Presented here are some of my own thoughts on the matter of

tiny mundane traps.

1. Book Traps
The book of a particularly devious wizard may well include mundane traps as well as magical ones.

a. Blades can be concealed along the edges of paper or the cover, to slice and deliver poison to
anyone running a finger down the edge.

b. A spring loaded bolt can be concealed in the spine of the book, firing out when the book is
opened fully, in the manner of a crossbow bolt, hitting the reader in the stomach. A tiny pin needs to
be inserted in the spine to prevent the spring loaded bolt from firing.

c. Ingested poison might be put in the top corner of each of the pages, so as a person reads the book
and licks his finger to turn the next page they poison themselves

d. A spring loaded scything blade might be concealed in the cover of the book that slices off the
fingers of anyone opening it without inserting the locking pin.

e. A glass capsule filled with gas cracks and spews forth poisonous vapours if it is not removed
correctly before the book is opened.

f. A particular book might be the trigger for a larger trap, with a piece of twine connecting it to the
main trigger.

  2. Box Traps
  From chests through to jewellery boxes, owners often add traps to protect the contents. Obviously
the smaller the box, the fewer and smaller the traps must be.

a. Blades can spring out from just about anywhere when the box is opened. Depending on where the
blade comes from, the PC may have to save or lose fingers, feet or head. Blades on smaller boxes
may still take off a finger if the spring is strong enough, and can certainly hold a poison.

b. Spring loaded bolts or needles can fire from any number of hidden recesses on a box. Needles are
generally only good for delivering poison, unless they are fired directly into the eye or ear of the
PC. Bolts necessitate a larger box, but can also deliver poison.

c. Assuming the box is in semi-regular use, there is no reason the owner could not keep a snake,
scorpion or spider in a panel that normally swings open when the box is opened, unless a special pin
in placed to hold it closed. I once used a wasp hive in the same manner.

d. Spring loaded lid. The lid opens and then slams closed again, possibly breaking the arm or hand
of the person reaching into it.

e. Box filled with gas. The box has a noxious gas compressed within it that billows forth when
opened.

f. The box is part of a larger trap, and lifting it from its resting place or opening it might mean a pit
trap opens underneath the person instigating the action, or some other large trap activates.

  3) Bauble Traps
  For the tiny item, such as amulets, rings, earrings and gemstones, the cunning trap maker can find
themselves in some difficulty. Nonetheless, there are some traps that can be placed on such things.

a. Poison is an obvious choice for any item that must be worn, especially earrings and rings of all
types. Generally, this is only done by wearers who are immune to such things. Poison can also be
put in fine apparel, often as a dust that turns into a cloud when the clothing is disturbed.

b. Spring loaded blades. If you can find a trap maker with the skill, tiny spring loaded blades can be
placed in virtually any object. Clasps for pendants are particularly known for this type of blade. The
blade is almost always poisoned, as the blade itself is incapable of doing damage. Most items of this
type will have a way to disable the spring loaded blade so the item can be safely worn by its rightful
possessor.

c. Undead sometimes have a strange gem in their possession. The gem, when heated to body
temperature, sublimates into a poisonous gas. This type of gem can be set in a piece of jewellery
that the undead creature wears. As undead don't generally have a body temperature, they are in no
danger of activating the gem themselves.

d. Coins can have a sharpened, poisoned edge.

e. Small items might sit on a device that is carefully counterweighted so that if the weight changes
(positive or negative) some larger trap is activated.

f. A telescope might have a bolt trap inside it that activates when pressed to the eye. (Nasty!)

g. An ornate belt buckle might have a tiny scything blade trap to discourage looters, who lose a
finger when attempting to unbuckle it.