Devilish Doors (5e Trap)

Magical Sentient Traps With Faces

A little broader than their inspiration in fables, Devilish Doors are sentient doors with animated stone faces that can be of any alignment, personality and mental ability scores. The door has an innate desire to let other sentient creatures through it, but this desire isn't so strong that they won't take advantage of the rumors of treasure and mystery surrounding their appearance. If approached by a creature wishing entrance, the head (Or heads) will then and only then come to life and may only open to them after completing some task or agreeing to some trial or spell effect being thrust upon them in order to gain entry. As such, the difficulty of the trap is often in this entry fee, as if it will result in something harmful or unexpected, the face might not be willing to divulge the full stakes for the creature because of wanting to let them in.

Okay But Why Though

Devilish Doors are a way to add areas that otherwise wouldn't make sense to exist in dungeons. Normal Devilish Doors lead to specialized versions of Demiplanes (Which can be larger than what is normally allowed for the Demiplane spell) and because of this getting into one will allow you to return using that spell without returning to the door (But only if the door hasn't been destroyed and still allows you in). One might have an area that always snows, or a volcano, or anything in between. Compasses and Clocks (As well as Orbs of Time and Direction) go haywire within these places, only returning to normal after being brought out of them. The sky might appear sped up, as time whizzes by but not on the ground. These normal Devilish Door areas are illusions (Actual illusions, not such in D&D terms), as while you might see a sky, it would be impossible to ever reach it were you to fly that direction. Invisible walls line the edges of the tiny world, impervious to all damage and projecting the effects seen within.

More rarely, Devilish Doors might have gold trim at their edges, giving away to those who are aware of the difference that these lead to an existing plane instead. Notably, only the remains of Devilish Doors can be found in The City of Doors, as all of them have seem to of been banished from existing there. (By default, Devilish Doors can seemingly at random appear where an existing empty doorframe has been left. This would get incredibly annoying in a place with a massive amount of doors, and for some reason destroying them when they appear seems to dissuade them from returning to the area.)

While most Devilish Doors are unwilling to fight directly, they will if given no other option (Including if that other option is to open, as they refuse to open by force unless that's the task set before the would-be intruder). Some may also be at least slightly evil, and therefore typically hostile instead. If a fight occurs, use the following stat block as your base for Devilish Doors.

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Most rarely, powerful creatures might attract a Devilish Door to guard the entrance to a location. Instead of leading to some other plane or a pocket dimension, it might just lead to the next room. It can make a formidable foe if backed up by other guardians. A Devilish Door being used this way will be far more aggressive than others, and will probably be a similar alignment to its master.

Example Builds

As if I'm going to lay this concept down without some proofs of my own. Note that in some of these, threats may exist within the area the door will open to. Because of this, you don't have to have any tricks to getting the door to open if the trap within is particularly devious, or you want to throw your players for a loop.

Also, note that Devilish Doors are indistinguishable from normal doors with statue-like faces until they animate for a creature that wants to enter them. Because of this, random people might not care to enter the areas, and thus a Devilish Door could go undiscovered for quite some time by an oblivious populace.

Average Door

(Magic Trap) 10 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom, 10 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a shockingly normal greeting for a giant talking stone door with a human face. It will try to make conversation with you, and the only way it'll open is if you treat it with respect. That's right, the key to opening this door is not being alarmed or freaked out by talking to a giant stone door with a human face and human eyes. Show any sign that it is abnormal, and it'll be offended by the uncouth behavior, and refuse to open. This is best used as a first encounter with this kind of zaniness, as those who've interacted with Devilish Doors before might not be as likely to freak out at the idea. If the character is freaked out but tries to play it off, a contested Deception check against the Door's Insight check can decide the day. Even if the door notices this behavior however, if the character is actively trying to hide it the door might forgive them. He's a nice door.

Big Door

(Magic Trap) 08 Intelligence, 12 Wisdom, 16 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a mouse face with a challenge to bring it a Huge or larger size creature. Do so, and the door will open for you. This trap is best placed in an area where the biggest creatures around are dangerous to interact with. An alternate version might ask for a specific Huge or larger creature it has seen that it wants to see again. Of course, when the creature is brought forth, a Fear spell is cast upon it by the door, who secretly loves scaring giant creatures to feel better about its own previous life and experiences as a tiny mouse. Depending on the creature, it might panic if it fails the save, causing what could amount to a dangerous encounter for the party depending on the circumstances.

Chocolate Door

(Magic Trap) 12 Intelligence, 16 Wisdom, 08 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a Halfling face with a gift from its mouth. A gross, slimy, spit-covered chocolate candy bar. It wants you to eat it. If you do, roll a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a success, you manage to stomach the smelly thing. On a fail, you can't hold it down and vomit, taking 3D4 Acid damage. Throwing back up (Or refusing) its perfectly good gift made just for you will offend the door, and cause it to deny you entry. However, if you keep it down politely, the door will be so gratified at its good job making chocolate for you that it'll open for you.

Dumb Door

(Magic Trap) 05 Intelligence, 09 Wisdom, 06 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a face you really didn't want to see today, that of a Hill Giant. The door will still think it's a Hill Giant, and have no idea how it got here, where here is, or why it can't move. The only way to get it to open, is to make it understand how, and more importantly to it why it should. Good luck with that one.

Erratic Door

(Magic Trap) 10 Intelligence, 06 Wisdom, 08 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a jittery humanoid face that clearly isn't having the best day. If you can get through a conversation of conspiracy theories and general untrustworthiness through the door, you'll be met with a request for a specific type of illegal drug. Get it a hit, and do so without accidentally convincing it you're one of THEM, and the door will open for you. This door should be one of the most challenging to deal with, as the request can be dangerous to carry out by a party with little sway in the area, and they also have to navigate a difficult set of interactions with the door that proves they can be trusted. Make it as difficult as you can to talk to this door.

False Door

(Magic Trap) 18 Intelligence, 16 Wisdom, 20 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield another door they've seen before, which will claim to remember the characters that interacted with their previous encounter. It will behave identically to such a door, and will even send would-be door openers on a wild goose chase themed after what such a door would actually want. This door is in fact, lying through its teeth, casting Detect Thoughts (At surface level to avoid being discovered) to ensure its info is correct, and Disguise Self to keep up its fake appearance. It only knows these spells and whatever magic the door its pretending to be might know, and uses its Charisma for spellcasting (Devilish Doors don't have access to a proficiency bonus). If the party can discern that it is lying through its teeth, or succeed on saving against the Disguise Self spell, the door will reveal itself as a Jackal-faced door instead of what it looked like, and open for them after congratulating them on not being (Or staying as the case might be) fooled.

Good Door

(Magic Trap) 04 Intelligence, 12 Wisdom, 30 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield an adorable puppers the likes of which you've never seen ITSSOCUTE!!! Upon seeing its cute face and happy demeanor, the character must make a DC 20 Charisma saving throw. On a fail, the character takes 49 (14d6) psychic damage as if hit by a Psychic Scream Spell. The affected are completely unaware that their mind is being obliterated, and are distracted from any pain they experience from this by the adorable face. They can take no other actions except to pet and cuddle the precious door (As opposed to being stunned by the spell). They can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success, but taking the damage again on a fail. On a success, they take half as much damage, see the door turn into a horrible screaming monster dog face for a moment, and can't be fooled by the face anymore. Those that succeed on the initial save or any save for the effect thereafter cannot be subjected to the effect anymore by this or any Good Door. The door becomes hostile if any affected succeed on the save or realize what's going on. If it becomes hostile, it cannot continue subjecting its victims to the effect. The only way through the door is to fight it.

Gourd Door

(Magic Trap) 0 Intelligence, 0 Wisdom, 0 Charisma

Approaching this door yields a giant gourd face, like that which could be grown by a Cloud Giant (Knowledge of this is up to the DM's discretion). The door's nonsentience means it's going to be difficult to convince to open. Instead, if the gourd is completely eaten or destroyed, the door opens by default. It can't attack the would be door openers, and only a Huge size creature or larger or with a bite attack can bite the gourd through it's thick skin (Though virtually anyone can stab it). If eaten by such a creature, it takes maybe a minute at most, and with enormous creatures they might be able to eat it whole. It has an AC of 20, but bite attacks by creatures that can bite it have advantage, and automatically succeed if the creature is Huge or larger.

Hungry Door

(Magic Trap) 10 Intelligence, 08 Wisdom, 14 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a gaunt humanoid face with a sad tale about how doors can never get food because they can't move. It'll want you to feed it something it has never eaten before. This means the food it requests will likely be highly unusual given the area it rests in, and shouldn't be something the party will have in normal rations, unless they previously stated they bought that kind of food specifically. The food may be something that isn't typically considered food (But will always be a piece of a biological creature), and the closest way to retrieve the food will be dangerous to retrieve. There's a 5% chance it asks for a food that doesn't exist in your world setting, requiring the creature wanting entrance to realize this and call the bluff. If they do, (Or deliver the food should it exist or be invented), than the door will open for them.

Intelligent Door

(Magic Trap) 30 Intelligence, 16 Wisdom, 08 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a face composed of a sentient book. The door will only talk to someone with an Intelligence score of at least 12, and will outright ignore any ignoramus that has a lower score. Quite rudely in fact. The only way to get this door to open is to tell it something it doesn't know. To do this, first the would be door opener must know some fact that they can present. Then the door must make an Intelligence check to see if it knows the fact. The DM decides the DC for this, but note that the door can't move, and thus only knows about what it could learn from previous interactions with others or observe from its environment. Thus, knowledge about far away lands and other planes can prove useful. Also note that the book is a sentient book of lore, and thus knows a lot about a specific subject or range of subjects (such as the nature of plants, for example) of the DM's choice, and will have a lower DC for such facts. The door will not accept a particularly unimpressive fact, such as a trivial or personal one. One exception may be your darkest secret if it's important to your character not to divulge the information and the fact is truly worthy of it. The DM has the final say in what basic facts are simply too easy. The door can also be tricked with a false fact that sounds real, with a contested Deception check against the door's Insight check. If the opener knows of a previous deception the door has believed, the character can convince the door of the falsity with a Persuasion check against the Deception check of the deceiver. If the door learns any new or fake facts, it'll open (Though if it later learns the deception it'll never open for the deceiver or allow planar travel from them. The door will also open in gratitude for anyone that reveals any such deceptions of others.

Joke Door

(Magic Trap) 10 Intelligence, 12 Wisdom, 16 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a clown. Yaaaay... The clown will attempt to make the characters laugh in any way it can, including being able to create mundane objects that have no material worth above 1 gp as an action to do so. When it manifests such an object, it can (But doesn't have to) give it velocity, causing it to attack with the door's Charisma modifier. If it hits, no damage will ever be dealt, except maybe to pride. It won't always throw an object, but can, usually a comedically large cream pie or similar gag object. However, it's pranks and sense of humor might be a little difficult to laugh along to as you make a Strength saving throw against an thrown prank that hits vs spell save DC of 11 (Devilish Doors don't have access to a proficiency bonus) to avoid flying back 15 feet off the cliffsides (Or any equally deadly hazards, like lava) these doors tend to be invariably found hanging out alongside. The door can also create a tiny object under their feet as they move on the ground as a reaction, such as a whoopie cushion or banana peel. A Dexterity saving throw against that 11 DC avoids being knocked prone and 5 feet back. Survive it's sense of humor and get a real laugh in along the way to gain entry to this door. If the door means no harm, a character may also convince it of it's shortcomings as a deadly roadside attraction to gain access, but only if the character does so in a way that wouldn't alienate it, at the DM's discretion. Alternatively, a Joke Door may also be secretly actively trying to deceive the characters into a false sense of security while it hurls them off the cliff. Such a door turns hostile upon being found out, and must be defeated to be entered.

Miserable Door

(Magic Trap) 14 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom, 06 Charisma

Approaching this door will yield a grumpy Dwarven face with a tale of longing to laugh. In order to open it, the creature wanting entrance must successfully make it laugh. If they do, it's laughter will be so loud and thunderous that it causes the rocks of the ledge above it (Or the ceiling if indoors) to collapse onto the area within 15 feet of the door. Creatures within 5 feet of the door (And the creature that makes it laugh, regardless of where that creature is) must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a fail, they take 1D4 nonlethal thunder damage and are stunned for a round. On a success, they take no damage. If they aren't stunned, any creature within a 15 foot cube in front of the Devilish Door entrance must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw (A stunned creature fails the save automatically). Creatures take 5D6 bludgeoning damage on a fail, and half as much on a save. The door will then apologize for causing the ruckus, and will open for them.

Triple Door

(Magic Traps) Any three stat blocks from the rest of the list.

These doors slam down out of nowhere (Literally phasing into existence from somewhere else) when you investigate a dead end hallway where the only way back would be through where the doors drop down. They each argue over which of them has the right to trap you, each believing themselves to be the first one to of made it there. Eventually, after getting nowhere with arguing, they decide to let you make the decision. You must choose and then successfully navigate one of three Devilish Doors, only being let go if you succeed. Any three different doors from this list can be the trap, but it must be possible to navigate any of the traps placed, because you can only choose once. The other doors will be offended by you taking a side against them, and refuse to open. (The trap can be made easier or harder by allowing the player to converse with all three and learn of their demands before making their choice, or not being allowed to know anything at all of what each door would require, and anything in between.) If you fail, you can still force your way through, but the back wall is so close that you'll always be in range of the door's attacks. Even though it's three doors with potentially different stat blocks, they share their hit points and hit dice and are considered one object, making them have no more hit points or hit dice than a single door.

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