Haunted Traps

Terror takes a toll. The ramifications of frightful experiences might be an instant of instinct-triggering shock or a lasting, traumatic echo. The Dungeon Master's Guide presents options for fear and horror to help reinforce terrifying themes in play. This section presents an alternative system , exploring reactions personalized to individual characters and offering incentive for players to embrace roleplaying moments of fear. Options exploring fear provide guidance to create frightening moments for a character outside of spells or monster abilities, while rules for stress model the lingering toll such events can take. None of these options are required to create an enjoyable horror roleplaying experience, but they provide ways to measure the effects of characters facing and overcoming their fears.

S E E D S OF FEAR

Aside from supernatural sources o f dread and monsters who strike terror in their victims, fear is subjective and often quite personal. A battle-hardened warrior and a reclusive scholar might not deal with frightful circumstances in the same way. During character creation, a player can choose up to two Seeds of Fear to represent things their character finds truly frightening. The Seeds of Fear table offers some examples. These can change over time as characters grow, overcome old fears, and d iscover new uncertainties. Work with players to determine when their Seeds of Fear might change.

A character never has more than three Seeds of Fear; if you gain a new seed and already have three, choose which of your old fears is replaced by the new one.

S E E D S OF F E A R d l 2 Seed "I can't sta n d d a r k p laces." 2 " I 'm terrified of a parti c u l a r k i n d of a n i ma l." 3 " Deep water w i l l be the death of m e . " 4 "I c a n ' t stand heights." 5 " I hate b e i n g s t u c k in tight spaces." 6 " Be i n g a ro u n d crowds u nnerves m e , for I a lways fee l j ud ge d . " 7 " I hate fee l i n g i s olated or b e i n g a lo ne." 8 " Stor m s a n d extreme weather rattle me." 9 " B e i n g fol l owed c h i l l s my b l o o d . " 1 0 " S u d de n n o i ses o r a pp e a ra nces fray m y n e rves." 1 1 " I c a n 't be comforta b l e a ro u n d creatures l a rger than I a m . " 1 2 " Reflecti o n s a lways seem l i ke they're l o o k i n g straight t h ro u gh m e . " When a character encounters one o f their Seeds of Fear, and interacts with the situation in a way that reinforces the seed, such as screaming or stumbling back from a horrid event, consider giving the character inspiration for their fear-focused reaction (see " Inspiration" in the Player's Handbook). Once a character gains inspiration in this way, they shouldn't be able to do so again until they finish a long rest.

For example, imagine that a character has the Seed of Fear " I hate being stuck in tight spaces" and must squeeze through a narrow crack in a cave wall to continue an adventure. If the player portrays the character's response in a way that reinforces that fear, such as refusing and finding another way around, taking time and making noise to widen the crack, or portraying some other fearful response, these would be perfect opportunities to reward the player's consideration of a Seed of Fear by granting their character inspiration.

FEAR

A n overwhelming foe o r horrid monster doesn't need magic or some supernatural ability to strike fear into the most stalwart adventurers. During any frightful encounter, you can call on a character to make a saving throw to resist being scared. The character must succeed on a DC 1 5 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn.

Any of the following circumstances might be reasons to have one or more characters make saving throws to resist being frightened: • The character experiences one of their • Seeds of Fear . An enemy is immune to the character's attacks • or spells. An enemy demonstrates it can deal enough damage to reduce a character to 0 hit points • in one blow . A creature is alien or monstrous in ways the char• acter never could have imagined. An object undermines a character's understanding of reality.

Charging headlong into terrifying situations i s the stock in trade for adventurers. Among the Domains of Dread, though, periods of respite between harrowing experiences can be rare. Even the hardiest adventurers find themselves worn down over time, their performance suffering as they struggle to cope with the dread and despair.

Various circumstances might cause a character stress. Stress can be tracked numerically as a Stress Score, increasing in trying situations and decreasing with care. At your discretion, a character's Stress Score might increase by 1 when one of the following situations occurs: • A tense, dramatic moment, especially one involv• ing one of a character's Seeds of Fear Every 24 hours the character goes without finish• • • ing a long rest Witnessing the death of a loved one A nightmare or darkest fear made real Shattering the character's fundamental under• standing of reality Witnessing a person transform into a horrid or unnatural creature

When a character makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, they must apply their current Stress Score as a penalty to the roll.

REDUCING STR E S S

A character who spends an entire day relaxing o r i n otherwise calm circumstances reduces their Stress Score by 1 when they finish their next long rest.

The calm emotions spell effect used to suppress the charmed and frightened conditions also suppresses the effects of one's Stress Score for the spell's duration.

A lesser restoration spell reduces the target's Stress Score by 1 , and a greater restoration spell reduces a character's Stress Score to 0. Like other traps, haunted traps represent threats leveled toward trespassers. They originate in an area spontaneously, often resulting from overwhelming negative emotions, tragedy, or evil. Just as some terrible fates might cause a tormented individual to rise as an undead creature, so might supernatural evil and violent emotions manifest more generally as one or more haunted traps. Such traps provide a way to theme the dangers and monsters of a haunted place to reveal a grim history or frightening tale. When creating haunted traps, consider what events brought them into being and how the trap's effects suggest those origins.

D ET E C T I N G H AU N T E D TRA P S

Every haunted trap has a n emanation, which might be as subtle as a drop in temperature or as overt as an object moving of its own accord. A haunted trap's emanation occurs before the trap takes effect. A character notices the emanation if their passive Wisdom (Perception) score equals or exceeds 10 + the trap's Haunt Bonus. A character who notices the haunted trap has until the start of their next turn to react, which might include fleeing to avoid the trap or attempting to disarm it (see the following section). Class features and spells, such as Divine Sense and detect evil and good, that discern desecration also detect haunted traps.

D IS A R M I N G H AUNTED TRA P S

Characters who notice a haunted trap before i t activates can attempt to disarm it. Typical methods of disarming traps, such as thieves' tools and dispel magic, don't affect haunted traps. However, the Channel Divinity class feature and the remove curse spell can disarm a haunted trap.

To use Channel Divinity to disarm a haunted trap, a character uses an action to present their holy symbol and speak a prayer. To use remove curse instead, a character must cast the spell and touch an object that is part of the trap. Whichever disarming method is used, the trap itself then makes a saving throw against the character's spell save DC, adding its Haunt Bonus to the save. On a failure, the trap is disarmed for 2 4 hours. I f the trap fails the save by 1 0 or more, the trap is disarmed permanently.

Depending on the haunted trap's origins, certain spells might also affect the trap. For example, a haunted trap with a fiendish origin might be permanently disarmed by the spell dispel evil and good.

Some haunted traps might also be disarmed in nonmagical ways related to the history of a haunted area. Such methods might be as simple as wearing the clothes of a haunted house's former owner or singing a lullaby that soothes a restless spirit.