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How do you do secret doors?
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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7527357" data-attributes="member: 45197"><p>Hiya!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Er, no, no it was not. In the "old days", say B/X D&D from '78/81, you had to actively say "I search for a secret door...here" and point to the location on the map. It took 10 minutes to search a 10' square cube. Your chance of success was 1 in 6 (2 in 6 if you were an elf). If a party walked down a corridor with a secret door in it...they walked past it. There was ZERO chance to detect it unless the player(s) declared they were searching AND they searched in the right 10' area AND the DM rolled a 1 (or 2 for elves). Secret doors were very hard to find back in the "old days" (re: tomorrow, for me... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I do it the "old way" still. If the players don't say "We search for secret doors...here", then they don't find it. When they do search, I use Perception and I roll the dice for them, behind the screen. My go-to DC for a 'normal' secret door is DC 18. IF a character succeeds with the Perception, I then place the "S" on the map in the correct location. Then the Players can each roll an Investigation check, again with DC 18, to locate the specific means of opening said secret door. In other words, just because they found it doesn't mean they know how to open it.</p><p></p><p>And yeah, this means Secret door often go un-noticed. Occasionally they will find one, but be completely stumped as to where/how it opens.</p><p></p><p>PS: For the whole "Passive Perception" thing, I often have 'variable DC' numbers for mundane/typical things (e.g., passing by a concealed door...a door/passage that is behind a large bookshelf in a room, for example). It will be something like "DC12+"; then, when a PC gets near it I roll d6 or d8 and add that to 12...that's the DC. It lets me set "average DC" numbers for mundane things, but still leaves it open to interpretation of 'quality' or whatever...and also keeps the auto-success/fail when a PC has a Passive Perception of, say, 15...they would always see a DC 15 or under Concealed Door. At least with a random number added on I can justifiably say "don't look at me, I'm just the DM" when they miss the Concealed Door and are attacked from behind with their only escape being deeper into the dungeon where they don't know what's there... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>^_^</p><p></p><p>Paul L. Ming</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pming, post: 7527357, member: 45197"] Hiya! Er, no, no it was not. In the "old days", say B/X D&D from '78/81, you had to actively say "I search for a secret door...here" and point to the location on the map. It took 10 minutes to search a 10' square cube. Your chance of success was 1 in 6 (2 in 6 if you were an elf). If a party walked down a corridor with a secret door in it...they walked past it. There was ZERO chance to detect it unless the player(s) declared they were searching AND they searched in the right 10' area AND the DM rolled a 1 (or 2 for elves). Secret doors were very hard to find back in the "old days" (re: tomorrow, for me... ;) ). I do it the "old way" still. If the players don't say "We search for secret doors...here", then they don't find it. When they do search, I use Perception and I roll the dice for them, behind the screen. My go-to DC for a 'normal' secret door is DC 18. IF a character succeeds with the Perception, I then place the "S" on the map in the correct location. Then the Players can each roll an Investigation check, again with DC 18, to locate the specific means of opening said secret door. In other words, just because they found it doesn't mean they know how to open it. And yeah, this means Secret door often go un-noticed. Occasionally they will find one, but be completely stumped as to where/how it opens. PS: For the whole "Passive Perception" thing, I often have 'variable DC' numbers for mundane/typical things (e.g., passing by a concealed door...a door/passage that is behind a large bookshelf in a room, for example). It will be something like "DC12+"; then, when a PC gets near it I roll d6 or d8 and add that to 12...that's the DC. It lets me set "average DC" numbers for mundane things, but still leaves it open to interpretation of 'quality' or whatever...and also keeps the auto-success/fail when a PC has a Passive Perception of, say, 15...they would always see a DC 15 or under Concealed Door. At least with a random number added on I can justifiably say "don't look at me, I'm just the DM" when they miss the Concealed Door and are attacked from behind with their only escape being deeper into the dungeon where they don't know what's there... ;) ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]
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