Here is another installment of exTRAPaganza, our Thursday over-the-top trap series.
A large vat of molten gold it in the middle of the room. It looks like there are levers around it that can create a small pour into molds that can create coin-sized pieces of gold.
It requires a hard Intelligence (Investigation) check to work out the mechanism to create the pour, and takes 1 hour to create 10gp worth of gold coins.
However, the mechanism is faulty and needs two repairs. The first repair can be identified with another hard Intelligence (Investigation) check. Once identified, it requires an average Dexterity check with thieves’ tools to fix.
If not fixed, the shutoff mechanism for the pour is faulty. The room starts to fill up with molten gold. Each target in the room must make an easy Dexterity saving throw or take moderate fire damage. The gold spreads at a rate of 20 feet per round to the edges of the room. All targets that start their turn, or enter a molten gold space must make the same saving throw. It requires 2d4+2 hours for the gold to cool to a safe level.
The hard fix requires a very hard Intelligence (Investigation) to spot. Gold is fed from above. This fix requires a hard Dexterity check with thieves’ tools to fix. If not fixed, when the pour starts, the gold and the mechanism above the vat falls in. This causes molten gold so splash into the room. All targets within 30 feet of the vat take heavy fire damage, with a hard Dexterity saving throw halving the damage. After this treat the room as above.