The Handbook of Heroes

I hear what you’re saying. Gnomes have that pesky Con bonus, and may not expire in time to provide adequate warning. Kender make an excellent substitute.

You always hear stories about old school gamers getting a conga line of peasants to spring traps for them. The theory goes that if you herd a bunch of dirt farmers into the Tomb of Horrors you’ll come out safe and sound. Good aligned parties can substitute sheep, but at 20 gp apiece that cuts into the bottom line. I suggest using a herd of 3 cp cats. Surely nothing could go wrong there.

There’s this weird arms race with traps though. If you’ve ever played one of those genius rogues that has invented “rock on a rope,” you know what I’m talking about. It works great on the first few scythe blades and poison darts, but then the GM gets pissed and claims that the rock wasn’t heavy enough to spring the pit trap. That leads to genius barbarians inventing “boulder on a rope,” and then the traps are magical and only triggered by living creatures. That leads to genius druids committing genocide on summoned ponies, and no one wants to watch Muffin explode every six seconds.

For my money, I prefer to keep good faith on both sides. GMs should offer foreshadowing about traps in their room descriptions, and players should stay frosty and actively investigate their surroundings. I know that Trap Spotter is an option, but I’ve always found that it reduces exploration to a dumb dice roll. Thanks no thanks.

REQUEST A SKETCH! So you know how we’ve got a sketch feed on The Handbook of Heroes Patreon? By default it’s full of Laurel’s warm up sketches, illustrations not posted elsewhere, design concepts for current and new characters, and the occasional pin-up shot. But inspiration is hard sometimes. That’s why we love it when patrons come to us with requests. So hit us up on the other side of the Patreon wall and tell us what you want to see!