Die Bag of Fate - Part III

The mechanics for the Find Traps skill has always bothered me.  I understand the need for the GM to roll that d20.  They shouldn't be able to tell the difference between no trap, or failing to find it.  Still, I really dislike rolling for a PC action, especially if they end up dead because of it.

I've been thinking lately that a smaller version of the Die Bag of Fate might be a good way to resolve Find/Remove Traps rolls.  This way the player can still determine the fate of their character, but only I will know the result.  For example...


Vinny the Squid decides to check a locked chest for traps.  He has a F/R Traps of 25%.  Rather than pre-trapping the chests on my dungeon map, I decide there is a 50/50 chance for any given chest to be trapped.

I load a bag with 8d-whatevers;  2 red, 2 green, 2 purple, and 2 blue.  I tell Vinny's player to pull one of the dice without looking and then roll it.  The players don't get to know how the bag works, they just have to trust me, but they all get to watch the roll.

The color of the die determines success or failure.


Red = Success
Green = Fail
Purple = Fail
Blue = Fail


The number rolled on the die determines the type of trap. 

1 = Poison needle in the lock (hand that was pricked swells to twice normal size and Save vs. Poison or 2d6 damage) 
2 = No Trap
3 = Acid mist sprays out when chest is opened  (1d4 damage and Dex check or sprayed in the face, -1d4 to Cha)
4 = No Trap
5= Chest Explodes! ... a little, chest is still in one piece (contents of chest ruined, Cha check to see if Vinny wets his pants)
6 = No Trap
7 = The lid is spring loaded, once it is fully opened it will snap closed with great force and sharp teeth-like blades shoot up from the upper and lower edges (Dex check, if failed roll d6 to see how many fingers are lost, 5 = hand, 6 = arm past elbow)
8 = No Trap
9 = Biological weapon released upon the contents of chest (Anyone who handles the items Save vs. Death or contracts The Rot)
10 = No Trap
11 = Spring mechanism fires a small blade covered with blue powder (1-2 damage, powder causes uncontrollable shaking and spasms, movement is halved, save vs. poison or movement is 0 and must be carried away)
12 = No Trap
13 = Chest Explodes! ... a lot! (As per fireball spell, 6d6 damage to all in area Save for half)
14 = No Trap
15 = Rusty spring fails to fire a small blade covered with blue powder (because it's nice to catch a lucky break sometimes)
16 = No Trap
17 = Gravity emitter  (everything in the room flies toward the chest, damage as per falling)
18 = No Trap
19 = Chest makes many clicking sounds that echo through the room growing loader, then nothing (Once the clicking stops, if any weight greater than 50 pounds comes within 5' of the chest then a 10' radius column of stone ceiling falls directly onto the chest.  Save vs. Rod/Staff/Wand or die, miss by one point means they live but both legs are trapped and only 1d6 hp remaining)
20 = No Trap


I'll want to change the color of success fairly often so that the players don't catch on to how it works, but that's easy.  Just roll any die; odd moves success up a color, even moves success down a color.  I can use that same roll to switch the "No Trap"s between odds and evens.

Granted I'd have to rework the contents of the bag whenever his skills improve, but that's infrequent and not too much hassle.  I can use dice of different sizes too, if I want to make certain types of traps more rare than others.

Skill Percentage_____Total Dice______Successful Dice
------ 5% ---------------------- 20 --------------------- 1
----- 10% ---------------------- 10 --------------------- 1
----- 15% ---------------------- 20 --------------------- 3
----- 20% ----------------------- 5 --------------------- 1
----- 25% ----------------------- 8 --------------------- 2
----- 30% ---------------------- 10 --------------------- 3
----- 35% ---------------------- 20 --------------------- 7
----- 40% ----------------------- 5 --------------------- 2
----- 45% ---------------------- 20 --------------------- 9
----- 50% ----------------------- 8 --------------------- 4
----- 55% ---------------------- 20 -------------------- 11
----- 60% ----------------------- 5 --------------------- 3
----- 65% ---------------------- 20 -------------------- 13
----- 70% ---------------------- 10 --------------------- 7
----- 75% ----------------------- 8 --------------------- 6
----- 80% ----------------------- 5 --------------------- 4
----- 85% ---------------------- 20 -------------------- 17
----- 90% ---------------------- 10 --------------------- 9
----- 95% ---------------------- 20 -------------------- 19