Megadungeon: Random Trap Disarming Table.

Occasionally, I find myself at a bit of a loss to describe how the players need to disarm a trap they've found, or how they must open a secret door, so I put this together to give those situations a little more flavor. For instance, rather than stating "You disarm the trap", its a bit more interesting to make them clean out a series of small metal gears concealed beneath a festering compost pile.

Use this table to determine how a trap has to be disarmed, regardless of whether you use a percentage roll or S&W-style trapfinding. Alternately, with little modification, the table can be used to determine how a secret door is opened.

Roll d100:

1. Rusty chains snake across the ceiling, disappearing into holes on either wall.
2. Three brass floor plates, nearly invisible beneath the dust and detritus.
3. An eroded bas-relief of a grinning Pan-like figure, its fingers appear to be moveable.
4. A shallow gutter runs along the far wall, with a loose brick restricting the flow of water through it.
5. What appears to be a keyhole is discover behind a loose stone.
6. A rusted and jammed lever is found beneath a discarded pile of clothing.
7. A row of fake-emerald buttons on the wall, covered in cobwebs.
8. Three stones are arranged in a circle on a lead pressure plate.
9. A painting of an octopus is found in a far corner, three of its arms appear depressible.
10. A foot-long strip of iron is set into the ceiling, with a small magnet at one end.
11. A small wooden door opens to a panel filled with strange metal gears.
12. Three tiny brass levers in a hand-sized hole in the floor.
13. A moldy rope lies on the floor, leading to a pulley lost in the shadows of the ceiling.
14. Four keyhole sized openings along the bottom of a door.
15. A magical rune glows red when touched.
16. A small statuette of an elephant lies beside a small stone pedestal.
17. A loose block in the ceiling appears to be hooked to a chain above.
18. Three counterweights hang on ropes just inside the door.
19. A bas-relief of a demonic face has depressible eyes.
20. A camouflaged metal door on one wall conceals a copper lever.
21. A magic mouth appears and demands a password.
22. Magic runes spell out “Erase Me” with Read Magic.
23. A statue of a wizened sage has moveable arms.
24. An abandoned bottle contains a key matching a concealed hole in the wall.
25. A loose brick has fallen out of the wall and must be replaced.
26. A ghostly apparition appears and demands a song be sung to him.
27. A pulley disarms the trap, but the rope is missing.
28. A empty gourd hangs from a hook on the wall and must be filled with water.
29. Three couplets of an old poem are scrawled on the wall; the missing couplet must be recited aloud.
30. Two orcs are painted on the floor; erasing one disarms, erasing the other sets off trap again.
31. The trap is not disarm-able, but a detailed schematic of the next trap is drawn in chalk upon the floor.
32. Four loose bricks must be straitened.
33. Water must be poured upon a leather strap hanging over the door to loosen it.
34. A ceramic cap over the disarming panel must be broken open.
35. A filthy wax seal over the panel must be melted away.
36. A magic mouth appears and demands to know the meaning of life.
37. Five pewter runes in the ceiling must be depressed in order.
38. A console of brass buttons is a decoy; the real trap release is hidden beneath.
39. Detect Magic must be cast to reveal the invisible lever.
40. A statuette of a dog must be broken open to reveal a key.
41. A silver floor panel (20gp value) covers a stone lever crawling with centipedes.
42. A stone chest must be opened to a precise degree.
43. An empty hourglass must be filled with sand and turned upside down.
44. Three wall levers: two set off the trap again, one disarms.
45. A candle in a wall sconce must be burned down to disarm.
46. A wall sconce must be turned to a right angle.
47. A chandelier must be pulled down to floor, revolved 180 degrees, and sent back up again.
48. Every candle on a seventeen candle-candelabra must be lit; seven candles are missing.
49. A torch must be applied to a heat-sensitive floor panel.
50. An invisible statue in the corner must have both arms lowered.
51. An imp appears and demands payment to disarm the trap.
52. A globe hangs from the ceiling; Light must be cast upon it.
53. A hollow needle emerges from the wall; pricking a finger upon it disarms trap.
54. A ceramic alligator statue with gaping maw: will close maw if fed meat and disarm trap.
55. A snake-filled pit contains the release lever.
56. A small ochre jelly (1+1HD) must be coerced off the pressure plate it rests upon.
57. The open mouth of a gargoyle must be filled with wine or beer.
58. An illusory wall conceals a control panel.
59. A release lever at the bottom of a sludge-filled well.
60. Four small toilets line the far wall; all must be flushed.
61. A dagger must be placed into the hand of the statue of an impish child.
62. A complex set of gears is concealed within an armoire.
63. A lever is hidden behind a wine rack.
64. An empty, moveable bookcase conceals a set of rope pulleys.
65. A fake toadstool, among a patch of real ones, may be turned like a doorknob.
66. A patch of mildew conceals a diagram detailing how to disarm the trap.
67. An unlit torch on the wall must be lit.
68. The release lever has a hive of angry wasps built around it.
69. An acid-filled crystal ewer on a pedestal must be carefully emptied.
70. A row of clever brass gears is concealed just under the plaster on one wall.
71. A wick leading into a hole in the wall must be lit.
72. A row of skulls upon a ledge high on one wall; one contains the detached lever deactivating the trap.
73. An immense chalk maze drawn into the floor must be carefully walked through to completion.
74. A magic circle scribed into one wall must have a corpse placed within it.
75. A blackened steel wire stretches across the ceiling and must be cut.
76. Forty feet of chain must be pulled from a hole in the ceiling; very noisy (check for wandering monsters).
77. An iron spike must be pulled out of the stone wall it’s driven into (very difficult!).
78. A leprechaun is geased to guard the release and must be appeased with gold.
79. A complex set of archaic runes must be deciphered and read aloud.
80. A frayed rope pull-cord is concealed behind infested cobwebs.
81. A nine-headed hydra statue must have its heads hacked off.
82. Acid must be applied to a soapstone plug.
83. Seven locks must be picked, or the proper keys found.
84. A rude drawing of an elven maiden conceals a wall plate.
85. A magic mouth appears and demands an immediate dance recital.
86. A shallow pool of filthy water conceals rusty mechanism; must be dry, clean, and oiled.
87. A brazier must be filled with coal and lit.
88. A chair attached to a hidden floor lever must be tipped back.
89. A slimy stone in the wall must be removed, turned, and replaced.
90. A dagger must be placed into a hole; cannot be removed afterwards.
91. A hand-shaped depression in the high ceiling must be depressed.
92. Dust-covered elvish runes on the far wall must be read aloud.
93. A froglike idol must be knelt in front of, depressing a hidden floor plate.
94. A rudely fashioned ceramic face on the wall must be broken away to reveal a lever.
95. Acid must be poured upon a series of thin copper filaments.
96. Three ceiling hooks must be chained together and pulled; the chain is missing.
97. The apparition of a pirate appears and demands a bawdy tune.
98. Three silver wires, nearly invisible, run across the floor from either wall.
99. Five brass levers are concealed behind the painting of a grinning ettin.
00. Rows of colored circles dot the floor. A spinning wheel depicts the colors, and hands or feet must be placed on the corresponding colors until the trap releases. May require multiple participants.