Bear traps

Hmmm…I guess I am the only one. Oh well. It’s been an interesting bit of research. Seems the steel foothold trap we all affectionately know as the “bear trap” was actually not invented until the mid/late 1800s by Sewell Newhouse. The No. 5 and No. 6 (“The Great Bear Tamer”) specifically. So its inclusion is a bit anachronistic. Newhouse’s is an interesting story.

Anyhow, there is no reason Newhouse’s design couldn’t have been a refinement of an older design, perhaps one based on the trap designs of Leonard Mascall, whose A Booke of Fishing with Hooke & Line and of all other instruments thereunto belonging. Another of sundrie Engines and Trappes to take Polcats, Buzards, Rattes, Mice, and all other Kindes of Vermine. was published in 1590. Granted, his mechanical traps were more like ferocious versions of the (now-)common (spring-loaded) mousetrap. And perhaps, in the world of Witch Hunter, Newhouse was from a long line of Stalkers (or at least his mother and father were) and he adapted one of their tools for his needs. It doesn’t need to be that contrived.

Steel Foothold Trap (“The Devil’s Grip”)
This large steel trap is buried just beneath the ground or beneath a thick layer of dead foliage to conceal it. A hunter may attempt to conceal the trap with a Survival/Forage (Intuition) roll, with the number of successes rolled becoming the difficulty to detect the trap with a Notice (Intuition) roll. Otherwise, detecting a hidden trap requires 3–6 successes at the GM’s discretion.

When the central pressure plate is tripped, the heavy steel jaws spring shut around the target’s leg. A trapped creature suffers 6d of damage and is held immobile unless it can either break the chain securing the trap (D8) or succeed at a D4 Craft/Disable (Strength) roll (Disabling the trap is a complex action). So long as the trap remains affixed to the creature, it’s Pace is reduced by half (minimum 1).