D&D 5E Dungeon Obstacles

Gilladian

Adventurer
I'm creating a dungeon, and by the random dungeon charts in the DMG, there should be "obstacles" in some rooms. However, the obstacle list in the DMG is pretty darn short, and all it says in the way of expanding it is that "obstacles are similar in implementation to traps" or something like...

So, I thought I'd ask for some brainstorming here: what obstacles would you use in ordinary dungeon rooms? No special features in particular, just rooms that were once things like barracks and living quarters, storage rooms and armories, workrooms and kitchens, etc... nothing special but not totally bland. All I can come up with is the oh-so-overused "unstable ceiling"...
 

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Can't go wrong with a great big mold growth or fungal bloom obstacle. It can believably show up in any underground or seldom-used area. It creates a nice moment in the spotlight for the character with Nature or Survival skill. And it can cause all sorts of fun poison or hallucination problems when they fail that skill check...
 

The nature of obstacles can depend on the setting in which they are found, unless truly random anything goes is what you are looking for.

So in the example rooms you provided, it would appear that this dungeon was once a fortress, or stronghold of some type. Knowing the nature of a dungeon location, and a bit of its history as to how it came to be in its current state, can help in designing features of the dungeon.

For the sake of example, lets say that this dungeon was once a mighty dwarven fortress. Sometime, long ago, this fortress was overrun by humanoids. Dwarves are master craftsmen and skilled in cunning stonework, so they probably had several traps designed to contain or kill invaders. Several of these traps were sprung during the onslaught, but were not enough to stop the overwhelming numbers of enemies. These sprung traps of the past can serve well as obstacles of the present.

- A corridor blocked by collapsed blocks. They are large and heavy to move. As added color, the skeletal remains of the humanoids are mixed and jumbled in the rocks.

- an antechamber triggered trap has left the floor of the chamber sunken 10' to 15' below the entrance level. The pit is still half full of acid. Portcullis gates block the entrance and exit of the chamber.

- A barracks chamber is blocked by a large pile of furniture nailed and bound together, a desperate last stand attempt by the stronghold defenders. Over time the pile has grown unstable, and moving any of it could bring the whole pile crashing down.

- A triggered trap in the kitchen has left the entrance blocked by an enormous upended iron pot. The reset mechanism for this trap is inside the chamber. There is a secret tunnel into the kitchen but it is only a small crawlspace. The reset mechanism is old and not very reliable.

- A tremor that occurred long after the fortress was taken has collapsed the floor of the armory. The floor is steep incline sliding down toward a jumble of very sharp and pointy objects. There is another exit across the room secured by a locked iron bound door, which sits about 20 feet above the down tilted floor on that side littered with sharp rusty objects.


Once you sketch out a rough history and purpose for a dungeon or other location, ideas will suggest themselves.
 

[MENTION=2093]Gilladian[/MENTION] Obstacles are things that hinder progress of the PCs' exploration thru the dungeon. They don't come after the PCs like monsters do. They don't have a hidden agenda of killing the PCs like traps do. An obstacle's purpose is to slow the PCs down or stop them in their tracks - especially with respect to exploration.

Puzzle-Doors
Force field that requires certain actions in order to lower it
Multi-part key must be assembled to open a door
Magic mouth presents a riddle in order to open a door

Natural Hazards
A room with a pocket of methane gas
A slippery chasm that needs a grappling hook and rope (and a modicum of skill) to cross
A twisted thorny briar that's hard to navigate
A floor covered with sticky gunk that may also be flammable
Even pitch blackness could be an obstacle under certain conditions

Other Things
An anti-magic field or fierce winds when the PCs rely on flight to explore a "dungeon"
Rooms that are disconnected but can be reached by using teleportation circles in the right sequence
A disorienting creepy fog with echoing voices that makes it easy to get lost
 

I tend to think of what used to live there. Maybe this room used to have and ooze(s) living there, so now just has some slightly acidic goo on the floor.
Or it was a barracks room, but the goblins that used to live there stacked up the beds as a barricade to bar passage
Or spiders were here...they are gone but the webs remain.
If underground, maybe some *large* trees have their roots bursting through the ceiling and hanging down.
Maybe it was where the nearby bugbears used to toss their garbage, so lots of bones and rotting cloth on the floor.
Just the old storeroom... piled high with crates storing all sorts of 'too old to be useful' stuff. Grains, clothes, rusting gear, etc.. Some crates have fallen (or are going to fall)
etc
etc
 

First, I think it's important to distinguish between an obstacle and a hazard. An obstacle is an impediment to progress; a hazard is just a trap by another name--a trap that wasn't set by anyone.

Quickleaf went to the heart of the matter: what is the purpose--the narrative purpose--of the obstacle? How does the obstacle serve your campaign's story? How does it contribute to the fun? Keeping in mind that in D&D, everything actually does happen for a reason. Nothing exists unless you deliberately create it, and make the players deal with it.

There's a truism that says "the worst trips make for the best stories." The movies Vacation, The Sure Thing, Smokey and the Bandit, Sorcerer--heck, even Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings, and The Odyssey--are interesting because of the obstacles faced and overcome by the protagonists.

Point being: don't include an obstacle (whatever that obstacle may be) just so you can watch the players play a guessing game of which skill ability check to make, and then everyone watches someone roll a die and do simple arithmetic. That just wastes time.

Instead, do include an obstacle that:

1. Adds an unexpected complication to the existing journey
2. Changes the destination of the journey
3. Changes the perception/goal of the journey

An example of 1 would be something like a wounded NPC that must be cared for. An example of 2 is having to track down the party's horses. An example of 3 is when the party discovers that the enemy agents they've been racing to get to the McGuffin are their best allies in battling the eldritch horror they've unwittingly unleashed.

Break down the classic road trip movie Vacation for fun obstacles that don't just add to the story; they are the story:

1. The rad car they thought they were going to drive is, instead, a crappy car.
2. The get lost and lose their hubcaps.
3. They visit strange relatives and acquire a cantankerous NPC to escort home.
4. They crash, lose resources, and have to make moral compromises in order to figure out how to repair their car and continue their journey.
5. Their escort dies.
6. An ongoing conflict with an NPC is resolved.
7. They reach their destination to find it not what it was, but having gained a closer appreciation for their family. And they get a big reward anyway.

All three examples are well-represented above.

Anyway, here are specific obstacles you can use. Just use them deliberately. Each one should result in an event that your players will bring up years later, when recalling the campaign.

1. The party finds a wounded [friendly NPC/unfriendly NPC/animal] and has to bring it along. Dealing with the NPC on an ongoing basis is interesting.
2. The party encounters a hazard (poison gas, water, vermin horde, "death energy", unbeatable monster, whatever) that forces them to discard vital gear or resources. Making tough choices, and having to improvise in future encounters is interesting.
3. The party encounters a boon (treasure, NPC offering a bribe, magic item, portal, whatever) that lets them bypass or abandon their current mission. Making tough choices about whether to stick with the mission or take the easy way out is interesting.
4. The "abandoned" structure they're exploring is inhabited by unfriendly, but not combative, creatures. Figuring out how to evict, avoid, or fight the occupants is interesting.
5. They encounter a room filled with [glass vials with unstable contents/dormant mummies/hanging chimes/caged animals/whatever]. Deciding whether to save time by barging through, or figuring out how to bypass the room without causing a commotion, is interesting.

TL;DR: don't just say "Here's an obstacle. Make an ability check. Ok, you overcome the obstacle/oops, you take damage try again." Instead, use the obstacle to create a memorable moment.
 

I'm running a 5e adventure set in an abandoned dwarven underground stronghold. I need some particularly nasty traps and/or environmental hazards to liven up things for my group of 3rd-level adventurers. This thread has some dooozies (thanks!). I'm all ears if anyone out there in the universe has more suggestions for truly evil combinations of traps and hazards that would work well in concert. The group is seasoned, smart, and well-balanced.
 

I'm running a 5e adventure set in an abandoned dwarven underground stronghold. I need some particularly nasty traps and/or environmental hazards to liven up things for my group of 3rd-level adventurers. This thread has some dooozies (thanks!). I'm all ears if anyone out there in the universe has more suggestions for truly evil combinations of traps and hazards that would work well in concert. The group is seasoned, smart, and well-balanced.

Definitely check out my 4e pdf of Dragon Mountain, which has maybe two dozen or so new traps/hazards that might work for you. Obviously, it's a different edition but there are some crazy ass ideas in there you could have fun adapting.
 

At its heart, an obstacle is anything that causes the players to stop and debate courses of action. When they have to put on their problem-solving hats, you're set.

Puzzles are a classic example. But so are a bunch of fungus that may or not be dangerous blocking the way. So is a submerged hallway. A trap that's already been triggered and is now just tough to get through. Trick hallways. NPC encounters that aren't violent OR helpful. Hungry but fearful animals blocking the way.

The way I see it, obstacles should be something that piques the interest, and are broad enough that the GM can think of at least three ways to solve them (if you can think of three, your players can think of twelve). If you run three groups through the same obstacle, they should have each responded to it at least slightly differently. That's my litmus test for obstacles.
 

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