Dec 122011
 

Stats

Paul Ryan O’Connor, ed.
Steven S. Crompton, illus.
Flying Buffalo Inc., pub.
First Printing 1981
Digitally Remastered 2011
55 pages
Ryan’s Rating: 17 out of 20
MSRP 14.95

The Review

I’ve been into D&D 4th Edition for a while now, and while I have been thoroughly enjoying it, one thing that seems to be lacking are traps.  D&D4e is great at tactical combat, but players can become a bit overconfident as they gain levels.  Other systems (notably my favorites: Rifts and Silvervine) seem to have no traps at all! (at least, none detailed and statted out in their publications).

So, if you’re a DM, but you aren’t an incredibly inventive trap-maker, or if your group is getting a little cocky and you want to instill some paranoia, then Grimtooth’s Traps is for you!

The book is laid out very well, easy to read and understand.  I’m no mechanical engineer, but the illustrations and descriptions of nearly every trap were easy to follow.  Granted, some entries I had to read two or three times, or hold their pictures upside-down, but that’s probably a fault of my ADD, and not the book.  Also, the book is written so that it can be used with any game system.  So don’t expect fully statted-out traps.  You’ll have to do the mechanical work yourself, but the ideas themselves are just golden!

It must be noted that many of the traps require a tongue-in-cheek approach.  In fact, the “warning” on the cover of the book reads, “Unauthorized disclosure of this material may contribute to the unjustified survival of adventurers, delvers, and player characters . . . and may result in serious damage to the deadly reputation of the Game Master.”  Tongue-in-cheek as it is, I would NEVER let my players see this book (so don’t expect any spoilers here).

Still, many of the traps are viciously deadly, devious, even despicable (from a PC’s point of view); and I urge caution in the use of any of the traps therein – find a way to make them less lethal, or give your PC’s an extra way to avoid the consequences of triggering some of them.

Overall, it’s a great little book.  I just love things that give me ideas!  So if you’re a GM, Grimtooth’s Traps is definately worth the price.  If you’re a player, especially one of my players, don’t even think about touching it!

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