Concept: a low-level Dungeons & Dragons adventure that’s initially presented as a standard “retrieve valuable treasure from bottom of dungeon at behest of wealthy patron” scenario.
As they enter the dungeon, the first thing the player characters encounter is a trap, clearly already triggered, with the long-dead bones of a previous adventurer caught inside. They can loot the corpse or not, as they prefer; it’s not a trick, and the trap is no longer dangerous.
As they delve deeper into the dungeon, they encounter further already-triggered traps, in a wide variety of increasingly imaginative forms, some with dead adventurers in them, some with dead monsters. What they do not, however, encounter are any living monsters or untriggered traps.
Finally, they reach the bottom of the dungeon, where they find the treasure: the Under-King’s personal living quarters, full of magically preserved Fifth Dynasty furniture, priceless to the right sort of collector, and untouched by looters due to the aforementioned traps. Bringing it out of the dungeon intact will be a slow and awkward proposition, of course, but the path is conveniently clear.
… that is, until the party ventures beyond the chamber’s threshhold, and the air is immediately filled with the telltale creaks and clicks of all the traps they just walked past automatically resetting.
To be clear, this is not a kill-the-party screwjob. These are low-level traps, and – assuming they’ve been keeping good maps and notes on their way in – the players already know exactly where all of the traps are and exactly what they do. If they don’t seem inclined to make maps or notes, the GM should explicitly remind them. Given that information, leaving the dungeon empty-handed should be easy.
What the party is now faced with is a perfect-knowledge logistical puzzle: how do we get our ridiculously awkward prize through all of this bullshit without reducing its collector’s value in the process?
Have fun!
I believe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker did something like this (spoilers for a 20-year-old game). You get to visit the time-frozen Hyrule Castle, which was under attack by Ganon’s forces when time froze, in order to acquire the Master Sword. You can just walk right in past the frozen enemies, but as soon as you pull the sword out of its plinth, time unfreezes, and you’ve got to fight your way back out.
