The fiendish sculptors at Dwarven Forge have carved a new set of toys to spice up an already impressive line of products. The Delver got to sneak a peek at their latest addition, the Traps Set!
Review: Dwarven Forge Traps Set
The Traps Set is packaged as all full "sets" of Dwarven Forge items; that is, the items are packed carefully in a shaped-to-fit tray. A (minor) disappointment was the lack of a Product Catalog and/or a "suggested set-ups" sheet containing possible floor-plans. While the latter is obviously a bit more difficult to do with a set made up exclusively of traps (unless of course, you're planning on running S1: Tomb Of Horrors), a catalog would've been nice.
Moving on to the pieces themselves, the box contains twenty-four pieces; some of those pieces are meant to fit together; others are stand-alone - but more about that later. Of course, the pieces exhibit the high quality of sculpting and painting this Delver has come to expect from Dwarven Forge - each piece looks as though it's made up of individual blocks of stone lining some well-worn dungeon corridor.
Now, on to the traps...
The traps themselves are, as individual pieces, fairly "standard" dungeon traps. Five scenery pieces featuring Pit Traps are in the set, giving the Dungeon Master plenty of options for springing the old 10" x 10" x 10" (or deeper!) pit on the unsuspecting player. These are sculpted partially open, as seen here. Flat black shading adds a sense of depth.
Taking a cue from the Indiana Jones movies, the set also features a steep ramp with a large boulder, as shown here. This piece is a bit "iffy", as the boulder sits somewhat precariously, and an unwary bump of the gaming table could in actuality send it caroming off of a carefully painted mini or three! While that's certainly a model of the effect that it would have on unwary delvers, it might anger the players. A small gate or lip at the top of the ramp would've done better than the shallow indentation the boulder sits in. Fortunately, the boulder and ramp do serve other purposes; for lack of a staircase, or gallows perhaps, the Ramp will suffice nicely. And of course, to represent a mysterious monolith, rubble, or an attacking Beholder ( :-) ), the Boulder comes in handy as well.
Also in the "works as a trap and has other uses" column, the two Corner traps hearken back to the film Conan the Barbarian - if the Dungeon Master so wishes. Each corner-bend (a left-hand turn and a right-hand turn) features a hinge to which all sorts of nasty mechanisms can be attached. Here, you see that the folks at Dwarven Forge have provided a pair of mounted scimitars, to slice up those pesky thieves scouting ahead, a rack of spikes that'll tear through all but the toughest plate mail, a single spike as mentioned before, and one of the most creative traps thus far, a cauldron - to quote Monty Burns: "Perhaps I can find something to scald you with..." These corner pieces come in handy for the dungeon builder not just as traps, but as regular building pieces; just don't put the spikes, scythes or pitch-pots on.
The next set we look at are the Rotating Walls. Not really traps or hazards in and of themselves, the Rotating Walls add more depth to a dungeon diorama by allowing the DM to place secret doors (unless, of course, you've already got Dwarven Forge's Wicked Additions, which features a secret door tile). Three types of rotating walls are included to give gamers plenty of creation options. The Rotating Walls can also double as "normal" walls when the dungeon's not complete and you're being pressed to find parts to flesh (or Flesh to Stone) out your creation.
The last piece we take a look at isn't really a trap itself, but has all the makings of a real dungeon hazard - the watery chasm. This is simply a section of dungeon corridor, with it's floor hollowed out and filled in with a vile-looking greenish "water" acrylic. The clever Dungeon Master can have hours of fun with this one - rows of nice tetanus-inducing caltrops 'neath the murk, perhaps a layer of Green Slime, or some unspeakable Thing lurking below. A well-sculpted log is also provided, as shown in this photo, here.
My overall impressions of this set are very good; the sculpting is up to par with Dwarven Forge's high standards, and of course each piece is cast from the same durable resin that the "regular" building pieces are. I do have a few minor niggles about the set, though. Firstly, as mentioned above, the boulder and ramp piece is a bit precarious. The cautious Dungeon Master will take the boulder piece down once everyone gets a good look at it, or the trap is sprung and or disarmed. While well-sculpted, the painting on the swinging corner traps was a little off; this is something that might have just been a small flaw in my set. Finally, aside from the "log over water", there's nothing in the way of a "natural" hazard represented in the set - no caved in roofs or walls, or collapsed floors (although the pit traps can at least place hold for this last one).
Hopefully, a "Traps Set #2" is in the works that will address the need for more naturally occurring delving hazards.
My advice to any Dungeon Master preparing to use this set is to go ahead and build the dungeon, and when necessary (upon a successful triggering or detection of the trap) place the requisite piece. It's a little hard to surprise the players when they've been looking at the trapped section for ten minutes!
My overall rating: Four stars out of five.