Save Vs Poison: 20 Themed Traps

Traps are an integral part of the dungeon ecosystem and an old school experience; but there are only so many needles-in-the-lock and razors-on-the-handle that you can take before they become old hat. Provided below is a table of 20 traps themed around poisonous inhalants, injections, and powders that are designed to shake things up.

In game consequences of poison are largely excluded from the below descriptions, with some noticeable exceptions where the trap is intended to produce a certain flair. The idea behind not including the description is - first - typically poison results in death; however second - it encourages you, the DM, to come up with something more suitable for your game, your players, your dungeon, and your play-style.

1d20	Result
1	Bauble of Belladonna A small, durable, padded sack containing 2d3 fragile beads of crystal, approximately one inch each in diameter. The beads are slick to the touch: coated in a salve of deadly nightshade. The beads will crack if handled for more than a few seconds, exposing the handler to the poison.
2	Viper's Throne A seemingly innocuous chair, under the seat of which are two spines, centered where a sitter's mass would rest. The pressure of sitting on the spines will piece the sitter and pressure on the chair causes a virulent ooze to diffuse from holes along their length - exposing the sitter to the poison.
3	Monkshood Mephit A mechanical walking toy with four pointed legs. When activated, the trinket will attempt to climb into the mouth of the nearest breathing entity. If it succeeds, its shell will crack, releasing a poisonous substance - exposing the target to the poison.
4	Newt Fingers A glove or other hand-sized hole appearing to control an entrance, gate, or other mechanism within the area. Inside the apparatus is moist - also inside, a brightly colored newt which, if touched, exposes the character touching it to poison. If the character survives, perhaps they can retrieve the newt and use it for later purposes - however it will continue to expose others to poison along the way and will attempt to flee any adventurer-sized creatures.
5	Galling Net A fishing net, roughly the size of a man (could be larger), with shards of glass, coated in venom. The net is hung below the opening of a pit trap such that the weight of any who fall onto the net will cut them with the glass; exposing them to the poison. Alternatively, the net can be laid to fall when a trigger point is activated, with weights on the corners ensuring piercing by the glass shards.
6	Bear's Claw Rake A metal rod with several sharp "claws" affixed in a row. Hidden behind a door, around a latch, or in a drawer, when the orifice is opened, the rod turns, raking whatever was used to open it, exposing the lacerated target to a noxious substance was rubbed on the claws.
7	Deathcaps and Shriekers The room is full of the debris of fallen rocks and a few clusters of oversized mushrooms - 6 to 18 inches in height - a warm orange in color, that dust the character's boots with a yellow powder if they walk too closely. This powder is toxic; if a character inhales it or touches it without a layer of leather between them and it, they are exposed to the poison. Embedded in each cluster of mushrooms is a shrieker. If one or more of the shriekers shriek, rocks fall from the ceiling - pummeling the mushrooms: which release a cloud of the yellow spores. There is only enough of the stuff for 1d3 disbursements prior to running dry until more are generated over the course of a week or so, but any character within the room or within 5 feet of the entrance will be exposed to the spores.
8	Ivory Death A piano or harpsicord instrument with half a sheet of music. If a character is able to play the keys in such a way as the short melody is complete, the trap is disarmed and access is granted to whatever the trap is hiding. A contact poison has been smeared on the keys such that a character which does not play correctly or makes an error and touches the wrong key will be exposed to it.
9	Hemlock Handkerchief A porous handkerchief infused with a fine white dust. A character interacting with the handkerchief will note a fine white powder with a foul odor that emanates from the cloth: exposing the character and any other characters within 5 feet to the poison.
10	Assassin's Brazier A brass brazier with some ash and some dried fuel; unlit. The ash conceals a toxic substance encased in wax: if the brazier is lit, it will provide light as a torch for one hour; however, any characters in the same room as the brazier after 1d3 turns are exposed to the poison in the form of inhaled fumes.
11	Sonic Sickness The trapped area has large circular membranes along the walls; almost like drum-heads. If a character walks between them, they can hear a low thrumming. A character which walks through a focal area of the trap must roll vs Poison or be affected by the vibratto, causing nausea and anxiety.
12	Fob of Foxglove A spring-loaded ball on a chain, similar to a locket or pocket watch, is propped to swing or hung in an inconspicuous location. If the point where the chain connects to the ball is disturbed or pulled, the spring causes needle-like spikes to jut out in all directions; anyone pierced thereby being exposed to the poison.
13	False Facemask Ahead, a space three feet lower than the current space, filled with a turgid, heavy mist. A poorly concealed secret compartment houses small cloth facemasks. The mist is actually harmless - however any character that dons a facemask is exposed to a hallucinogenic poison, onset after 1d4 turns.
14	Mandrake Music Box A small box with six keys. When a key is pressed, a chime is heard; each with its own distinct pitch. If they are pressed in the correct order, the top opens and a jack-in-the-box presents a hard, baked biscuit. The biscuit is poisoned.
15	Hellebore Helm A wooden ship's wheel, the spokes curiously narrowed not unlike blades, mounted decoratively on the wall. A trigger plate connects an axle beneath the floor and up the wall such that the weight of someone stepping on it causes the helm to spin. Several compartments within the helm contain a powdered irritant that is dumped and sprayed into the room by the spinning wheel as though dumped into a fan. Man-sized creatures triggering the trap will expose anything in a 10 foot cone in front of the wheel to the poison; halfling-sized creatures will expose only a 5 foot cone.
16	Liar's Mirror This mirror - oval shaped, as a vanity - with a moderately decorative frame. However, if a character looks into it, they will see a horrid deformity on their face that isn't truly there. If the character moves closer to the mirror to inspect, the deformity appears worse, but more subtle. If a character touches the mirror or the frame, quicksilver runs off of the mirror and seeps into the skin of said character - exposing them to poison.
17	Scorpion Seal A metal apparatus shaped like a scorpion sitting on the seam of a double-door in the place of a knob or latch. The claws are mobile, allowing them to be opened and closed. If a character pulls on the stinger, one of the following effects occur  based on the configuration of the claws: If the left claw of the scorpion is closed and the right opened, the left door will open. If the right claw of the scorpion is closed and the left opened, the stinger extends a spine, exposing the user to poison. If both claws are open, the carapace of the scorpion seal opens, dumping 2d6 live (and angry) scorpions onto the floor. If both claws are closed, nothing happens. Roll randomly to determine the initial state of the seal.
18	Hidden Rotating Door A door, hidden in a bookcase or other inconspicuous location, turns like a revolving door to allow access to the behind. If the door is pushed from the right side, it will rotate 180 degrees and then lock when the character can see through to the other side. If the door is pushed from the left side, it will rotate 90 degrees - just enough to isolate the character in a confined space - and then lock, spraying a toxic mist from a vent in the ceiling. A character sprayed in such a manner is exposed to toxin.
19	Strychnine Streamers A hall or room with paper streamers hanging from ceiling to floor of various muted colors - as though a party had been held. One color in particular, though, of these paper streamers have been coated with poison. A character walking through the streamers without having disposed of them will be exposed to the contact poison - as well as potential paper cuts.
20	Laudanum Ladder A rope ladder, made of satin, hangs from firm grips leading up a considerable distance to a desirable outcome: perhaps a ledge with treasure or a new level of the dungeon. The satin is saturated with opioid oils. A character climbing the ladder is exposed to the poison and must save or fall.

Happy poisoning!

Adapted from Plague doctor as a quack.
Original image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
by Wellcome Images at the following Gallery Link.

Public domain art piece of a medical vial respectfully pilfered from the National Gallery of Art on April 8, 2020. Attribution in alt text. Plague doctor as a quack, original piece, loaded from Wikimedia Commons and adapted for use on April 8, 2020: cropping borders to better fit the medium. Neither Wikimedia Commons nor the content credit, Wellcome Images, endorses nor is aware of the adaptation and/or use herein.