DoIP Dragon Barrow Area D5 – how is this not a likely TPK?

Question

I'm running Dragon of Icespire Peak, and my players have encountered the Dragon Barrow.

This question relates to the mechanics of a specific part of the quest, so I've liberally used spoiler blocks to avoid spoiling this for any players of the campaign who might find this question.

If you're playing DoIP in any group (not just my players), don't read this question or the answers.

Section D5 is described as (emphasis mine):

This tunnel is only 2 feet wide. At the halfway point, a 5-foot-long pressure plate is hidden under a 2-inch-thick layer of earth. A character prodding ahead with a pole or similar tool can detect the plate with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check. The first character to step on the plate causes the walls of the tunnel to collapse inward, burying all creatures in the tunnel. A buried creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks, and begins to suffocate when it runs out of breath (see "Suffocation" in the rulebook). Only a creature that is not trapped in the tunnel can clear away the collapse, using an action to open up the 5-foot-deep section of tunnel closest to it. A creature in that space is no longer buried.

Given that

the tunnel is 50', this means that the trap is 25' down the tunnel. The trap buries all creatures in the tunnel, so given it seems normal to assume that the PCs follow fairly close behind each other, this would mean all the PCs are caught, unless they explicitly say only one or two characters go down the tunnel and the rest stay in the room.

Because

Only a creature that is not trapped in the tunnel can clear away the collapse, therefore if the party are all in the tunnel (which seems likely), there will be a TPK because no-one is left to dig them out

Am I missing something, or is this likely to lead to a TPK, with no particular warning for the players?

Obviously as DM I can overrule and say that

the PCs left an unusually large gap between each other and so only some of the PCs are in the tunnel if/when it collapses
or say the last player jumps out of the tunnel (I could ask for a DEX save, but at that point they can't afford to fail it, so I'd probably rule they get free even on a 1, and just take damage)

but nothing in the module as written suggests this. I suspect I'm missing something?

Answer 1

Having run the adventure through twice now for starting groups of players I agree this trap can cause the potential of a TPK, but this is not a bad thing and can be mitigated for by foreshadowing it prior to them reaching it. One interesting side point is that the need to use a 10ft pole harks back to original DnD where perception, investigation and trap disarming where not stats in the game, instead all players had was a long pole to poke things with from a distance.

I have tweaked almost all of the encounters in DOISP to match my party (one of the games I ran was for 8 players which requires everything to be scaled up a bit) but also because I felt it was lacking. On first read through of the adventure this particular trap jumped out at me as being highly dangerous for the reasons you state, I initially considered adjusting it to ensure only a couple of characters where buried but I instead decided to think of it as a big bad enemy which a party need to learn how to deal with.

This started in the dwarven excavation I added pressure plate traps, the dwarves having already found and marked one. This taught my players to always search and check for traps. These traps where largely harmless but 2 emitted a cloud that covered a large area, this helped my new players start to consider who is positioned where in a space. As an aside I also made the gem at the end worth 500gp and the statue explode so as to give somthing worth getting. I also made the trap a Indiana Jones style affair.

In Gnomegarden I added a couple more trap situations again designed to teach the players to start thinking more carefully.

Throughout other encounters as it was appropriate (the manticore one for instance it isn’t) I added in traps, secret doors etc until the party got used to searching as standard, I also ensured they didn’t find something every time.

Finally the trap itself. I left it as was but in addition to the dc10 check with a pole I added a dc20 to detect somthing up with the ground if someone was looking for it. I figured this was realistic, if the ground underneath is slightly different then the mud above it will be. One of the party made this check and then spent about an hour real time working out and discussing how they would bypass it or avoid it. Because of the thickness of the dirt I decided a simple disarm roll would not be possible.

So a combination of using the adventure as a teaching experience as to how to play and what to think about in DnD and a slight tweak to the adventure to allow for non pole poking players to identify something is off with the ground. If you have engendered suitable caution in the players already they shouldn’t all just wander into the tunnel as a whole group. In fact by the time we reached here both parties had started learning the art of sending one or 2 players ahead to scout out everything and check for traps. Brilliantly they didn’t just insist the rogue do this, the bard and fighter both insisted at times because that was their personality resulting in some hilarious moments.

Ultimately though sometimes players need to understand that the world is dangerous and characters die. If you are playing with a brand new group of players consider, if this does result in a TPK, allowing them to reset to the start of the tunnel again and have another go. But make clear that this is not something you will do every time.

There is a great overview of the encounters in DOISP at https://slyflourish.com/running_icespire_peak.html

For this trap he suggests allowing players the chance to dig themselves out if the whole party is trapped. Or skipping the trap altogether. Alternatively you could have the cave in be a bit smaller and ensure at least 1 party member is on the outskirts of it. Maybe describe it is as trapping a leg or partially burying them.

Answer 2

Knowledge Checks May Prevent TPK

I just want to expand on Revenant Bacon's answer a little to remind that situations like this are an excellent spot to introduce skill checks that facilitate the players gaining a better understanding of what their characters would know as well as ensuring that they as players and you as the DM have the same expectations.

And several applicable skills in 5e can be used to hint things out:

• History (via a Dwarven party members' Stonecunning feature)
• Investigation (either active or passive depending on how the players interact with the sides of the wall)
• Survival (especially if a character has made themselves proficient)

So while the trap, as written, is a death trap with high likelihood of leading to TPK it doesn't mean that there shouldn't be multiple reasonable methods presented to the players to mitigate the risk.

It is kind of disappointing that the module doesn't seem to include that kind of guidance. Especially given how anti-climatic that kind of TPK would be.

Answer 3

Some encounters are just deadly if not approached in the proper manner or with the proper precautions.

This is something players learn to account for with playing experience, and the only way to get that experience is to fall victim to such encounters. This seems to be one of those times. If the players are all bunched up right next to each other, and there are 5 or fewer characters, then yes, this could simply be a complete party wipe. That's OK. TPK's happen sometimes; after all, if there's no risk of "losing", is it even a game? I personally have had more than one experience where standing too close together has caused my entire party to be hit by a trap that otherwise would have hit only half of us.

Eventually, we learned to keep a greater distance between ourselves when traversing a dungeon.

Eventually, we learned to send a scout out ahead to check for traps, enemies, and loot.

Maybe your players have already learned this lesson, and only send in one or two characters to scout out the passage and the room beyond, or go in with some space between themselves. Maybe they haven't learned this particular lesson, and go into a confined space while taking no precautions against springing a trap, or getting attacked while in such tight quarters. Maybe, they're about to learn this lesson.

If you feel that this lesson is too harsh, then as the DM, you're free to adjust the encounter's difficulty. You could have only a small portion of the tunnel collapse, trapping fewer characters. Or you could allow characters to dig themselves out with a successful Strength(Athletics) check. That's up to you, but as written, yes, this trap could easily end in a TPK.