Silver Pools | Free Trap for D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e

Designed by Claire Martin; Pathfinder 2e conversion by David N. Ross

Not all portals home are as straightforward as they seem. Deep in the Astral Plane, your players may stumble upon an intricate trap—Silver Pools, where shimmering portals offer a deadly choice. What looks like the way home may lead to disaster as illusions, silver blasts, and disorienting swaps complicate the journey. Can your party discern truth from trickery and avoid the mental anguish of a false leap? Challenge your adventurers with this dangerous and complex trap, where one wrong step could mean disaster!

Silver Pools - D&D 5e

Magical trap (Complex trap, level 5-10, deadly)

Description. Upon traveling to the Astral Plane, a character may leave by stepping into a pool that acts as a portal back home. It is typically easy to find one’s way back to one’s home plane because the pool has a silver outline, whereas other pools display different colors. In this trap, the way home becomes blurred and dangerous since a myriad of pools sit close together, all outlined in silver.

Trigger. The trap triggers when a creature travels to the Astral Plane.

Initiative. The trap acts on initiative counts 10 and 0.

Active Elements. The silver pools attempt to keep travelers from going home by emitting a damaging silver blast and constantly swapping places to cause confusion.

Silver Blast (Initiative 10). The pools emit a communal silver blast that shimmers over a 60-foot radius centered on the pools. Any creature in this area must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they take 22 (4d10) psychic damage, or half as much on a success.

Swap (Initiative 0). All the pools reshuffle, swapping places to confuse travelers further.

Dynamic Elements. Characters may approach a pool and peer into its depth. For a normal pool, the surface shimmers and becomes clear, offering a glimpse into the plane it creates a portal to. These pools are tricky, though, creating an illusion of what’s on the other side.

Smart Illusion. The pools are not immediately knowledgeable of the plane the traveler seeks to access. They will display a random illusion to entice the character to jump in. If the character does not, the pools will keep cycling through random illusions until they find the right one.

Constant Elements. If a character jumps into the wrong pool, that pool dissipates, and the character takes 27 (5d10) psychic damage.

Countermeasures. With a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, a character can keep their eyes on one pool during their swap phase, successfully tracking its new emplacement. With a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check, a character can discern whether the pool they are gazing into is an illusion or reality.

Silver Pools - Pathfinder 2e - Hazard 7

Astral, Complex, Environmental

Perception +20 (expert)

Description Upon traveling to the Astral Plane, a character may leave by stepping into a pool that acts as a portal back home. It is typically easy to find one’s way back to one’s home plane because the pool has a silver outline, whereas other pools display different colors. In this trap, the way home becomes blurred and dangerous since five pools sit close together, all outlined in silver. Only one is a true pool.

—

Disable DC 30 Occultism or Survival (trained) to spoil the illusion by blowing the surrounding mists into it; Interact to look through a pool, glimpsing the Material Plane if it is the true pool or a smart illusion otherwise

Dissipate [free-action] Trigger A character jumps into a false pool. Effect The pool dissipates, releasing a blast of psychic energy that deals the creature 4d6 mental damage with a DC 29 basic Will save.

Smart Illusion [free-action] Trigger A character looks into a false pool. Effect The pool creates an illusion of a safe place on a random plane of existence. Each time this free action triggers, even for the same pool, a different illusion appears. A creature can disbelieve the illusion by succeeding at a DC 30 Perception check.

Swap [reaction] Trigger A creature from another plane of existence comes within 60 feet of any of the silver pools during its move action. Effect All the pools fly around, swapping places simultaneously. The hazard rolls initiative if it hasn’t yet.

—

Routine (2 Actions) The silver pools attempt to keep travelers from going home by emitting a damaging silver blast and then swapping places to cause confusion.

Silver Blast [one-action] (mental) One randomly chosen false pool emits a silver blast that shimmers over a 60-foot radius centered on that pool. Each creature in the area takes 4d6 mental damage with a DC 29 basic Will save. A creature that fails can’t tell which pool originated the blast.

Swap [one-action] (secret) The pools swap places again. Each creature that can see the pools must attempt a DC 30 Perception check.

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