Spiderweb Fuse

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Tired of delvers burning up your giant spiders? These next three traps are sure to put some new life into the old cliche of torching spiders in their lairs. The first is the Spiderweb Fuse trap, by Bucky Hernandez. This trap is sure to re-educate those anti-arachnid types who delight in burning up the homes of poor innocent spiders. The trap takes the form of a room apparently filled with spiderwebs. For effect, include a clever mock-up of a large nasty spider. When the delvers set their torches to the webs for kicks, they’ll find that they have just ignited an interlocking series of fast-burning fuses! The fuses are connected to kegs of oil or black powder in the walls of the room. When the flames touch off the kegs, the resulting explosion will either fill the room with flaming oil, or bring the ceiling and walls crashing down in a thunderous explosion on top of the callous home-wreckers! Bammo—delver quiche!

Mechanical Trap

Type. The Spiderweb Fuse trap is a Tier 3 Simple trap with a Deadly threat.  The room is 20 by 20 feet and so full of webs that it’s lightly obscured. A taxidermized giant spider is just visible through the gloom. The room’s main entrance is clear of cobwebs, but any other exit is somewhere inside the webbed area. The webs, taken from real giant spiders, have AC 10 and 10 hit points per 5-foot section, and they’re vulnerable to fire. A creature who enters a 5-foot section of the web becomes restrained. As an action they can make a DC 13 Strength check to escape. The fuses, concealed among the webs, are connected to powder kegs and oil repositories hidden in high niches behind the walls, close to the ceiling.  Detection. Studying the giant spider for at least a minute and making a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check allows a creature to realize the “spider” is strangely immobile, even for a spider that’s lying in ambush. A character examining the webs can make a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation or Nature) check to realize they were not created here naturally, but brought into the room; this check is made with a disadvantage unless the character is inside the room and touches the web. A success on the check also reveals the presence of unusually thick, artificial fibers, concealed among the webs. Following them through the web and to their source reveals they are leading into the walls, and a faint smell of oil can be detected by sniffing around the holes.  Trigger. When any part of the web is put to flame, the entire network of fuses ignites in streaks of sudden flashes. A moment later the kegs explode. Effect. Each creature that succeeds on a DC 17 Intelligence check to realize what is happening can move its speed as a reaction before the kegs explode. Then the upper parts of the walls erupt in an explosion, raining debris and flaming oil over the entire room. Each creature in the room must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) fire damage and 28 (8d6) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful save. Each creature outside the room within 20 feet of the doorway is subject only to the bludgeoning damage from hurdling bricks. A creature who takes any fire damage is covered in burning oil and takes 14 (4d6) fire damage at the start of each of their turns for 1d6 rounds or until the oil is removed with an action and a successful DC 17 Dexterity check.  Countermeasures. Cutting through the webs does not trigger the trap, nor does marching through the sticky webs; only fire ignites the fuses. It’s possible to pull all the fuses from the walls, but finding them all requires three successes on a DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check, with each attempt taking 10 minutes. Reset. The trap must be entirely rebuilt in order to be reset.  Adjusting the Threat. A Yellow Room trap (3 Skulls) is a Tier 2 Deadly threat which is very similar in concept but uses a different form of decoy: yellow mold instead of webs.   Much of the room’s walls and floor is covered with a thick moss that was colored yellow in order to make it appear like deadly yellow mold, which is typically destroyed by fire damage. A success on a DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) identifies the yellow mold, but a success by 5 or more alerts the character that this is in fact harmless moss.  The explosion deals 14 (4d6) fire damage and 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage but is otherwise identical.