Deadly Traps

Set Size5
Number of unique Cards2
RoleDamage, Stalling
Threat LevelMid to High
# of scenarios2
Variants
Appears in: Doom of Eztli, Heart of the Elders #2

My take on this set: Deadly Traps puts some skill tests for agility and strength into the encounter deck. Both cards in the set have fairly relevant effects and are ready to punish anyone who can not pass such tests.
The Forgotten Age is notorious for being the first campaign really asking the players to care about their agility scores and this encounter set does a good job of enforcing this theme. It’s deceptively powerful, as well. Despite looking like fairly basic effects, they interact well with the other cards in the encounter decks of the two scenarios they are in: There are plenty other damage sources to form a critical mass. Also, there are enough ways to make a movement restricting card like Entombed feel urgent beyond just the lost actions themselves.
Excellent set. Clean, simple, relevant.

Number in the encounter deck: 3

What it does: The investigator has to pass an agility test. otherwise they have to take 2 damage. The difficulty for this test starts out as pretty easy, but scales up with the amount of doom on the location.

My take: The doom scaling isn’t terribly important here most of the time, but it’s not nothing either. The increase from 2 to 3 can make a difference, but mostly this card is going to be rough for those investigators who have low agility by default. Characters like Harvey are going to have a rough time throughout the Forgotten Age anyways, this is just more pain to pile on.
Getting hit for 2 damage is quite significant, but that test offers a fair way out of it.
Passing this test is quite important for anyone who is poisoned, as those players really can’t afford taking that damage in addition to whatever Creeping Poison will do.

Threat level: Mid. A considerable chunk of damage, but with an easy saving throw attached.

Dealing with it: Being prepared to pass agility tests is one of the basic requirements for investigators tackling the Forgotten Age campaign. Final Mistake doesn’t ask anything out of the ordinary, then. The difficulty of the test is low enough that even someone like Harvey or Leo can throw in a Manual Dexterity and have at least an okay chance at passing it.
Throwing some icons into this test to make sure you pass it is usually worth it, as the damage from this card stacks up easily. Not only are there 3 of them in the deck, but it also shares a deck with Poison, Pitfall and similar cards.

Number in the encounter deck: 2

What it does: Entomb is put into the player’s threat area, where it sticks until discarded. To do so, the player has to pass either a combat or an agility test. Failing the test lowers the difficulty for the rest of the round by one, so repeat tries get easier.
While under effect of Entombed, the investigator can neither move nor disengage enemies.

My take: This is one of the cards that punishes investigators with insufficient physical skills. Any of the seeker type investigators who have middling to low agility and strength are going to struggle a lot getting rid of this card. And even those with a high skill value could easily take several tries.
Being tied down by this card not only wasted player actions from trying to dig yourself out of it, but it also increases the danger from many other cards, most importantly Hunter enemies and (in Heart of the Elders #2) Poisonous Spores.

Threat level: High. Potentially a massive time waster in scenarios that do not afford that luxury.

Dealing with it: If really necessary, you can brute force your way out of the card. Note that other players can also take the test for you and that the reductions to the test difficulty persist through all of the player turns. If you are sharing the location with someone else, it’s worth thinking a second about how to most efficiently share the burden of this card.

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