Tricks in Dungeons and Dragons have existed from the very beginning. But the first time, I believe, that they were ever really discussed directly was in the 1st Edition Dungeon Master Guide on page 216. The Dungeon Masters Guide really does not define them but merely refers to them as clever and innovative artifices, deceptions, conundrums and sundry tricks.

Sometimes tricks are there to confound the adventurer

The Dungeon Masters Guide gives a list of potential features that one might find in a dungeon, tomb, crypt, castle or other such place. Then it gives the reader a slightly longer list of potential attributes which could be assigned to these features to create a magical “trick” to confuse or amuse your adventurers.

Sometimes tricks are there to terrify the adventurer

Certainly magical tricks existed prior to 1st Edition. But they were not really described as such. Basically they are just those weird little magical things that one might encounter in a dungeon which do not fit into the categories of traps, monsters, non player characters or encounters. They might include such things as riddles, puzzles, teleporters and similar items. Arguably some of the spells that a magic user might cast could be considered as creating a trick. Such examples that come to my mind might be as follows:

Magic mirrors can be used by both the good and the evil

Magic Mouth

Leomunds Chest

Dancing Lights

Tenser’s Floating Disc

Any kind of wall spell

Blade Barrier

Certain features deserve discussion as they are frequently encountered tricks in many adventures. These will be described below.

Evil Altars are often magical in nature. Beware!

Magical Altars

Altars are frequently encountered in temples, tombs and crypts. Tricks in Dungeons and Dragons certainly include such altars as they are often imbued with magical energy from clerics that use them or the gods in which they worship.

Not every magical altar encountered is likely to be evil in nature. But many are. Such altars may enhance the evil powers of the clerics which use them or they may be an essential part in evil rituals and sacrifices. Such altars are often black in color but many may also be the color of blood. Or they might be covered in the blood of innocents slain upon it’s surface in a ritual.

Evil altars are probably best not touched by someone of good alignment. Such contact might be very painful or even fatal to a good aligned character. This might especially be true for a cleric or paladin of opposite alignment to the altar.

Good altars, on the other hand, might enhance healing or allow resurrection of the dead. Such altars might only display their magical abilities once a proper offering has been made.

Some tricks are there just to confuse adventurers

Some potential features of evil aligned altars:

Animation of the dead

Disintegration of anyone of opposite alignment that touch it

Animation of the altar itself if touched or desecrated

Sliding away to reveal a tunnel below it leading down

Hidden compartments with magical potions or scrolls inside

Anti magic effect which protects the evil cleric behind it

Blood. Lots of blood. The altar itself might bleed if attacked. It may have soaked up the blood of many innocents over the years

Geas to do some evil act

Curses someone of opposite alignment

Some potential features of good aligned altars:

Healing

Resurrection

Geas to do some holy act

May bless someone of similar alignment who touches it or makes an offering or kneels before it

Might temporarily (or permanently) imbue a bonus to one of the primary statistics of the person who makes a proper offering or completes a quest for it

And some tricks might just destroy the adventurer forever!

Some potential features of neutral aligned altars:

Reincarnation

Might teleport someone of another alignment from it when touched

Might be a stone altar or wooden altar of some great druid

Could cause plant growth

Cause barkskin for the person touching it if proper alignment or with proper offering

Might imbue the person giving a proper offering with the temporary ability to speak with plants or animals

Obviously these lists are not exclusive. There are many potential ways in which someone could create a unique and interesting magical altar for use in their adventures.

Magical portals can be found in all sorts of places

Magical Portals are also tricks in Dungeons and Dragons

Portals are gateways to other worlds. Magical portals as Tricks in Dungeons and Dragons are unusual but not unheard of. They can come in the form of some glowing archway or a magic mirror. They could be some strange stone object with glowing mass inside of it like the Star Trek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Magical portals come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

A mirror of life trapping?

Magical portals could be gateways to travel:

To other planes of existence

To the heavens or the hells

To other universes or the astral plane

To distant parts of the same plane in which the adventurers reside

To the Underdark

One should be careful passing under arches in a dungeon

Archways

Archways are one of the old school tricks in Dungeons and Dragons. You really do not see them used much in later editions than 1st or 2nd. But they were once commonly found in adventures of that era and earlier. Archways could be good or bad for the adventurer passing through one. Sometimes they did nothing at all. And sometimes they did magical things such as:

Changing the sex or race of the person passing through

Acting as a teleporter or magical portal

Might remove the armor or weapons of the person passing through

Could be blocked by a wall of force or prismatic wall

Might change the intellect of the person passing through

Could swap the minds from one adventurer passing through to that of another

Could randomly appear and disappear

Could randomly do things to one character and then nothing to the next

Enlarges or diminishes the size of people passing under

Changes alignments of those going through

Everyone passing through has a doppleganger created for him or her

Everyone passing through gains mirror images following them

Magical pools could be found inside or outside of a dungeon

Magical Pools are frequent tricks in Dungeons and Dragons

Pools have been tricks in Dungeons and Dragons since the earliest games. Water tends to pool up in the deep dark places that explorers visit in this game. Sometimes other things in these dark places give these pools magical effects. One of my favorite examples of this in a published adventure comes from the Basic Set adventure “In Search of the Unknown”. One of the rooms in the upper level has about twenty pools in it. Some of these pools have magical effects. Others do not. The pools in that adventure are a good list for other dungeon masters to use for their own adventures:

Healing

Acid

Disease

Green slime

Clean drinking water

Wine

Dried up pool

Boiling water/hot spring

Aura (drinking it causes the character to shimmer with magical aura revealing their true alignment

Sleep

Filled with fish

Dry ice (unexplained)

Treasure beneath the water

Muting/silence after drinking

Poison

Idiocy

Curse

Invisibility after drinking or bathing in it

Fountains are often the source of magical tricks

Magical Fountains

Fountains as a trick in Dungeons and Dragons have been common to many of the published adventures. Fountains are often ornate and have statues in the center of them. Some may be small and others may occupy a wide section of a room or chamber. Palaces, tombs, castles and crypts might have such fountains. Even the cities themselves might have them. Not all will be magical. Some will be.

The magical effects of fountains may be beneficial. Or they may be detrimental. The nature of the place where the fountain is found might give an indication as to it’s effects. A riddle or a puzzle might need to be solved first in order to gain knowledge about the fountain or even to cause it to have such an effect. Sometimes the waters themselves have unusual colors or auras.

Not all of the effects from fountains will be beneficial

Some possible fountain effects:

Healing

Poison

Changing colors

Invisibility

Invulnerability

Giant strength

Weakness

Diminution

Enlargement

Flying

Gaseous form

Heroism

Speed

Insanity

Feeblemind

Polymorphing

Water breathing

Resistance to fire, acid, lightning or cold

A cult seems to be worshiping this strange artifact atop a pedestal

Magical Pedestals

Pedestals are a frequently found trick in Dungeons and Dragons. Pedestals may have valuable items on top of them protected by magic. Such items might include:

Artifacts

Relics

Crowns

Keys needed for other places in the dungeon

Scrolls, books or writings

Riddles

Treasures

The pedestal itself is rarely the end goal but is often the obstacle to reaching the goal of the adventurer. Often pedestals are trapped. One good example of this that comes to mind is the original Indiana Jones Movie. The golden monkey head that Indiana Jones seeks at the beginning of the movie is on a pedestal. The pedestal itself is trapped. When the weight of the golden head is removed the pedestal sinks and then bad things begin happening all around the adventurer. This is, of course, not magic. But it is a good example of what a dungeon delver might find or expect.

Pedestals come in different shapes and sizes and have different uses as you can see here

Pedestals themselves are often imbued with magic of their own. Some examples might include:

Force fields protecting the item atop it

Prismatic walls protecting the item on top of it

Knobs, button and levers which have different magical effects when used. Some may cause harm. One sequence will lower the protections

Riddles on the base of them or puzzles to be solved before the force field lowers

Contact with the surface may cause greed, insanity or alignment change

Teleportation of those touching it

Hidden compartment might release a clue when right place is touched

Statues are sometimes golems waiting for command

Statues are another frequently used trick in Dungeons and Dragons

Statues are to be found in all sorts of places where adventurers might explore. Castles, tombs, crypts, palaces, cities and other places are likely to have statues about. Most will not be magical. Once in a while one will be. The adventurers should never know when or where they will encounter one that is magical.

Famous heroes, gods and kings are frequent subjects of statues. Most will be made of stone. Some will be carved from precious stone such as marble or onyx. Others might be made from metal. Some of the metal statues might be made from precious metals such as gold or silver. Statues are sometimes quite valuable. But they are usually very bulky and heavy. Removal from a hostile dungeon will be a daunting adventure all it;s own.

When a statue is discovered to have magical properties these might include:

Riddles

Puzzles

Spinning, moving or sliding to reveal secret doors behind or to reveal secret doors present in the room

Might provide clues to some important riddle or puzzle in the dungeon

Could hide or possess some hidden magical item

May award a magical item to adventurers who solve their riddle or puzzle

May animate and attack

Could actually be a stone or iron golem in disguise

Could actually be other adventurers turned to stone by a medusae or basilisk nearby

The Demon Idol from the PHB

Idols

Idols are found often in places where primitives live. Temples and catacombs might have idols to their pagan gods. Sometimes these idols are imbued with magic. Offerings and sacrifices are made before them. Treasures are often adorned on them. One good example of this is the demon idol from the cover of the player’s handbook. Such an idol might be trapped. It might also have magical tricks to confuse or delay the adventurers. Some examples of features might include:

Placing a weapon in the fiery brazier of the statue might cause it to be enhanced by magic

Placing an offering before it might cause it to bless the person doing so

Might curse those who do not place offerings or who desecrate it

Could spill fiery oil into the room if a gem eye or tooth is pulled from it causing a fiery explosion in the room around it (from the flaming brazier that it hold)

This is not specifically a Dungeons and Dragons image but the stained glass window in this image could easily have a magical effect in D&D

Other objects of art are often used as tricks in Dungeons and Dragons

Such items might include:

Tapestries

Paintings

Decorative containers such as vases

Frescoes

Pillars and columns

That painting might be more than it appears

These items are often decorated or carved. Some are quite valuable. Many are quite old when discovered. Such items often depict gods, kings and legendary heroes long dead. Some possible features might include:

Disintegrates into dust when touched revealing a secret or concealed door hidden behind it

Causes greed when touched

Insanity when touched

Insanity when viewed

Petrification when viewed

Animates and talks or casts spells or yells for help

Teleports a person touching it into the scene in the artwork itself

Fiery talking skulls can be an interesting trick to find in a dungeon

Tricks in Dungeons and Dragons come in many forms

The items discussed above are not all inclusive by any means. There are literally hundreds of potential dungeon features that might have magical effects and properties. There are hundreds more attributes that could be applied to them. Creativity is the best friend of a dungeon master designing such tricks. Most have been used so often that players expect them when encountered. It is best to have many features in dungeons that are not magical so then when others are encountered they will not be totally expected. It is probably also best to come up with original attributes to apply to these features in order to keep players guessing.

Not every altar is evil. Sometimes good altars have beneficial effects

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Magical mirrors sometimes have new friends waiting inside