Rat Trap
RoomDCC ATG · p.6
Open source p.6Area 1-4 – Rat Trap
A rank stench of sewage and animal filth pervades this area. The corridor opens into a larger chamber that recesses into a twenty-foot pit. On the ceiling, a leaky, fivefoot-wide sewage pipe runs from above the room to the opposite side of the chamber. At the bottom of the pit, a greasy black muck covers the floor. Rising from the accumulation of waste are four simple granite pillars ascending to the ceiling. On the eastern side of the pit stands an iron door etched with a symbol of rings closed around shut lips.
Judge’s Note: Refer to Map 2 for area 1-4A before the trap is activated and to Map 1B for area 1-4B after the trap is activated.
This chamber reflects Lyria and Dara’s time spent within city sewers during their tenure as footpads for the Gravelight Sorority before they rose up the ranks. Lyria transformed this chamber into a complex trap to communicate her disdain for Dara as nothing more than a treacherous rat. The floor and ceiling of this pit chamber are designed to depress like a large dumbwaiter when the weight of a delver reaches the bottom.
Detection: A character examining the stone pillars in the room who succeeds a DC 15 Intelligence check notices they don’t support the ceiling. Instead, they appear to act as guide rails, extending upward through narrow openings in the ceiling.
Trigger: A weight of 100 lbs. or more on the floor of the pit causes the room’s traps to be set into motion.
Effect: Weight upon the pit chamber’s floor causes the floor and ceiling to descend 10’. The walls of the chamber do not move, although the depression of the floor reveals a hidden chamber that contains a hell cat. It takes 1 round for the chamber to complete its descent. This may result in a split party in which some characters are trapped within the chamber while others are still in the corridor above. The implications for the delvers within the pit chamber are as follows:
Hell Cat Released: The subsiding floor reveals a chamber (5’ x 10’) along the west wall that releases a vicious hell cat that attacks any intruders within the pit chamber. When brought to 0 hit points, the hell cat disintegrates into a pile of ash.
Hell cat: Init , Atk bite melee () or breath weapon; Crit M/; AC 12; HD (hp 13); hp 13; MV 40’; Act ; SP immune to damage from fire or heat; SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL C.
Breath weapon: The breath weapon is a cone of flame 10’ wide and 30’ long. All within the area of effect must make a DC 12 Reflex save or take fire damage.
Flammable Sewage: The black slimy sludge at the bottom of the chamber is about 1’ deep and flammable; if the floor of the pit chamber comes into contact with flame (such as the hell cat’s fire breath), it will ignite, burn for 2 rounds, and deal fire damage to any character starting their turn in the area.
The Mouse Trap Door: The iron door set in the eastern wall is now more difficult to reach as it is now 10’ from the bottom of the chamber. A character wishing to climb the wall to reach the door must succeed a DC 12 climb sheer surfaces check. The door is trapped, which can be discerned with a successful DC 12 find trap check. Disarming the trap can be accomplished with adequate tools by jamming the mechanism in the keyhole that releases the spring with a successful DC 15 disable trap check. The trap activates upon an attempt to open the door, causing it to swing down from concealed hinges at its base to crush the opener against the wall. A DC 12 Reflex save is required to avoid damage from being pressed against the now-inverted door and the wall under its original position.
Delvers who are not within the pit chamber when it descends find a secret passage:
• Secret Passage: The pipe within the ceiling drops to form a 5’-wide corridor between the northern passageway and a secret passage revealed to the south.
• Rat’s Nest: Within the pipe is a nest of diseased rats that scurry forth and attack.
Swarm of diseased rats: Init ; Atk swarming bite melee (1 hp plus disease); Crit M/; AC 9; HD (hp 24); hp 19; MV 40’ or climb 20’; Act special; SP bite all targets within 20’ x 20’ space, half damage from non-area attacks, disease (DC 11 Fortitude save or afflicted with rattlebane; see sidebar); SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL N.
Countermeasures: Adventurers can attempt to scale the walls horizontally without touching the floor. Doing so requires a DC 12 climb sheer surfaces check. The threat of the hell cat could be diminished by burning away the flammable waste by dropping a torch or other source of flame. Another option for bypassing this room would be to drop 100 lbs. of objects into the chamber to cause it to descend and gain access to the secret corridor.
Reset: A concealed button disguised as a part of the stone wall can be found by a succeeding a DC 15 Intelligence check while searching the northern passageway leading to the chamber. Pressing the button resets the chamber to its starting position if the floor holds less than 100 lbs. of weight.