History SchmuckBait / TabletopGames

----->'''Knowledge DC 25''': No one who has given her head to Geryon has ever gotten it back.

* In the official ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' module, ''Time of Vengeance'', there is a point in the story where [[DevilInDisguise Mr. Infamy]] offers you [[MyCard his card]] for a chance to get enough power to defeat the villain, no strings attached. Except, of course, power corrupting, and corrupting absolutely...

* In the official ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' module, ''Time of Vengeance'', there is a point in the story where [[LouisCypher Mr. Infamy]] offers you [[MyCard his card]] for a chance to get enough power to defeat the villain, no strings attached. Except, of course, power corrupting, and corrupting absolutely...

** In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', this is a well known psychological tactic called a Distraction Carnifex, named after the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranid]] living siege engine, where you wave a vert big nasty thing in an opponent's face while the much more deadly but lower profile units do their job, ex: a Possessed Chaos Vindicator goes full speed towards the enemy with their {{BFG}} while some [[LongRangeFighter Predators]] sit back and eat your opponent's tanks with their Lascannons.

** In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', this is a well known tactic called a distraction carnifex, where you wave a big nasty thing in an opponent's face while the much more deadly but lower profile units do their job, ex: a possessed chaos vindicator goes full speed towards the enemy while some predators sit back and eat his tanks.

** Pre-3rd Edition, ''D&D'' had an entire class of magic item meant to serve as Schmuck Bait: Artifacts. (As of 3rd Edition, many are just really powerful magic items, though some retain their legacy of Gygaxian cruelty.) The whole idea was largely inspired by things like [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The One Ring]] - complete with incredibly specific means of destruction - so that should probably tell you what a campaign was meant to be like with one around. The aforementioned Deck of Many Things is one of the most obvious and well-known ones, and ''people keep falling for it'' to this day, along with famous ones like the Hand and Eye of Vecna. Players who should be DangerouslyGenreSavvy keep getting suckered in.

* In ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'', the Tomb of Iuchiban was constructed to [[SealedEvilInACan seal in]] the deathless, [[GrandTheftMe body-jumping]] sorcerer. The entrance requires several heavily guarded artifacts to open, and every room is full of deathtraps. Incredibly powerful wards and spirits prevent anyone from simply tunneling or using magic to [[DungeonBypass bypass the traps.]] Why didn't the builders just seal the tomb on all sides with these wards? [[spoiler: They did. The "outer tomb" network of traps is there to lure in Iuchiban's followers and kill them off. There is no way to access the tomb itself.]]

** Nearly every encounter in Gary Gygax's adventure ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors''.
*** The entire tomb itself counts as this, using the lure of treasure to [[spoiler:provide an evil demilich with the souls of the most powerful adventurers]]. In fact, the module itself is Schmuck Bait; there's never a shortage of players who want to put their characters through the most infamous dungeon in history, but not only are their odds of beating it ''incredibly'' slim, the Tomb won't yield much experience or treasure to characters fortunate enough to survive.

* In ''Spades'', where before the play you bid the number of tricks you expect to take. One possible bid is Nil, where you score a 100-point bonus if you take no tricks... or a 100-point penalty if you take even one trick. Sometimes you are offered the option of a Nil bid when holding the Ace of Spades.

* In ''LegendOfTheFiveRings'', the Tomb of Iuchiban was constructed to [[SealedEvilInACan seal in]] the deathless, [[GrandTheftMe body-jumping]] sorcerer. The entrance requires several heavily guarded artifacts to open, and every room is full of deathtraps. Incredibly powerful wards and spirits prevent anyone from simply tunneling or using magic to [[DungeonBypass bypass the traps.]] Why didn't the builders just seal the tomb on all sides with these wards? [[spoiler: They did. The "outer tomb" network of traps is there to lure in Iuchiban's followers and kill them off. There is no way to access the tomb itself.]]

** So...does that make an invitation to a game of ''Call of Cthulhu'' SchmuckBait in and of itself?

*** The entire tomb itself counts as this, using the lure of treasure to [[spoiler:provide an evil demilich with the souls of the most powerful adventurers]].

* In ''LegendOfTheFiveRings'', the Tomb of Iuchiban was constructed to [[SealedEvilInACan seal in]] the deathless, [[GrandTheftMe body-jumping]] sorcerer. The entrance requires several heavily guarded artifacts to open, and every room is full of deathtraps. Incredibly power wards and spirits prevent anyone from simply tunneling or using magic to [[DungeonBypass bypass the traps.]] Why didn't the builders just seal the tomb on all sides with these wards? [[spoiler: They did. The "outer tomb" network of traps is there to lure in Iuchiban's followers and kill them off. There is no way to access the tomb itself.]]

** In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', this is a well known tactic called a distraction carnifex, where you wave a big nasty thing in an opponent's face while the much more deadly but lower profile units do their job, ex: a possessed chaos vindicator goes full speed towards the enemy while some predators sit back and eat his tanks,

** The Splat book ''Tyrants of the Nine Hells'' mentions a location in Dis, the second layer of Hell, called the Garden of Delights, that appears to be a paradise to mortals who enter; it's a beautiful garden where lovely nymphs welcome visitors and lavish affection, along with food and drink of the finest quality on visitors - all for free, no less. The fact that this place is in Hell should [[TooDumbToLive tip people off that it's a trap]]. Dispater, the ruler of the layer, employs efreet sorcerers to maintain the place, and the "nymphs" are [[HornyDevils erinyes]]. The purpose of the Garden is to enspell its visitors with its intoxicating nature to prevent them from wanting to leave, and eventually tempt them to evil. (If the erinyes can't do that because a mortal is incorruptible, they just let the visitor starve; the food is an illusion, and visitors will eventually die of thirst or starvation trying to live on it.)

* Parodied in Games/{{Munchkin}} with the Duck of Doom. You should know better than to pick up a duck in a dungeon.

*** The entire tomb itself, using the lure of treasure to [[spoiler:provide an evil demilich with the souls of the most powerful adventurers]].

* Parodied in Game/{{Munchkin}} with the Duck of Doom. You should know better than to pick up a duck in a dungeon.