Game Master Guidance: Where Have All the Traps Gone?

Previously a hallmark of adventure-centric media, traps have become something of an anachronism. Movies, TV Shows, and books no long feature the death dealing contraptions that once targeted their protagonists. Even the last James Bond film lacked anything close to the iconic traps that filled previous installments. Admittedly there are always exceptions to this. But typically they center entirely around the concept, like Saw or the soon to be released, fad chasing Escape Room. The last holdout is video games but even then they're presented as a challenge to the player rather than an actual threat in the narrative. Role-playing Games are among the mediums that have largely turned their backs on traps.

Previously, traps were a big deal in RPGs. Open up an older rulebook and there’s a good chance it’ll have a section, if not a whole chapter on different traps for game masters to throw at their players. They were a hallmark of dungeon-centric games in particular, forcing characters to survive not just the area’s occupants but the environment itself. But traps have been slowly de-emphasized over the years. Now, rules for them will be consigned to a supplement, if they show up at all.
To Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition’s credit, it does at least give a few pages on different traps to employ in their stories. But the point stands, traps have lost the place of prominence they once occupied. There’s a good chance it’s just society’s general distaste for traps bleeding into the niche RPGs occupy.

As to that, I’d say years of cartoons and action movies turned traps from genuine threats into goofy Rube Goldberg machines that always backfire or are narrowly escaped. The audience knows it’s extremely unlikely a major character is going to fall victim to an inanimate object, no matter how complex it might be. The reality is, it just wouldn’t be satisfying, so they know not to expect it. Traps in RPGs have a similar problem. By most metrics, death by trap would be a pretty underwhelming way to go out. It’s downright laughable in a game featuring borderline superhuman characters like Dungeons & Dragons or Exalted. So GMs trying to avoid a disappointing end for the player characters might turn an otherwise lethal trap into something less than that. Consequently, they become a mere inconvenience and consequently lack any real narrative weight.

In some systems and setting, getting killed by a trap is the preferable way to go out. Getting torn apart, smashed, crushed, or skewered by one in Warhammer Fantasy or Paranoia would be much more impressive than most of their other options. I’ve had players die from falling from carts and lucky hits from a bandit with a club in those systems. A trap makes much more of a story than those ends. Even then, such an underwhelming demise can play into the dark humor or grimness of a setting. A character survives countless supernatural perils, only to be cut down by an underhanded deception. A talented GM can play this off for tragedy, regardless of the system’s tone or power scale. It still might not be much a consolation to the player on the receiving end. Regardless of their history, traps are difficult to employ in a fulfilling manner.

Another way to avoid the problems from traps is to disguise them all together. Something might not look like or even intend to be the traditional trap but still serve the same function. A good example is the trash compactor scene from Star Wars. The machine’s crushing advance might not have been meant to kill the heroes but that didn’t make much of a difference. Similarly, structural damage and mechanical malfunction might cause an area to become hazardous to the players. For extra irony, it might be a direct result of the player’s actions. For more intentional traps, ambushes and deceptions feel less contrived while being just as lethal. The players are baited by their foes only to end up at a serious disadvantage. Traps have fallen out of fashion for a reason but a GM can find a place for them in their story with the right execution and some imagination.