Chris here again, with another update on the progress of this project. The old Troll is on vacation, lounging on a beach outside of the City of Brass, escaping the ice, snow and wind. In this update we shall give you a progress report on project, show off final art for the Stalactites of Death Stretch Goal Trap, present a new Stretch Goal Trap, and tease our next upcoming crowdfunding campaign. Lets get to it!
Here is where we are at with the various tasks regarding this book:
The last few traps and the Bonus Trap are back from editing. They just need a few more development tweaks, but otherwise are ready to go.
The Table of Contents for both books has been set.
Steve Crompton has submitted the final few art pieces for the Stretch Goal Traps (see below).
The Stretch Goal Traps are currently being converted to DCC and 5E stats. They should be hitting our in-box any day now!
All of the essays have been edited and are ready for layout.
FEF #26 Against the Thieves' Guild is off to the editor. The author is deep into the DCC version.
The DCC funnel DCC #106 Trials of the Trapmaster is in editing.
Last time we shared the preliminary art sketch for The Stalactites of Death, one of our brand new Stretch Goal Traps. Here is the final art, curtesy of the Trap Master Steve Crompton.
The Stalactites of Death Trap Final Art
And here is another brand new Stretch Goal Trap from Steve:
I Go Weak In the Knees
“Kneed” I explain this trap? Well for you humans, I guess I should. Over the years, I’ve had traps that slice ankles, spike feet and even cut off feet, but I hadn’t presented a trap for knee knocking. This trap was suggested to me by Tonya Halfling, that infamous hobbit skater from the 1990s. Anyway, here’s how this one works…
You need a dark corridor that your delvers must pass through. I say dark, so that the trap itself will not be easily noticed. All along the corridor about 2 and a half feet above the floor is a long groove that runs horizontally along the corridor. Upon a casual look it just appears that a row of bricks is missing and was presumably done for aesthetic reasons. Upon very close examination the back of the groove has been covered over with a layer of thick paper the same color as the rest of the bricks in the wall and there is a dark hollow space behind it if one cares to punch through the paper layer. Needless to say, punching through the paper anywhere will trigger the trap as will stepping on one of the trigger plates located about 1/3 down the hallway.
So, what IS the trap I hear you ask? Well behind the wall is a horizontal “wheel” with eight hammers on it. The wheel is aligned along the horizontal groove and when the trap is triggered by the delvers, the wheel starts to spin and bursts out of the groove about ten feet in front of the delvers and moves towards them at a goodly speed. The spinning hammers are set at the height of the average humans knees, so when the hammers start hitting legs it will be at the knee level. Hopefully the repeated strikes of the multiple hammers will shatter more than a few kneecaps! If the victim is taller or shorter than average, the hammer hits will be on their shins or above their knees, so they may break other bones. To make it more fun, make sure the door they used to get into this corridor seals tight when the trap is triggered, so they can’t just run out.
As for how the wheels operate, you can either say they are run by elaborate spells, or they can be machines made by crafty gremlins – whatever works best in your adventuring world. My servants can install it in your dungeon by either method…
I Go Weak in the Knees Final Art
And finally, be sure to check out our next crowdfunding campaign coming soon. You can find it here.
