2 Teleportation Circles Trap

Metallian

First Post
I just thought of a nasty trap, but I'm not sure it would work.

I'm thinking of two permanent Teleportation Circles. Each circle teleports a person who steps into it directly into the center of the other circle. The idea is to create an "infinite loop" of sorts, where the character is perpetually teleporting from one to the other.

Could a person escape from this trap without outside help? Could you just walk out of it slowly (taking a step during the instants between teleports)? Could you use an supernatural or spell-like ability (like Plane Shift) to escape? Would the person trapped inside appear invisible (because they're always in mid-teleport), flicker, or appear solid? Is there any way to derive this from the rules, or does it fall squarely in the realm of "DM's Call"?

The Metallian
 

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The description for Tele Circle is fairly vague. It says any character that "stands" on it. In the end, it's going to come down to a DM judgment call. Not sure how I would rule it at the moment.
 

I guess my answer falls into that category of "DMs call" because this is how I would rule it.

There is no "instant" in this game. Although combat is fought with initiative and player "turns" it is actually occuring in a parallel fluid simultaneous action. I would call the Teleportaion trap an "attack", just as being the caught in a fireball. After the firball, and after the teleport you get to have your "turn." In that turn you can move off the circle.

I am not saying that I am deeply entrencehed in this idea, but this is my idea of how I would handle it. I am sure that I could be presuaded otherwise.

Also, If you think about it (ok, when I think about it) it goes like this: If you step onto (or fall onto) the center of the circle you are instantly teleported away. You would either a) materialize in the certer of the other circle or b) be just a little (milimeters) above it so that you could fall onto the middle of the circle. And my thinking continues thusly... if you materialize on the other circle you did not step on it and can not activate it that way, if you materiaze just slightly above the other circle, then in that shortest of moments you get to act (if I were your DM).

Now, you might have to roll a LOT of skill checks to make it out of there but eventually you would have a 20.


you asked.

g!
 

Metallian said:
I just thought of a nasty trap, but I'm not sure it would work.

I'm thinking of two permanent Teleportation Circles. Each circle teleports a person who steps into it directly into the center of the other circle. The idea is to create an "infinite loop" of sorts, where the character is perpetually teleporting from one to the other.

Could a person escape from this trap without outside help? Could you just walk out of it slowly (taking a step during the instants between teleports)? Could you use an supernatural or spell-like ability (like Plane Shift) to escape? Would the person trapped inside appear invisible (because they're always in mid-teleport), flicker, or appear solid? Is there any way to derive this from the rules, or does it fall squarely in the realm of "DM's Call"?

The Metallian

I don't know if there's any kind of official ruling on something like this but I'd probably say that the spell to create the circles would fail from the get go. The circle would normally fail if the circle tried to teleport the creatures into a solid object, a place where the character is not familiar, or into another plane. Since teleportation is travel through the astral plane, I'd probably rule that a circle cannot send someone to another teleportation circle because they would take them to another plane (the astral plane, again and again, over and over).
 

Re: Teleportation Circles Trap

A variation on a theme.....the old Pit of the Everfall trap.

Teleportation circle on the floor, and one on the ceiling directly above it. Whoever walks onto the one on the floor immediately is teleported to the one above it and just begins freefalling perpetually from there on......
 

Re: Re: Teleportation Circles Trap

TiQuinn said:
A variation on a theme.....the old Pit of the Everfall trap.

Teleportation circle on the floor, and one on the ceiling directly above it. Whoever walks onto the one on the floor immediately is teleported to the one above it and just begins freefalling perpetually from there on......

Yes, I thought of this, but...

1. If you walked on to the trap you would be standing up, your head "pointing" to the ceiling.

2.When you teleported to the cicle above you your feet would be on the circle, and your heat would be "pointing" toward the floor.

3.You fall, your head touches the circle (on the floor) first -- you teleport with your feet pointing toward the ceiling.

4. You reappear with your head on (very near?) the ceiling, and your feet pointing to the floor...


Now that I think about it, the constant "flipping" would be extra comical if you ask me. However, at step 4. above I would give the poor sap the ability to spread out, roll, and/or twist to avoid starting over again.

g!
 

My first response: Doesn't Teleport strictly require the target be willing? (don't want to argue the point...)

My second response: The trap may be cunningly designed to get around the whole willing participant issue, at which point... Since there is movement involved, I would allow for a REF save, DC 25 every round to aviod 'falling' onto the next trap. Otherwise I would allow for a Will save DC 25 to 'mentally aviod' the teleport...

My point being there should never be an instant kill/no save/no to hit trap. There should always be a chance of surviving any given trap (even if it requires a roll of a 20). With that in mind my second reponse sounds the most appropriate for your situation.

Editted to add: I do realize that the trap is likely to be encountered by a party. However there should always be a way out for the lone adventurer stranded away from the party. Also what would be imminently funny would be if the person trying to 'rescue' the victim were to 'fall' into the trap as well....
 
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evileeyore said:

My point being there should never be an instant kill/no save/no to hit trap. There should always be a chance of surviving any given trap (even if it requires a roll of a 20). With that in mind my second reponse sounds the most appropriate for your situation.

Editted to add: I do realize that the trap is likely to be encountered by a party. However there should always be a way out for the lone adventurer stranded away from the party. Also what would be imminently funny would be if the person trying to 'rescue' the victim were to 'fall' into the trap as well....

I actually originally concieved of this thing as a prison for particularly dangerous or wily individuals, so that's why I was hoping it would be extremely hard to escape. Then I realized that it'd be a good trap as well.

Below are the SRD descriptions of the relevant spells. Note that the duration of Teleport is "Instantaneous" (so the character is either always in transit or always in both places at once? would the character age? maybe they spend 1/3 of the time in the astral plane and thus age at 2/3 the normal rate?), Teleportation Circle has no saving throw, and the Teleportation Circle teleports anyone who "stands", not "steps" on it. So you could set up the teleport to leave them "standing" on the surface of the other circle.

Still not sure it would work, or exactly what it would be like if it did work, but just trying to counter some objections I've seen.

The Metallian


Teleport

Transmutation [Teleportation]
Level: Sor/Wiz 5, Travel 5
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Personal and touch
Target: The character and touched objects or other touched willing creatures weighing up to 50 lb./level
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None and Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance: No and Yes (object)

This spell instantly transports the character to a designated destination. Distance is not a factor, but interplanar travel is not possible. The character can bring along objects and willing creatures totaling up to 50 pounds per caster level. As with all spells where the range is personal and the target is the character, the character need not make a saving throw, nor is SR applicable to the character. Only objects held or in use (attended) by another person receive saving throws and SR.

The character must have some clear idea of the location and layoutt of the destination. The character can’t simply teleport to the warlord’s tent if the character don’t know where that tent is, what it looks like, or what’s in it. The clearer the character's mental image, the more likely the teleportation works. Areas of strong physical or magical energies may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible.

Note: Teleportation is instantaneous travel through the Astral Plane. Anything that blocks astral travel also blocks teleportation.

To see how well the teleportation works, roll d% and consult the Teleport table.

On Off Similar
Familiarity Target Target Area Mishap
----------- ------ ------ ------- ------
Very familiar 01–97 98–99 100 —
Studied carefully 01–94 95–97 98–99 100
Seen casually 01–88 89–94 95–98 99–100
Viewed once 01–76 77–88 89–96 97–100
Description 01–52 53–76 77–92 93–100
False destination (1d20+80) — — 81–92 93–100
Refer to the following information for definitions of the terms on the table.

Familiarity: "Very familiar" is a place where the character has been very often and where the character feels at home. "Studied carefully" is a place the character knows well, either because the character has been there often or the character has used other means (such as scrying) to study the place. "Seen casually" is a place that the character has seen more than once but with which the character is not very familiar. "Viewed once" is a place that the character has seen once, possibly using magic. "Description" is a place whose location and appearance the character knows through someone else’s description, perhaps even from a precise map.

"False destination" is a place that doesn’t exist. When traveling to a false destination, roll 1d20+80 to obtain results on the table, rather than rolling d%, since there is no real destination for the character to hope to arrive at or even be off target from.

On Target: The character appears where the character wants to be.

Off Target: The character appears safely a random distance away from the destination in a random direction. Distance off target is 1d10 x 1d10% of the distance that was to be traveled. The DM determines the direction off target randomly, such as by rolling 1d8 and designating 1 as north, 2 as northeast, etc. If the character was teleporting to a coastal city and wound up 18 miles out at sea, the character could be in trouble.

Similar Area: The character winds up in an area that’s visually or thematically similar to the target area. Generally, the character appears in the closest similar place, but since the spell has no range limit, the character could conceivably wind up somewhere else across the globe.

Mishap: The character and anyone else teleporting with the character have gotten "scrambled." the travellers each take 1d10 points of damage, and the character rerolls on the chart to see where the travellers wind up. For these rerolls, roll 1d20+80. Each time "Mishap" comes up, the characters take more damage and must reroll.

Teleportation Circle

Transmutation [Teleportation]
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, M
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Effect: Circle up to 5 ft. in radius that teleports those who activate it
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

The character create a circle on the floor or other horizontal surface that teleports, as teleport without error, any creature who stands on it to a designated spot. Once the character designates the destination for the circle, the character can’t change it. The spell fails if the character attempts to set the circle to teleport creatures into a solid object, to a place with which the character is not familiar and has no clear description, or to another plane.

The circle itself is subtle and nearly impossible to notice. If the character intends to keep creatures from activating it accidentally, the character needs to mark the circle in some way, such as by placing it on a raised platform.

Material Component: Worth at least 1,000 gp.

Teleport without Error

Transmutation [Teleportation]
Level: Sor/Wiz 7, Travel 7

As teleport, except there is no chance the character arrives off target. The character must have at least a reliable description of the place to which the character is teleporting. If the character attempts to teleport with insufficient information (or with misleading information), the character disappears and simply reappears in the character's original location.
 

Metallian said:

Could a person escape from this trap without outside help? Could you just walk out of it slowly (taking a step during the instants between teleports)? Could you use an supernatural or spell-like ability (like Plane Shift) to escape? Would the person trapped inside appear invisible (because they're always in mid-teleport), flicker, or appear solid? Is there any way to derive this from the rules, or does it fall squarely in the realm of "DM's Call"?

--Whatever you want to happen.


In the above situation, one TC teleports to the location where another TC exists. I see absolutely no problem with this implementation as per the rules. I have always ruled that Teleport Circles teleport an individual whose mass is mostly/wholey positioned on the surface on which it is placed. No matter what part of the body is in contact. I see this as simple common sense.

I personally would rule that any supernatural or spell-like abilities would function normally, casting a spell should work, but I might make it have a concentration DC to get it off. As for how it looks, again whatever you want. Personally I would let it take at most a half second before the person is wisked away. enough for a single word, a possible jump attempt (but they would have to time it very carefully). Also, you will have to come up with a momentum ruling, most DMs that I know say that a TC resets someones momentum to 0, but its up to you.

As for it being a prison? up to you. My personal DM call, is that it depends on who is making this thing, my above comments are for what a PC in a standard 'current' campaign could do with current spells. You want an older society to make the prison? the current societies? then it becomes closely tied to your campaign world and how you see it being implemented.

Imprisonment spell works well, especially followed up by a wish or two to conceal the name and location of the entity imprisoned. Are the PCs to stumble upon someone imprisoned long ago within a dual TC trap? or is it a current capital punishment thingy?


RX
 


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