OK Game Masters, here’s the chance to drop something on your characters’ collective heads as you design your next adventure.
Have a few obstacles fall from the sky and see how your players react. The reason it works is because many folks at the table aren’t expecting it. They’re looking for the next monster to come through the door. They’re less prepared for things that go clunk and splat from above.
In fact, some may even cry foul. (Aren’t the complaints of players music to a GMs ears?) But truly, good GMs should use the three-dimensional game space to their advantage.
So, with the preliminaries out of the way, what are some things you want to drop on your players?
Might I suggest …
- Cave ins
- Ceiling collapse
- Collapsed tent
- Dangling live electrical wires
- Rock slide
- Rolling boulder
- Falling block trap
- Falling stalactites
- Raining arrows
- Nets
- Swinging Pendulums with smashers attacked (tree logs, blades, rocks, take your pick)
- Avalanche
- Water pouring into a pit/trough
- Falling portcullis
- Catapult ammunition
Now, no list is exhaustive. But those should get you started. And when the players start looking up, well, that’s when you let gravity work from below, with the pit trap, sliding stairs and collapsing rickety bridge.
I can’t wait to hear what devilish tricks our readers have sprung on their players from above. Tractor trailer rigs tossed by tornadoes, perhaps? Please share them in the comments section below.
My favorite that I have dropped is an aircraft – with the PCs inside!
Spiders.
Hi Troy,
Great article.
And then there is the Old School trick of reversing gravity, and have the Players “fall” to the spiky ceiling. Bwah-hah-hah!
Phil
You don’t need to have the whole ceiling fall in, bits of masonry and loose tiles add a factor of lingering dread. Another fun one occurred after the PCs had rappelled down a chasm with a rope only to have a sneaky little kobold cut the rope behind them, making their escape much more difficult.
Other suggestions:
Unnatural rains (frogs, blood, stinging insects, etc.)
Random items from overhead shelves or tree limbs (usually the work of familiars, gremlins, poltergeists, or other minor nuisance monsters). This is especially fun in an alchemist’s lab.
Bird, bat, or insect guano.
Kamikaze commandos (usually little swarming monsters).
Slimes, oozes, and other unsavory liquids.
A random item of obvious value or magical nature (dropped by a previous owner who will likely appear later looking for it).
Water. Nothing like a flooded floor above the characters to get their attention.
I’m sure you can come up with more if you think about it.