Locks and Traps
Among the most common challenges facing thieves, explorers and other adventurers are the obstacles placed in their way – particularly locks and traps.
Locks are devices placed on boxes and doors to prevent entry. Most are crafted mechanisms opened with a key; some may be enchanted to prevent tampering. More rare are magical seals with no mechanism at all, which must be opened in specific ways.
Traps are contrivances that, when triggered – whether by opening a door or box, or stepping in a certain space, or tripping a wire – inflict some harm on the person triggering them. Most are crafted mechanisms, some enchanted with offensive spells; some are field traps, wielded in battle against unwary foes. Rarest are magical hexes with no mechanism.
| Get a Ref!
These rules are written to be self-administered as much as possible, but any player planning to pick a lock, trigger or disable a trap or otherwise tamper with any device should always get a referee if they can, to ensure fair play. |
Mechanical Locks
Mechanical locks come in two sizes: small locks for boxes and chests, and large locks for doors and gates. Padlocks are small locks that can be moved between boxes. Size relates only to where a lock is used; the same rules apply to picking either.
Like all equipment, locks vary in quality, which affects how easy they are to pick:
- Standard: A character with the Scoundrel skill can pick a standard lock with suitable phys reps in 30 seconds, at will.
- Superior and Mastercrafted: A character with the Device Proficiency skill can pick a superior lock with suitable phys reps in 2 minutes, or a mastercrafted lock with suitable phys reps in 5 minutes, up to twice per day (three times if the character is using higher-quality tools).
Some fiendishly difficult locks may take longer than 5 minutes to pick, require higher-quality tools, or use up two (or three!) uses of the Device Proficiency skill, but these are rare. Any special requirements will be listed on the “locked” side of the lock card.
| In and Out of Character Locks
In character boxes and doors must not be actually locked (i.e. with a real, physical lock) at any point during time in. A referee should be able to administer relevant effects without finding the owner to unlock it. Players needing a secure place in the in character area (for e.g. medicines, out of character money or other personal effects) may keep a locked box, but should label the box “out of character” to avoid confusion. In character items should not be kept in out of character boxes. |
Lock Cards
Any lock on an in character box or door must have a lock card (which is separate from the lock’s item card, if any). Lock cards are issued automatically with the item card for any crafted (i.e. superior or mastercrafted) lock; players may request a lock card for any standard lock at the game organisation desk on presenting a suitable phys rep.
The lock card must be affixed to the box or door as close as possible to the lock, with the “locked” side (see below) visible, in such a way that others can turn the card over when interacting with the lock.
Lock cards have two sides:
- The locked side of the card, which is labelled “Locked – Get a Ref” and details relevant traits for the lock (quality and materials, enchantment, etc.).
- The unlocked side of the card, which is labelled “Unlocked” and details any trap attached to the lock, which may be triggered when the card is turned if the thief hasn’t already detected and disabled it.
| Representing a Lock
You don’t need an actual working mechanism as a phys rep for an in character lock. Any reasonable attempt to represent one will do: a visible keyhole, a latch with a slider or button, a cog or wheel. As long as it’s obvious there’s supposed to be something there. |
Mechanical Traps
Mechanical traps are crafted devices with intricate mechanisms. Creating a mechanical trap requires the Mechanician skill.
Like all equipment, mechanical traps vary in quality, which affects how easy they are to disable. Mechanical traps may be superior or mastercrafted; there are no standard quality mechanical traps.
Mechanical traps are always triggered by a direct physical action, including:
- Opening a lock without the key, or opening any box or door.
- Stepping on a plate on the floor.
- Stepping on or into a tripwire or thread.
Effects vary by the design, but may include:
- A needle juts from the lock, striking the hand used to open it and administering a blade venom.
- A needle shoots out from the mechanism, striking the torso of the person standing in front of it (within 5ft/1.5m) and administering a blade venom.
- A blade swings out of the mechanism, inflicting one hit (sometimes with a damage call such as Through or Crush) to the torso of the person standing in front of it.
- A vial releases a cloud of gas from the mechanism, administering a poison to a person standing in front of it.
Other effects are possible – the accompanying card or attending referee will explain any effects.
By default, traps need to be manually reset after being triggered (and a new dose of poison applied, if any). Traps that reset themselves will give relevant details on the attached card.
| Unattended Mechanical Traps
Unlike field traps and passive poisons, trapped locks function even when unattended. The details of the trap are listed on the lock card, and any prospective thief should have a referee in attendance whenever possible, who can facilitate the effects. If no referee is available, the thief can apply any effects themselves. In any context other than a trapped lock, mechanical traps are subject to the usual rule: if left unattended by the trapper or a referee, the trap is assumed to have misfired or broken. The rare exceptions (usually for plot) will always be accompanied by a card detailing their effects. If unsure about interacting with a trap, the player should try and find a referee for support. |
Detecting and Disabling Mechanical Traps
Mechanical traps cannot usually be spotted without deliberately looking for them. A character with the Scoundrel skill can spot a mechanical trap after about 30 seconds of suitable roleplay. Note that this is separate from the time required to disable it.
Once detected, traps may be disabled as follows:
- Disabling mechanical traps requires the Device Proficiency skill and a suitable phys rep of thief’s tools.
- Disabling a superior trap takes 2 minutes.
- Disabling a mastercrafted trap takes 5 minutes.
- Note that the Device Proficiency skill may be used no more than twice a day (three times if the character is using higher-quality tools).
- Any trap must be detected and disabled before the lock is picked, or it will trigger.
Some fiendishly complex traps may take longer than 5 minutes to disable, require higher-quality tools, or use up two (or three!) uses of the Device Proficiency skill, but these are rare. Any special requirements will be listed on the relevant card or given by the attending referee.
By default, disabled traps are broken. The thief may disable the trap without breaking it, but must take twice as long to do so (i.e. 4 minutes for a superior trap, 10 minutes for a mastercrafted trap).
- Example
- The notorious burglar Jack Cowerd finds a locked chest in a merchant’s tent, which on brief examination appears to have a mastercrafted lock on it.
- Jack knows the merchant he is robbing is wealthy and paranoid, so he spends 30 seconds confirming that the lock is armed with a superior needle trap.
- He spends another 2 minutes, expending one use of his Device Proficiency skill, to disarm the needle trap. After that, he spends 5 minutes and a second use of his Device Proficiency skill to pick the lock.
- In total, Jack has spent 7 minutes, 30 seconds (plus a few seconds initially assessing the lock) and two uses of his Device Proficiency skill. Happily, Jack is using superior quality thief’s tools and still has one use of his skill remaining today.
- The needle trap is now broken. Had Jack devoted an additional 2 minutes to disarming it, he could have kept it intact, but he’s getting nervous and wants to get out of the merchant’s tent as soon as possible.
Field Traps
Field traps are large, crude traps deployed in the open, generally on the battlefield. Where mechanical traps depend on intricate components such as springs and cogs, field traps employ pits, ropes, rocks and branches. Field traps are set using the Trapper skill, and may be detected and disabled using the Trapper, Scoundrel and Device Proficiency skills.
Like mechanical traps, field traps can vary in quality, which affects how easy they are to disable. By default, all field traps are standard quality, but a trapper may learn how to set higher-quality traps through research.
Field traps are generally triggered by walking into a tripwire or breaking a branch underfoot (pit traps, of course, are triggered by stepping on them). Effects vary, but are usually broadly physical: knocking the target over, dropping a heavy weight on them, snaring them, etc. Common traps are listed below. Trappers may develop more involved traps through research.
| Unattended Field Traps
Like passive poisons, field traps require the trapper or a referee to remain in sight of the trap to facilitate its effects. If left unattended, the trap is assumed to have broken or misfired. Setting a battlefield trap is an objective for a scouting slot the night before the battle. If the scouting mission is successful, the battle team will attempt to allocate referee support for trapped areas of the battlefield. |
Detecting and Disabling Field Traps
Like mechanical traps, field traps cannot usually be spotted without deliberately looking for them. A character with the Trapper or Scoundrel skill can spot a field trap after about 30 seconds of suitable roleplay. Note that this is separate from the time required to disable them.
Once detected, traps may be disabled. A character with the Scoundrel or Trapper skill can disable standard field traps at will, taking 30 seconds. Disabled field traps are destroyed. Resetting a destroyed trap requires starting from scratch.
With research, a trapper may set higher-quality field traps. Disabling these traps requires the Trapper or Device Proficiency skill and a suitable phys rep of thief’s tools or trapper’s tools.
- Disabling a superior trap takes 2 minutes.
- Disabling a mastercrafted trap takes 5 minutes.
As with mechanical traps, disabling a higher-quality trap expends one use of the Device Proficiency or Trapper skill.
Common Field Traps
A character with the Trapper skill can set any of the below common field traps. The Trapper skill may be used twice per day (three times if the character is using higher-quality trapper’s tools).
Setting a field trap in general requires a phys rep of trapper’s tools (e.g. hatchet, shovel, knife) and a minimum period of suitable roleplay, which should begin and end in sight of a referee. Setting field traps on the battlefield requires a scouting slot.
A field trap may be represented by some bent branches, tied string, etc. artfully placed in an around trees and covered in leaves. Please don’t set real traps or tripwires anywhere in the player area!
By default, all field traps cover an area approximately 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter and affect one target.
| Name | Description | Effect | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadfall | A rock or heavy log is fastened in place high in a tree, to drop on the target | Inflicts two hits to the target’s head (armour protects normally) | 5 minutes, must be set under a tree |
| Log | A log suspended on ropes is hooked in a high place, to swing down when triggered | Inflicts one hit to the target’s torso (armour protects normally) and knocks the target over per Mundane Strike Down | 5 minutes, must be set under a tree |
| Pit | A deep pit is covered with a layer of thin branches and leaves, into which the target falls | Inflicts one physical hit to each leg, ignoring armour, and the target must climb out (if their legs aren’t incapacitated), taking 30 seconds | 15 minutes |
| Snare | A looped rope is set to catch and tighten around the target’s leg | Target is trapped per Mundane Entangle and must untie or cut the snare to escape, taking 30 seconds | 2 minutes |
| Tension | A thin branch is bent back under tension, to snap and whip back in the target’s face | Target is disoriented for 30 seconds per Mundane Confusion | 2 minutes, must be set next to a tree |
Larger or more complex traps are possible:
- Larger Field Traps: A trapper can set a larger version of a trap, covering a 10 ft (3 m) diameter and affecting up to 3 people when triggered. This expends two uses of the Trapper skill and takes twice as long as setting the smaller version of the trap (e.g. setting a larger log trap takes 10 minutes).
- Crafted Field Traps: A crafter can, with research, create large mechanical traps for use by trappers, such as bear traps. These devices require one or more uses of the Trapper skill to set, but often have more powerful effects including special damage calls.
- Complex Field Traps: With research, a trapper can learn more advanced traps, including spiked pits that inflict more damage, sharpened tension traps that lacerate the target’s face, or wire snares that cannot be freed without damaging the leg. These traps may cost two (or three!) uses of the Trapper skill, consume crafting materials or incorporate blade venoms, among other things.
Enchanted Locks and Traps
Higher-quality mechanical locks and traps may be enchanted, by various means (see box below).
By default, enchanted locks and traps cannot be picked using the Scoundrel or Device Proficiency skills. A character with the Wardbreaker skill can pick or disable these devices using the rules above, only if equipped with suitably invested tools.
| Types of Enchantment
Locks and traps may be enchanted by various means, including:
The rules on this page, including the use of Wardbreaker skill to pick or disable devices, apply regardless of the means of enchantment, although they may affect the outcomes (e.g. a construct might be programmed to relock itself, or a spirit bound into a trap may attack the wardbreaker attempting to pick it). |
Enchanted Locks
Locks may further be enchanted with special conditions for unlocking them, including:
- Must be unlocked by certain types of people (Lions, healers, people with red hair) or named individuals.
- Must be unlocked under certain circumstances (at night, in a shrine to Odin, during a marriage ceremony).
- Other requirements must be met (must be barefoot, must recite a prayer to Sythis, must burn a unit of comfrey).
Once a day, the Wardbreaker skill can reveal an enchanted lock’s special conditions, if any. With further research, they can learn to ignore those conditions.
| Enchanted Locks and Keys
When enchanting a lock, the key(s) must be enchanted alongside them; each key will be issued a magical item card along with the lock. If another key is later produced – whether copied from the original or simply not present in the original enchantment – it must be bound to the lock by ritual or other means (in the same way an item may be bound to a person) in order to work. |
Enchanted Traps
Enchanted traps are often invested with offensive spells, allowing the mundane mechanism to trigger a magical event.
- Examples
- A locked box that hits a would-be thief with an Elemental Missile when opened without the key.
- A locked chest that relocks itself (with Open/Lock) and causes the thief to forget unlocking the chest (with Forget) when opened without the key.
- A door that casts Confusion on the person holding the door’s handle when opened.
Magical Seals and Hexes
A box or door may be magically locked, or any object magically trapped, without requiring any mechanism at all, although doing so is more complex and costly than enchanting an existing mechanism.
A non-mechanical magical lock is called a seal. Seals always have conditions to open them, such as reciting a particular phrase or carrying a certain object (see Enchanted Locks, above, for some more ideas).
A non-mechanical magical trap is called a hex. Lacking mechanisms, hexes are triggered by interacting with the item in some way, including:
- A mat that casts a spell on anyone who steps on it.
- A ribbon that unleashes a spell on the person who unties it.
- A glass bauble that releases a spirit when crushed.
Hexes are always invested with offensive spells (per Enchanted Traps, above).
The Wardbreaker skill or the Analysis rite can reveal the conditions to open a seal, or the trigger or effects of a hex (although note that some very powerful enchantments may be protected against detection). With research, wardbreakers can learn to open seals even without meeting the conditions, or to disable hexes.
| Wards
Wards, including necromantic and demonic wards used in summoning, and the powerful wards around the ritual circle, are similar in nature to magical seals, but rather than securing a door or container, they protect a defined (usually circular) area from entry, either by specific creatures or by all creatures. |