In every game of Wizardry, two types of traps can be basically distinguished:
Dungeon Traps[]
In the early games of the series, a dungeon trap is usually a pit or a spiked pit. Dungeon traps cannot be disarmed by thief skills, though there are sometimes mechanisms to turn off a trap. In Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstorm, pits are best avoided by the levitation spell Litofeit.
Chest Traps[]
The second type of traps is used to secure chests against looters (= the characters). It usually takes a character who is a thief to identify and disarm a chest trap, though a higher-level character of any other class might have some success.
In Wizardry I - V, the priest spell CALFO can usually identify, though not disarm, a chest trap.
List of Chest Traps in Wizardry I - V:[]
- Alarm / Sirens
- Poison Needle
- Crossbow Bolt
- Stunner
- Exploding Box
- Gas Bomb (or Gas Cloud)
- Teleporter
- Anti-Mage (or Mage Blaster)
- Anti-Priest (or Priest Blaster)
Disarming Chest Traps[]
To disarm a chest trap in Wizardry I - V, a thief or another class of fairly high level has to be chosen. Then, you have to type in the name of the trap you think is securing the chest. Depending on the character's agility , the trap is either disarmed, not disarmed ("You could not disarm it!") or triggered ("You set it off!").
Disarming may also be unsuccessful if the trap was not identified correctly earlier. Some chests in easier dungeon levels are not trapped at all. If a character attempts to disarm an untrapped chest, the message "The chest was not trapped" will appear, resulting in the party getting the spoils.
In the easier levels of the dungeon, if you mis-type or enter the wrong trap when disarming the chest, usually nothing will happen and you can try again. In deeper levels, however, getting the name of the trap wrong will usually set it off ("Oopps... a Teleporter!").