The Vattic Trap

A being of immense power and psionic capability, Vattic quickly became overwhelmed with his capabilities. Telekinesis, charm, psi attacks- they all came easily to him. Although harnessesing his innate power meant a great deal of pain at first, John eventually became accustomed to its presence within him.

But he couldn't shake his final ability. Precognition. Constantly switching awareness from the present to the future- and confusing which one was indeed, the present- John found himself hobbled by the possibilities of that future. Forced to accept that his brothers in arms would lie dead, his benefactors to blame, John eventually realized who the mastermind of the conspiracy was, and prevailed against him.

His struggles spanwed an idea within the very enemies he had brought within the brink of destruction. Trapping someone within a possible future, confusing their idea of time and space so that they fully believed in the precognition- that would make a powerful trap indeed...

Upon activating the trigger, metal claws are released from their resting places. These claws converge around a central area, dragging the victim into place. Once all the claws have entered the final position, a second series of metal claws, larger and made to interlock with one another, close over the victim, allowing them no escape.

Inside, the victim falls prey to a powerful sleep spell, and is subject to premonitions.

The premonitions are violent and somber. Depicting a time in the near future when one's friends have been slain in battle, the victim fully believes they have awoken in the present. The visions are vivid, and prey on the subject's natural fears. A father might see the death of his son, then be forced to live the following months while entrapped. A leader may live in the aftermath of a lost battle, where countless lives were lost.

In truth, the victim is still restrained, slowly starving in the box.

There are only a few ways of escaping the box. Most easily is outside intervention by friends or comrades. The complex mechanisms that operate the trap are fairly easy to disrupt, the box is not a solid hunk of metal and therefore can be dismantled, and there exists within the area the trap is located a release lever or button that resets the trap.

For the victim, only realizing that the premonitions are not the present day, and that they are living in a vision provides escape. One realizing this, through force of will, will discover the magical override that causes the box to open and release them.

Few realize the other effects of the vision upon the prisoner within. Althought he majority of the visions prey soley on fear, they do have legitimate precognitive worth. That is, not all the visions within are pure fabrication of the trap- some have the possibility of occuring based on the actions of the character.

Triggers: The Vattic Trap most often uses pressure plates as they are more or less permanent. Magical triggers are often used when pressure plates aren't an option. Tripwires are usually avoided, as they have to be constantly replaced or reset.

Mechanisms: The clockwork-like mechanisms can be easily disrupted as the trap is beginning its initial claw movements. Jamming a suitable object into the works can stop the trap. Once the box has fully enclosed a prisoner, damaging the mechanisms can cause the reset actions to misfire or fail to operate entirely. The mechanisms are dangerous to be around when a prisoner is being released, as the claws recede back into their nesting areas, potentially hitting someone on their way back through.

The Box: The box is formed by the claws interlocking with one another over the trapped individual. Prying them apart usually means brute force and ignorance. Great strength is required.

Holding Area: The floor the prisoner stands on is where the magic that causes the premonitions is located. The spells can can detected, although the rest of the trap does not usually operate with magic involved (unless the trigger is magical).

"You can't change the past!"

'You're so wrong Hansen! This isn't the past!"

A great deal of the inspiration for this trap cames from the video game Second Sight, published by Free Radical Design. Much too bad they had to go out of business...