Aztec Traps

Timben

Timben

New Member
I was hoping someone could assist me in what sort of traps the Aztecs used to protect Montezuma's tomb. This is the plot for my last story in my series. Set in 1914, Mexico.

In "The Aztec Trail," retired gunfighter Sam Cassidy becomes embroiled in a dangerous expedition led by the mysterious Colonel Alvarado and a group of seasoned gunmen. With an ancient Aztec map, the team sets out in search of Montezuma's fabled treasures, traversing hazardous terrains and facing unexpected dangers. As tensions escalate and loyalties waver, Cassidy must navigate carefully to distinguish allies from adversaries. Long-hidden secrets emerge, and the fundamental nature of honor is subjected to its greatest test. Will the allure of immense wealth unite this unlikely group, or will the promise of gold reveal their deepest ambitions and darkest motives?
 
Timben said:
I was hoping someone could assist me in what sort of traps the Aztecs used to protect Montezuma's tomb. This is the plot for my last story in my series. Set in 1914, Mexico.
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Is there any evidence that such traps really existed?
 
*reads the Quora page; raises eyebrow*

Oh, boy. I love it how everyone -- except for the bot -- says that ancient temples had no traps. *giggle* I guess the bot thinks that the "Indiana Jones" and "Conan the Barbarian" stories are true-to-life? ;)
 
I would have the traps be supernatural, personally. That's probably how they work in the Indiana Jones movies, since they're already chock full of mystical elements.
 
Timben said:
Could you give some examples, please, sir? Thank you.
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You mean mystical elements in Indiana Jones? Well, for one example, the Ark of the Covenant proves to be pretty mystical when the Nazis open it up at the ending. There's also ghosts, potions that make you evil, and time travel throughout the series.
 
Anyway, as far as your story is concerned...

I looked up how the Aztecs would bury their kings, and I found this article:

Royal Aztec crypt wows archaeologists
Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found.

The find could provide an extraordinary window into Aztec civilization at its apogee. Ahuizotl (ah-WEE-zoh-tuhl), an empire-builder who extended the Aztecs’ reach as far as Guatemala, was the last emperor to complete his rule before the Spanish Conquest.

Accounts written by Spanish priests suggest the area was used by the Aztecs to cremate and bury their rulers. But no tomb of an Aztec ruler has ever been found, in part because the Spanish conquerors built their own city atop the Aztec’s ceremonial center, leaving behind colonial structures too historically valuable to remove for excavations.
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The article mentions them cremating their kings and then burying them with "rich offerings" like vases and ornaments. It doesn't mention booby traps, but it does mention the tomb underlying a statue of an earth goddess with large claws. If you're willing to put anything mystical in your story, maybe a similar statue guards Montezuma's tomb that comes to life to defend it from robbers?
 
Hmm. If you don't care that much about historical accuracy (like the Indiana Jones movies), you could have almost anything: tripwires that trigger a crossbow firing darts at your hero, shifting floors that tip your hero into a pit of spikes, rolling boulders -- even statues or dead bodies coming back to life.

Realistically, of course, such things didn't exist (although mazes and such did, of course; you could simply have a maze that your hero wanders around in, gets completely lost, and nearly dies of starvation ... but that wouldn't be very exciting to read).
 
Ye old covered hole filled with sharpened stakes is about the limit. Sex it up by filling it with poisonous snakes if you gotta.
 
Hmm....I thought I replied to this thread but apparently not....

It's been ages but I used to play role playing games and video games like Skyrim have big ole' balls suspended from chains or ropes at the top of the stairs....you climb up the stairs, activate a tripwire and POW!!! a big ole' stone ball swings down and bashes you in the face. Or a log... I had a dungeon master for one game of Dungeons & Dragons that really liked traps...

In terms of indigenous traps, I think you're looking more at pitfalls where there are pits and deep holes that are masterfully camouflaged and you're walking along and ......*POOF!!!* you disappear! But these were more used for hunting where traps were set and then herds of bison or other animals were driven (herded) towards the trap and then once they were down, they were finished off. There are historical examples of Native American Indians driving bison off cliffs for example.

If you want a trap that is simple, easy, and will last, look at the traps the Viet Cong set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Pits with punji stakes smeared with animal feces. That's probably the simplest and easiest trap to make. (Oh, I just looked up....DLC already suggested that, just with snakes.)

The things with trip wires and suspended booby traps is that I think there's a lot of potential for things to go wrong - HOW do you put a rock that weights that much, that high up on the ceiling without being crushed??? Plus.....how long do ropes last in your trapped environment? Ropes rot, right? Depends on the humidity. Bugs and rodents such as rats/mice probably eat the ropes....
 
CdnWriter said:
It's been ages but I used to play role playing games and video games like Skyrim have big ole' balls suspended from chains or ropes at the top of the stairs....you climb up the stairs, activate a tripwire and POW!!! a big ole' stone ball swings down and bashes you in the face. Or a log... I had a dungeon master for one game of Dungeons & Dragons that really liked traps...
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Ah, D&D and Skyrim. Possibly two of the world's finest things when it comes to traps. ;)

One of my favourite D&D traps is the shifting corridor. The adventurer walks along a corridor, but a section of the floor is false: it shifts sideways and drops the luckless guy into a pit. (Mwa-ha-ha)! :devilish: What's at the bottom? Anything. Spikes, a wild animal ... an acid bath (if the dungeon master can afford one ... :devilish: Even nothing, just a really deep pit. *Aaaaahhhh ... SMASH!!*

It could also be a not-very-deep pit, but one the adventurer can't get out of. And then it starts filling with water. *glug glug glug drown* :devilish: Or, once the adventurer is in the pit, a gap in the ceiling opens and drenches him with boiling water, or boiling oil, or boiled sand ... or scorpions ...

There's no end to inventive and devilish traps. ;)

CdnWriter said:
If you want a trap that is simple, easy, and will last, look at the traps the Viet Cong set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Pits with punji stakes smeared with animal feces. That's probably the simplest and easiest trap to make.
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Nasty, but effective. If the spikes don't kill you, the massive infections would probably make you wish you were dead. :eek:
 
I feel like looking into TTRPG books of traps, system independent or not would help you. Even if it's a DnD specific book, you can file of the serial numbers and use it.

Edit: Found the book I was thinking of. It's system neutral and part of a series, you can find the pdfs for it online I think.
 
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Ah, Grimtooth's Traps. An oldie but a goodie! :)

This reminds me of a player I had once in my old, old, very old D&D group (back in the D&D 2nd Ed era). Everybody hated him because he was a munchkin. While everyone else in the same level (level 2) were running around with chain-mail and the like, he was sashaying about in the best plate-mail armour that money could buy, so he called himself Vlad the Invulnerable. He used a plain old rusty dagger that could do maybe 3 damage at a time, because why would he bother with more if nothing could hurt him?

So, after a long chain of complicated events that involved him smugly dominating yet another roleplaying session, he managed (at great personal cost) to acquire the 2nd-ed version of a stick of dynamite. While the party were fleeing from a mine, pursued by a group of kobolds and goblins, he was holding the entrance and saying "Get out, you guys, and watch this!"

He was partially successful. The explosion brought the mountain down on top of him. :devilish: After the noise died away, he pulled away the rubble and stated, "I still have -9 hit points! I'm still alive...!!!"

... at which point, I had an angry kobold fling an enraged tomcat at him, which clawed at his face for 2 damage. Scratch one munchkin! ;)

(No-one clapped, etc. etc., but it was still very satisfying).
 
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