Grimtooth’s Traps Fore
Publisher: Flying Buffalo
Pages: 82
Size: 8.67 MB
Cost: $4.95
Release Date: 12/8/2011
Get it Here: DriveThruRPG.com

If you’ve been playing RPGs since the days when Elves were both a race and a class, you’ve probably seen a copy of Grimtooth’s Traps. This download is a 2011 scan of the 1990 second edition of the third book in the Grimtooth’s Traps series originally printed in 1986. Grimtooth’s Traps Fore is a bit of a misnomer, but if it keeps your players needlessly searching for a mythical “third” book, one they shouldn’t have, then I guess that is a trap in and of itself.

This book details a series of 101 user-submitted traps. The traps range from insanely difficult to insanely absurd and all manner in between. The traps are loosely organized by function: room traps, corridor traps, door traps, item traps, and “thing” traps. Sprinkled throughout the book are humorous illustrations.

When I design a trap I try to make ones that seem feasible given the restraints of the system and setting. A lot of these traps seem to be an exercise in hitting the party “sideways” and anyone using them is likely to be labeled a Killer GM. There are a lot of great ideas though and even these “bad” traps have some potential with GM tweaks.

I find this book useful from both a practical and a nostalgic point of view. The only issues I had with the book is that the scan wasn’t perfect. The inside edge of the printed book is slightly distorted, as if they didn’t create the PDF from pages, but instead pressed a printed book flat on a scanner. I’m sure many wouldn’t even notice this distortion and it isn’t a terrible distraction at any rate.

Tags: Flying Buffalo, Tabletop, Traps