What do you think?
Rate this book
The Game Master's Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons: A punishing collection of bone-crunching contraptions, brain-teasing riddles and ... RPG adventures
The Game Master's Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons provides GMs with endless options for populating their adventures with challenging riddles, puzzles, spiked pits, Rube Goldberg-style deathtraps and much more - everything they need to push player character to their limit and bring new levels of excitement (and anxiety) to their game play.
Whether part of a pre-planned adventure or a random encounter, these brain teasers, puzzles and traps will make every dungeon crawl, fortress break-in, or temple sacking that much more fun. GMs will find more than 60 challenging puzzles, 60 unique traps and 50 modular dungeon chambers, each with its own set of possible encoounters, meaning GMs can generate a fully-functional (or completely dilapidated) dungeon in a few rolls of a dice. With intricate technical illustrations, beautifully rendered top-down location maps and three one-shot adventures, written by RPG inflencers including Jasmine Bhullar and the creators of the Three Black Halflings podcast, The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons is the ideal tool for any GM hoping to put the fun back in fun-geon*.
*not a word.
Whether part of a pre-planned adventure or a random encounter, these brain teasers, puzzles and traps will make every dungeon crawl, fortress break-in, or temple sacking that much more fun. GMs will find more than 60 challenging puzzles, 60 unique traps and 50 modular dungeon chambers, each with its own set of possible encoounters, meaning GMs can generate a fully-functional (or completely dilapidated) dungeon in a few rolls of a dice. With intricate technical illustrations, beautifully rendered top-down location maps and three one-shot adventures, written by RPG inflencers including Jasmine Bhullar and the creators of the Three Black Halflings podcast, The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons is the ideal tool for any GM hoping to put the fun back in fun-geon*.
*not a word.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2022
27 people are currently reading
356 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Read
February 7, 2024How? I saw another book by the author in Half-Price Books and flipped through it, but didn't like it enough to buy it right now, but the library had this.
What? Three adventures, a bunch of traps, several different puzzles, and a bunch of random dungeon rooms.
Yeah, so? Not my thing -- it mostly feels like some OSR thing, where it's all about the players versus the GM, solving problems as players rather than as characters in a story. The tone also tends towards the silly sometimes. But here's one nice thing that I've seen in this book and in some others by this group, which is good DM tips and attention to what the DM needs to get the game working.
What? Three adventures, a bunch of traps, several different puzzles, and a bunch of random dungeon rooms.
Yeah, so? Not my thing -- it mostly feels like some OSR thing, where it's all about the players versus the GM, solving problems as players rather than as characters in a story. The tone also tends towards the silly sometimes. But here's one nice thing that I've seen in this book and in some others by this group, which is good DM tips and attention to what the DM needs to get the game working.
September 30, 2025
A collection of traps, puzzles and short adventures for D&D. The quality varies a lot. Too much. The good is fairly good, and the bad is pretty time-wasting. I don't want to be overly critical, but the very first part of the book, an adventure for low level players, ended up souring me for the rest of the book. So much of it was a train wreck. It can, supposedly, be used for a group from level 1-5. Well that's just not true. An adventure that would challenge a 5th level party would massacre a 1st level party (and a fun challenge for a 1st level party would bore a 5th level party to tears). The very first scene involves an escape from a gigantic flood of cheese fondue. Hope you're planning to run a silly, adventure with over-the-top humor. And the escape requires you to climb up into an airship where you are introduced to the next stage of the adventure. There is NO other way to escape or make any choices. Hope you enjoy some railroad with that cheese.
The other adventures are better, but that was a rough way to start the book. The traps that follow are a mixed bag. Some are decent, but far too many of them are "walk into the room, make a saving throw, you're screwed if you fail it". Is that supposed to be fun? An exemplar of the clunkiness of the book is in the "Sticky Situation" trap. If you step on this trap, you drop down a hidden chute which is coated with honey, being ejected at the bottom into a cave of hungry bears who see you, now coated with honey. Because... every player loves being humiliated on top of being mauled by bears. Right? Included with this trap is a map AND illustration. Which is so bizarre that they thought we'd need a map to get "chute connects room A to room B", while other more convoluted traps DON'T get maps or illustrations.
I definitely enjoyed the section on riddles, with some suggestions on how to use them. Some of the dungeon chambers at the end were also clever, but more of them are the "save or suck" peril again, with some repetition (including a weird obsession with gears), and a handful (like a "work cafeteria, but in a dungeon") are so simple the 2 page explanation could have been trimmed down to a paragraph or two.
The other adventures are better, but that was a rough way to start the book. The traps that follow are a mixed bag. Some are decent, but far too many of them are "walk into the room, make a saving throw, you're screwed if you fail it". Is that supposed to be fun? An exemplar of the clunkiness of the book is in the "Sticky Situation" trap. If you step on this trap, you drop down a hidden chute which is coated with honey, being ejected at the bottom into a cave of hungry bears who see you, now coated with honey. Because... every player loves being humiliated on top of being mauled by bears. Right? Included with this trap is a map AND illustration. Which is so bizarre that they thought we'd need a map to get "chute connects room A to room B", while other more convoluted traps DON'T get maps or illustrations.
I definitely enjoyed the section on riddles, with some suggestions on how to use them. Some of the dungeon chambers at the end were also clever, but more of them are the "save or suck" peril again, with some repetition (including a weird obsession with gears), and a handful (like a "work cafeteria, but in a dungeon") are so simple the 2 page explanation could have been trimmed down to a paragraph or two.
July 11, 2025
I bought this at Target because it was on sale for a pretty nominal amount of dollars. I don't know why it was stocked at Target; Target doesn't even stock the PHB. I guess someone somewhere had heard that D&D was a decent market, so they stocked it and then decided that it didn't work out?
Anyway. I read this cover to cover, which is mind-numbing, before switching to really skim reading things and hoping that they stick in my head should I ever want to use them.
I particularly got this for the puzzles, because I struggle a lot to come up with puzzles, or in particular with why anybody would include a puzzle in any dungeon or lair that they inhabit. I'm not sure how much the book helped me with that, but it did perhaps encourage me to chill out about it. Players are there to go on an adventure, and won't bother spending too much time thinking through the complete logic of the place.
The book isn't perfect - my inclination is that the tasks tend towards being too difficult, but all that can be moderated, and hints provided, but it's got a lot of useful stuff that could be incorporated into a campaign. All of the riddles have terrible scansion, although I can cut some slack because a) poems are hard, b) I can rewrite them if I really have to, c) you'd have to be really weird to care about that kind of thing in the first place.
Production values are pretty good - it doesn't have the elaborate full-color printing of the official products, but there are a good handful of charming illustrations and plenty of illustrative maps.
Anyway. I read this cover to cover, which is mind-numbing, before switching to really skim reading things and hoping that they stick in my head should I ever want to use them.
I particularly got this for the puzzles, because I struggle a lot to come up with puzzles, or in particular with why anybody would include a puzzle in any dungeon or lair that they inhabit. I'm not sure how much the book helped me with that, but it did perhaps encourage me to chill out about it. Players are there to go on an adventure, and won't bother spending too much time thinking through the complete logic of the place.
The book isn't perfect - my inclination is that the tasks tend towards being too difficult, but all that can be moderated, and hints provided, but it's got a lot of useful stuff that could be incorporated into a campaign. All of the riddles have terrible scansion, although I can cut some slack because a) poems are hard, b) I can rewrite them if I really have to, c) you'd have to be really weird to care about that kind of thing in the first place.
Production values are pretty good - it doesn't have the elaborate full-color printing of the official products, but there are a good handful of charming illustrations and plenty of illustrative maps.
March 8, 2024
I picked this up because I was looking to mix in more riddles and I've exhausted my personal trove of tricky word puzzles.
The one-off adventures: Good on detail but pretty railroad as oneshots tend to be. They are good for their purpose, filler episodes when you're looking for a deeply detailed short arc within a larger campaign.
Traps: Some good ones, but a lot of elaborate Rube Goldberg-ing or step and die traps. Overall a pretty weak section.
Riddles: The reason I got the book, and some good physical setups or settings for riddles, the overall riddle quality and quantity were lacking.
Dungeon Chambers: What I expected to be the weak link in the book was actually the standout. I'm very much looking forward to working these single rooms into my other dungeons or encounters. Just enough detail to get a GM going, with plenty of variant encounters to mix them up and lead to new adventures.
Overall a useful tool for any GM.
The one-off adventures: Good on detail but pretty railroad as oneshots tend to be. They are good for their purpose, filler episodes when you're looking for a deeply detailed short arc within a larger campaign.
Traps: Some good ones, but a lot of elaborate Rube Goldberg-ing or step and die traps. Overall a pretty weak section.
Riddles: The reason I got the book, and some good physical setups or settings for riddles, the overall riddle quality and quantity were lacking.
Dungeon Chambers: What I expected to be the weak link in the book was actually the standout. I'm very much looking forward to working these single rooms into my other dungeons or encounters. Just enough detail to get a GM going, with plenty of variant encounters to mix them up and lead to new adventures.
Overall a useful tool for any GM.
March 5, 2025
4.5 stars
there are times when i'm pretty bad at making puzzles and traps that my players either solve within a few minutes or exhaust them to the point of them almost giving up, both of which suck for dungeon masters to go through. i don't want to torture my players but i also don't want them to feel like they're adults playing with easy kindergarten blocks. i love the ideas in this book but a lot of the traps and puzzles are lethal or will harm my players in some way. i wish there were more "to pass, answer this sphinx with this expertly-crafted puzzle" instead of "and then they fell into an iron maiden" type of situation. there are one-shots in this book as well but i'm going to be taking these traps and puzzles and crafting my own non-lethal (or significantly less lethal) dungeons. this guide reads like it's dungeon masters to create/incorporate traps and puzzles right before a big battle and i'd like to see a little more variety.
there are times when i'm pretty bad at making puzzles and traps that my players either solve within a few minutes or exhaust them to the point of them almost giving up, both of which suck for dungeon masters to go through. i don't want to torture my players but i also don't want them to feel like they're adults playing with easy kindergarten blocks. i love the ideas in this book but a lot of the traps and puzzles are lethal or will harm my players in some way. i wish there were more "to pass, answer this sphinx with this expertly-crafted puzzle" instead of "and then they fell into an iron maiden" type of situation. there are one-shots in this book as well but i'm going to be taking these traps and puzzles and crafting my own non-lethal (or significantly less lethal) dungeons. this guide reads like it's dungeon masters to create/incorporate traps and puzzles right before a big battle and i'd like to see a little more variety.
December 7, 2025
vgam,e to play:
- spot the '7'
- count every snowman
-
☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃
- spot the '7'
- count every snowman
-
☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃
September 6, 2022
WOW!
The 300+ challenges and every obstacle a game master could think to include in an RPG game is here...Seriously, I thought I was a creative-minded individual but if you need some new ideas, I guarantee you that you will find some new ones in here.
They're all very easily organized, easy to follow, very detailed but open to interpretation...
If you're not a Dungeon Master or you're just starting out on campaigns that's okay too.
If you're a fantasy writer and are looking for some interesting and unique inspiration, this book can help you out with that aspect of storytelling too.
Props to the multiple contributors to this book!
The 300+ challenges and every obstacle a game master could think to include in an RPG game is here...Seriously, I thought I was a creative-minded individual but if you need some new ideas, I guarantee you that you will find some new ones in here.
They're all very easily organized, easy to follow, very detailed but open to interpretation...
If you're not a Dungeon Master or you're just starting out on campaigns that's okay too.
If you're a fantasy writer and are looking for some interesting and unique inspiration, this book can help you out with that aspect of storytelling too.
Props to the multiple contributors to this book!
November 14, 2022
A strong collection of traps and puns that inspired them. Within this tome is enough material for you to slot into your Dungeons and Dragons games, but without any principles or methods to make such traps yourself, which is where this book falls short. That said, it has traps of various difficulties, various full dungeon rooms to make your own dungeon, and riddles and secrets the likes of which can drastically speed up the creation of powerful sessions. This has certainly improved my trap-building game.
January 28, 2024
I'm not good at thinking up misfortunes for my characters or cruelties from my villains. This book should help! These traps are much more cruel and lethal than most of what I've seen before. Sprinkling these around dungeons would be highly memorable. Using them in books is a good way to establish the antagonists who control the terrain. If I ever write kobolds, this will help me write them well!
November 27, 2024
I loved the Book of Random Encounters, so when I spotted this at 2nd & Charles I decided to grab it.
This book focuses on traps and puzzles, which are the things I struggle to write most as a GM.
The traps are great but the puzzles, while useful, are a little basic to me. A lot of these are full dungeon rooms so maps are featured and, just like the Random Encounters book, they're just not great.
This book focuses on traps and puzzles, which are the things I struggle to write most as a GM.
The traps are great but the puzzles, while useful, are a little basic to me. A lot of these are full dungeon rooms so maps are featured and, just like the Random Encounters book, they're just not great.
August 14, 2025
This is a good book for generating some ideas, I like the modular dungeon rooms the most. The riddles not as much, but they just seemed cheesy and easy to me. But I think I’ll pull a couple themes and adjust them for my party. Definitely more appropriate for lower level play!
August 8, 2023
Excellent resource with great examples to drop in or modify as you see fit to.
January 9, 2024
I like traps. Not so much puzzles.
June 28, 2024
I hope my players are ready
September 25, 2024
To say that this book is helpful is an understatement! It has a whole lot of interesting traps and puzzles, and I already implemented some in my campaign! What an amazing addition to my DM roster!
May 8, 2025
Maybe the content is not as useful as you might think, but the humor with what he writes the book makes it enjoyable even if you end up not using the content.
May 17, 2025
Love it! Some great ideas, ones I had never thought of. Ready to use, easy to slot into a campaign. Saved me a lot of time.
January 11, 2023
I mainly leafed thru this to see what it had to offer. The answer is: A lot! If you're creating a dungeon, or almost any kind of multi-player game, you'll find a plethora of traps and puzzles and everything else in the title here. All of them easily pluggable and adaptable. While the main focus is on D&D style games most (all?) of these could be adapted to space, apocalypse, or whatever suits your fancy.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews