I'm currently writing a plot synopsis for my book at the moment (urban fantasy/post apocalyptic), and have got my characters into a situation where I need to try and get them out preferably all in one piece, so any advice would help with the following: Basically, my characters, all teens, 3 male, 3 female, are stuck in a Mansion overnight in order to escape from the limitless enemy that they face outside that is currently unaware of their presence. The problem is the Mansion is not theirs, and they don't know anything about it, until one male finds out that there is a secret tunnel underneath the Mansion. They split into two groups and the guy leads another guy and a girl into the tunnel whilst three of them stay behind. The trio that are investigating the tunnel below find that it leads into an empty secret meeting place for the organization that was before the apocalypse trying to kill them, but trigger a trap that shuts the room on itself, and water suddenly starts filling up the room from which there is currently no immediately noticeable way out from. They have a mobile phone, kept active by magic which connects them with the three up top. One of the three in the mansion is essentially a wizard (the others know this), but his powers have been drained from an earlier incident and lies unconscious. Out of the three down below, one of them can use magic, but it is very limited, and cannot get the trio out nor blast a hole in the wall. And I need an effective, realistic way for the three characters who are currently trapped to escape from. I was thinking of having another way out through an underwater stream which would lead down to a river, but then they would have to deal with the monsters outside if they wanted to get back to the Mansion. But The water is rising fast, and it won't be long before they start drowning. So any help would be appreciated, and if this is in the wrong forum, give me a shout and I'll change it ASAP. Thanks in advance. If anybody wants any more details I can provide them.
I would think every trap would have a means by which those who set it could "turn it off," a failsafe so to speak for the owners. Perhaps the three can somehow discover the release or whatever is it so reverse the trap or open an emergency exit.
The best solutions turn an essential element of the trap against it. For example, in an episode of Patrick McGoohan's TV show The Prisoner, the hero was trapped in a room full of candles emitting cyanide gas. Additional problem, if he blows out any of the candles, they will explode in his face. Solution: He moves all the candle stands against the wall, then crouches behind a barrier and yses a bellows to blow out some of the candles. The explosion blows a hole through the wall, allowing his escape.
maybe block up where the water is coming in and have the hydroponic pressure blow a hole in the wall. or have one of the ones up top use an explosive to blow open a hole in the room to drain out the water or allow an escape. ( no chance one of them in the trap can summon a bit of caesium)
Water is very heavy -- about 8.35 pounds/gal. One cubic foot of water weighs about 62.5 pounds. What is on the other side of this room's walls? What is under its floor? If this room is 20'x20', a one-foot-deep layer will weigh about twelve-and-a-half tons. I'd imagine that three or four foot of water might be enough to tear the door they used to enter right out of the door-jamb. How is the water entering the room? Is the plumbing small, and high-pressure, or large, and high-flow?
You mentioned one of the people trapped can use limited magic. Would it fall inside the realm of magic in your world to create an air bubble around the three trapped? The cell phone would work in such circumstances, and they could call up to the other three to release them. Just a brainstorm..
Cog's right, the best solution to a trap is to use it against themselves. In my novel I'm working on, there's an ambush of my MC and her fire team inside a building at a four-way intersection of corridor's. Well, Talia knows most people of right handed, so an attack from the left will cause a split second longer reaction time because a right-handed person had to turn one hundred eighty degrees to return fire. Her solution? Get one single person across the intersection and use return fire to pincer move the ambush. It turned the ambusher's into the ambushee's because they were taking fire from two angles and didn't have a way to hide from it. So, she took the ambush and used it against them. The best solutions to traps are to use them against the trap, so I'd take Cog's suggestion, and mine too, as a basis of a way to get them out. I've become a bit of a master of having character's figure out how to do so.
Hmm... maybe the character who has a little bit of power can seal off the hole where the water is coming from. That way, he doesn't need to blast a hole in the wall, he simply needs to block the flow of water. They will still be stuck in this trap but that will buy them time, at least until the other characters can come to help them out.
Do you need to keep the room intact? If not and you don't mind flirting with Deus Ex Machina you could have a sinkhole under the room that colapses once the room gets nearly full and they cling to the sides after the collapse. It's a little Star Wars escape from the Death Star'esk, but if it fits not a bad idea.
Well first you need to tell us about the Magic users specialization, like they perform Elemental magic or Dark magic, Transportation magic or Summoning magic, Morphing, charming, sparkling, glowing, blowing or cooking. let us know what your trapped character magic specialization so that we can come up with an escape plan.
