Dungeon Dressing: Trapdoors
Trapdoors come in many different shapes and sizes and often provide access to hidden chambers, treasure vaults, cellars, prisons and so on.
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Major Features
The door is made of ossified bone and has half a skull embedded in its surface. The skull is worn smooth, as if stroked by many hands.
This rusted brass door oozes a red liquid, as if it was holding back a rising tide of blood. When opened, it reveals nothing but empty space.
The door and the floor around it are carved to resemble a yawning maw filled with pointed teeth.
This black iron door has Abyssal runes etched into its surface. They read “Descent into Madness.”
This trapdoor opens onto a long, darkened shaft. The door triggers a magic mouth that loudly roars and growls from the bottom of the shaft.
This door bears the motif of a coiling snake, set with alien runes that refuse translation.
This trapdoor comprises four inches of smoked glass. Indistinct shapes can be made out beyond.
Unlike normal trapdoors, this door is located in a wall. The odd location and shape mean one must climb through it awkwardly.
This iron trapdoor bears the symbol of a giant, unblinking eye.
When this trapdoor is open, a magic mouth sings a jaunty, merry tune about the horrible, grisly end intruders will meet if they pass through the door.
Magically-preserved skin covers the trapdoor. This flesh-covering is made from discoloured, mismatched pieces, obviously from different creatures; poorly-done stitches mar its uneven surface.
This trapdoor is of dwarven artifice. It is shaped like a stylised dwarf face; the key fits into the dwarf’s mouth.
A brass carving adorns this iron door. It depicts a group of elven nobles sitting at an extravagant feast. On closer inspection, sharpened fangs fill the nobles’ mouths, and the fare comprises humanoid remains.
This door bears a motif of roiling waves, with half a dozen tentacles breaching the water and reaching towards the frame.
Carved from solid granite, this door bears a bull’s head on its surface. The bull’s horns form the door’s handle.
A large brass symbol depicting an eight-pointed star adorns the trapdoor. A purple-hued ruby is embedded in its centre (value 500 gp).
This trapdoor comprises four inches of smoked glass. Indistinct shapes can be made out beyond.
This door appears to be of extremely shoddy manufacture, but it is not.
This trapdoor bears the image of a smiling man, but the smile is stretched to disturbing proportions.
Sleek marble scales laid out to form the Celestial rune for “dragon” cover this trapdoor.
Minor Features & Dressing
Two keyholes adorn each side of this double trapdoor; time has long since corroded its locking mechanism.
This trapdoor has of late been used as a privy by some foul creature with even fouler hygiene.
This door’s hinges are so thoroughly rusted the slightest pressure snaps them.
A thick coating of charred ash, perhaps from some long ago explosion, coats this trapdoor.
The words “Where is the dragon’s hoard, anyway?” are daubed just above the door in dried blood.
This wooden trapdoor is rotten to the point that the door sags under its own weight.
A patch of sickly and disgusting brownish mould encrusts this trapdoor.
This wooden trapdoor appears to have buckled upwards, the wood splintered as if some tremendous force hit it from below.
Deep, jagged gashes, giving it the appearance of horrifically scarred flesh, mar this trapdoor.
The wood of this trapdoor is charred and burnt, yet its structure remains sound.
The stonework surrounding this door is chipped and cracked, as if someone had tried to pry the door up.
A swirling pattern is daubed on this door with a foul-smelling, yellowish paste.
A deep, jagged cleft runs across this door as if someone had slashed it with a heavy weapon.
This metal door is covered with shallow pockmarks as if something caused the very metal to boil and bubble.
Gibberish is scribbled in blood on this trapdoor.
The patterns of caked-on rust on this door are reminiscent of the Infernal rune for fire.
This shoddily built door is jammed.
Clearly centuries old, numerous cracks and fissures mar this stone trapdoor.
Where a trapdoor used to be, lies nothing more than a plank of splintered wood attached to a pair of hinges.
Several humanoid teeth have been hammered into this wooden trapdoor.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from GM’s Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing. The book is available in 5e, System Neutral and Pathfinder 1 editions. The OSR edition will be available in early 2023.
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