tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post4288474037907694966..comments2024-02-27T01:17:39.925-08:00Comments on The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms: Traps and TriggersTalysmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02162328521343832412noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post-23498626590552938972011-11-24T08:34:46.809-08:002011-11-24T08:34:46.809-08:00This is an interesting topic, but a problem that I...This is an interesting topic, but a problem that I have never seen come up in games that I run, because of how I referee traps. Unless the trap mechanism is very crude (something like a bucket placed precariously on an ajar door or a darts that fire out of holes whenever black flagstones are walked on) I handle the search relatively abstractly.<br /><br />For example, if there is a poison needle trap in a treasure chest's locking mechanism (surely a quite sophisticated machine, when you think about it) a player indicating that they inspect the lock will be enough to detect it.Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post-14021688085797612662011-11-24T03:41:37.419-08:002011-11-24T03:41:37.419-08:00One recurring problem I see with dungeon traps is ...One recurring problem I see with dungeon traps is that often neither the player nor the DM really knows how the trap would work, so the whole problem space is abstract - there's a doodad - lever, wire, some other thing that says "trigger" but nothing else - and I have a choice to mess with it or not. IME this can lead to "<a href="http://muffinlabs.com/content/quotes-crawford" rel="nofollow">darkness paralysis</a>", especially if you've ever played a trick on the players where doing the less expected thing leads to their doom.<br /><br />Actually, if the trap leaves visible traces in the environment, then it's probably not "plumbed in," like those falling stone doors that fictional pyramid designers are addicted to - it's more improvised, standing on the surface. So if you find a wire you should be able to trace it to some device. Traps that are plumbed in... I personally think might best be handled with the players having some sort of advance warning that allows them to treat the environment as a puzzle. Maybe they have fragments of a previous adventurer's journal, or a manifest of parts that the dungeon-builder ordered, or something that can clue them in to what's ahead.<br /><br />If you actually do want your players to slow to a crawl and exhibit the kind of paranoia that turns every crack into a potential poison gas vent then of course you need to get very smart about how you signal at the table those things in the environment that might be threatening. That seems like the kind of thing -C writes about.<br /><br />/unsolicited nosing. I'm looking forward to your series of posts.richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.com