap and proceed only to get caught by the next trap. A whole range of magical and mechanical traps, hazards, haunts, and monsters (via summon monster spells) fill this supplement. As mentioned above the descriptions of traps, there are far more than 30 traps. Many work in conjunction with other and frequently different types of traps.

Combined with Trevor’s clear entertaining prose, this is a must have for any GM who wishes to include extra spice to his or her adventure. The only complaint I have is that some of the maps would be brutal on my ink supply in my printer to reproduce for game use. That is insufficient reason to downgrade my score. I could simply describe the location and allow my players to draw it as they choose and see what happens, sort of old school style. That could quickly teach them the value of asking the right questions and taking initiative to draw things properly themselves, hmm… Now there’s a thought. Anyway, I digress, five stars out of five from me. Thank you Rite for providing yet another excellent resource.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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#30 Traps for Tombs (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Thilo G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/13/2011 13:56:02

This pdf is 19 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisements, leaving 14 pages of content, so let’s check the latest installment of the #30-series out!

As we’re used to by now, the pdf kicks off with an aptly-written IC-introduction to the matter at hand and sets the traps located herein at the optional backdrop of Rakifabeer, the main necropolis of the land of tombs and manages to actually sketch an interesting civilization and backdrop in a single page - a commendable example of concise writing! Moreover, the designer’s short commentary informs us that we actually get 55 traps instead of 30 – more than our poor PCs bargained for. Even better, though, several are combined into trap encounters, making a case for the complex traps I love so much. But onwards to the traps – will they stand up to the excellent “Art of Traps” by Necromancers of the Northwest?

The first thing you’ll notice when delving into the traps is, that they are not simply an assortment of traps (though they can be used as such), but actually work as a kind of gazetteer of the necropolis, including details like victims of polymorph traps etc., which subsequently evokes a rather gazetteer-like feeling that goes far beyond a dry crunch-book and is even reminiscent of a sketch for a trap-focused adventure – Neat! This flair is further enhanced by providing e.g. a simple, grid-map for the “Tombs of Tamar”, including A LOT of information to give the PCs hints of what to expect via linguistics and smart thinking. The traps linked to a Tamar king’s tomb are especially devious, well-placed and cool and come with another map.

But don’t be concerned, even the regular traps we get, are imaginative: Picture a room with a floor that tilts into the corner where the most weight lies, add two swinging deadly scythes to separate the room into quarters and you get a nice example of an easy to implement trap, that is just plain cool in its rather simple, yet iconic deviousness. Of course, the indy-trap, aka the rolling boulder had to get its representation, too and I actually prefer this one to NWN’s take on the trap, probably also due to there being a nice side-view of the traps make-up and the nice stumble-traps. No, that’s actually not it, rather it’s the addition of a reverse gravity for maximum pain n the PC’s part. And the alternative of a rolling ball of water. Water? Yep, and no the PCs are not supposed to drown. After all, there are those cute shocker lizards…

That’s what I’m talking about, it’s this kind of inventiveness that makes the distinction between good and awesome. Speaking of drowning: Combine magnets and water for a happy drowning and if that’s not enough, add one of the party-separation traps for even more fun. If you’re sadistically inclined (like I am), there’s also a downright cruel and evil trap that made me chuckle with glee: Teleport into a sarcophagus and transformation into a mummy – scream, PCs, scream! Muahahaha That are the small and “simple” traps. Yep. I was wide-eyed when I read that, too. The Necromancer’s chessboard (again, with a schematic depiction), makes for a cool idea and the pit-traps that conclude the pdf make for a nice addition to the file. While at first I wasn’t too excited about them, due to their proximity in the file, I realized that they could easily be stacked for deadly effects and the “Ahhh-owww-ahhh-ow-ahhh-owwww-etc.”-factor.

Conclusion: The pdf is extensively bookmarked and I noticed no editing or formatting glitches bar one: In the designer’s commentary, the pdf is referred to by its work-in-progress title “tricky traps”. That’s it and definitely nothing that could be considered a justification for detracting a star. Layout adheres to the new two-column-RiP-standard and artwork is b/w stock-art, but beautiful and very flavorful one. Indeed, I can’t bring myself to saying anything negative about this file – it’s a joy to read (in contrast to most crunch-heavy books), is easily integrated into any setting/dungeon, could stand alone as an adventure-locale/mini-gazetteer and would e.g. make for a great expansion of modules like “Pact-stone Pyramid” or the legendary “Necropolis” by Gary Gygax (R.I.P.), one of my favorite adventures of all time.

A crunch-heavy book full of imaginative traps, a practically complete trap-based adventure-sketch, an iconic flair and traps that truly deserve the moniker “imaginative” – Could one want for more? Yes, I missed one thing and have to admit that, while NNW’s “Art of Traps” has to admit defeat on all other levels, there is no complex puzzle-trap in here that necessitates the players thinking outside the box/logical and the complex traps from NNW’s book are just a joy to behold. In all other regards, though, #30 Traps for Tombs is just stellar and offers more content than promised – a lot more. It was not necessarily the additional crunch, but the stellar, captivating presentation and fluff that made this book a true blast to read and sparked off some truly insidious ideas in the twisted mind of yours truly –With all the praise I’ve heaped on this book, you might imagine what my final verdict will be: 5 stars and the Endzeitgeist-seal of approval. If you even have the slightest soft spot for traps, go check this out – the low price nearly forces your hand to do so. In fact, check it out even if you don’t like traps or trap-books: It might sway you!

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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