Trap
Traps (represented by ^) are Dungeon features that harm characters or monsters who step on them. They do not appear on the map until detected, except in some vaults. Most traps are either mechanical or magical in nature.
Strategy
In the early game, traps are generally more of an annoyance than a danger, but later traps do enough damage to make it potentially hazardous to explore unknown territory on low HP. Traps are detected passively. Your Traps skill level will increase the chances of detecting traps as you explore the dungeon.
One easy giveaway of a trap that fires ammunition is to find its ammo lying on the ground after it has been triggered by monsters; finding a couple of poisoned needles on the ground is normally a sure sign that a needle trap is there, for example. Another giveaway is finding corpses of monsters you didn't kill (though corpses can also be found in certain vaults).
You can attempt to disarm a mechanical trap by holding CTRL and pressing the key corresponding to the direction of the trap (to attempt to disarm a trap to the right of you, for example, hold CTRL and press →). There is a low chance of disarming the trap with low Traps skill, and failing to disarm it is likely to trigger the trap.
Flying allows you to move over mechanical traps without triggering them.
Traps that fire ammunition have a limited supply of ammo.
Once you have detected a trap, you can (with thoughtful maneuvering) use it to harm or block monsters who are pursuing you. More intelligent monsters are much more likely to avoid them, however.
Trap Mechanics
Mechanical traps do not always go off when stepped on. The odds of setting one off are:
- For traps the player knows about:
- 2 in 3 chance for blade and net traps.
- 1 in 4 chance for all other traps.
- For traps the player does not know about:
- Blade and net traps always go off.
- 4 in 5 chance for all other traps.
For monsters, the odds are different:
- For traps the monster knows about:
- 1 in 2 chance for blade and net traps.
- All other traps always go off.
- For traps the monster does not know about:
- 4 in 5 chance for blade traps.
- 2 in 3 chance for net traps.
- All other traps always go off.
If a mechanical trap is triggered, there is still a chance for the trap's weapon to miss, depending on your evasion and dexterity. The Repel Missiles and Deflect Missiles spells reduce the chance of a projectile hitting (except for the net trap, which drops the net rather than firing it). If you fail to evade the projectile, but are wearing a shield, you may instead block the projectile.
Monsters & Traps
Different monsters react differently to traps. Most monsters with animalistic intelligence or above will avoid ones they know about, and refuse to cross a trap even if there is no other way to reach you. Mindless monsters like zombies will walk through traps regardless of how much damage it might cause them. Zot traps are special: if you're in sight when a hostile monster walks into one, you get zapped. ("[It] uses the power of Zot against you!")
Flying monsters can evade mechanical traps without triggering them, just like players.
In some situations, monsters already know the locations of traps:
- Monsters native to a dungeon branch (eg. orcs in the Orcish Mines) already know the locations of all traps in their branch, since they live there.
- Monsters friendly to the player, and good neutrals, know the location of all traps that you know about, since it's assumed that you would tell them about the traps.
- Monsters with high intelligence or greater have a 1 in 3 chance of knowing about the existence of any single trap.
Trap Types
Notes:
- All ammunition produced by traps is unbranded and unenchanted.
- The damage caused by mechanical traps is reduced by the player's AC.
| Trap | Description | Amount of ammo | Base damage to player | Base damage to monsters | Trap type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alarm trap | Makes a loud noise and afflicts you with the Sentinel's Mark status effect | N/A | None | None | Magical |
| Arrow trap | Fires an arrow | 3 - 11 | 1 - 15 | 1 - 7 | Mechanical |
| Blade trap | Swings a huge swinging blade | N/A | 48 - 76 | 10 - 38 | Mechanical |
| Bolt trap | Fires a bolt | 3 - 11 | 1 - 40 | 1 - 18 | Mechanical |
| Dart trap | Fires a dart | 3 - 11 | 1 - 6 | 1 - 4 | Mechanical |
| Gas trap | Releases clouds of harmful gas | 1 | Varies by type | Varies by type | Mechanical |
| Needle trap | Fires a poisoned needle | 3 - 11 | None, but may poison | None, but may poison | Mechanical |
| Net trap | Drops a throwing net | 1 | None | None | Mechanical |
| Pressure plate | Causes something to happen, usually bad. | N/A | None | None | Mechanical |
| Shaft | Opens a hole under the victim, sending them to a deeper dungeon level | N/A | None | None | Natural |
| Spear trap | Fires a spear | 2 - 7 | 1 - 26 | 1 - 10 | Mechanical |
| Teleport trap | Teleports the victim to a random location on the level | N/A | None | None | Magical |
| Web | Induces the held status for several turns | May break after each use | None | None | Mechanical |
| Zot trap | Produces a powerful magical miscast effect | N/A | Varies by effect | Varies by effect; only affects friendly monsters | Magical |
Note that the "pressure plate" trap is a "software trap"; rather than a fixed result, its effects are scripted in Lua, and might include stuff like dumping out a basket of spiders, or dropping a grating to block the path behind you.
History
Prior to 0.12, Traps could be detected by searching (command s). Prior to 0.11, axe traps existed and would launch hand axes when triggered, much like spear traps.
