D&D 5E Would you require a roll for this?

[soviet]

Ultimately as a GM you are either looking for reasons to go with player creativity or looking for reasons to stop it.

If every time players come up with this kind of idea you go with it, they are going to interact with their environment more and try to solve future problems creatively as well. Presumably, this is what you want.

If every time players come up with this kind of idea you find reasons to shut it down or roll anyway, players are going to recognise that and stop bothering. 'Oh there's a trap huh, roll to disarm I guess'. Or even 'I'm not a spellcaster, I will sit out the exploration phase'. Presumably, this is not what you want.

You get the game that you reward.

 

[soviet]

What are your adventurers even doing in a dungeon if there aren't any monsters to fight or parlay with? I honestly don't understand the idea of an empty dungeon being even the slightest bit interesting to explore.

What?

Traps to spot and bypass
Secret doors and levels to explore
Treasures to find
Routes/portals to other locations to find
Natural or magical phenomena to interact with
Secrets and lost lore to find

 

[Stormonu]

I think I agree on disadvantage for picking the lock itself with the gauntlets on, but getting an AC/save advantage with them if/when the trap is sprung

Mage Hand could open it if it was unlocked, though unless the character was an Arcane Trickster, I'm not sure its dextrous enough to be used to pick a lock. Unseen Servant could open an unlocked chest, but couldn't do anything with a locked one (except maybe purposely spring the trap). Knock would work, but that expends a spell slot.

 

[Andvari]

What are your adventurers even doing in a dungeon if there aren't any monsters to fight or parlay with? I honestly don't understand the idea of an empty dungeon being even the slightest bit interesting to explore.

“No scavengers” leaves plenty of room for the usual tomb guardian suspects like undead or golems.

 

[Reynard]

What?

Traps to spot and bypass
Secret doors and levels to explore
Treasures to find
Routes/portals to other locations to find
Natural or magical phenomena to interact with
Secrets and lost lore to find

Those all sound great, but again, for me, as player or GM, not also including active creature threats and potential NPCs to interact with, it would be dull as dishwater.

 

[Andvari]

Those all sound great, but again, for me, as player or GM, not also including active creature threats and potential NPCs to interact with, it would be dull as dishwater.

The fighter will probably get a little bored unless it’s a very small dungeon.

 

[Corinnguard]

What?

Traps to spot and bypass
Secret doors and levels to explore
Treasures to find
Routes/portals to other locations to find
Natural or magical phenomena to interact with
Secrets and lost lore to find

What about mundane and magical puzzles and riddles to solve?

 

[Oofta]

Ultimately as a GM you are either looking for reasons to go with player creativity or looking for reasons to stop it.

If every time players come up with this kind of idea you go with it, they are going to interact with their environment more and try to solve future problems creatively as well. Presumably, this is what you want.

If every time players come up with this kind of idea you find reasons to shut it down or roll anyway, players are going to recognise that and stop bothering. 'Oh there's a trap huh, roll to disarm I guess'. Or even 'I'm not a spellcaster, I will sit out the exploration phase'. Presumably, this is not what you want.

You get the game that you reward.

I reward creative and intelligent play. I don't encourage "Come up with anything, even something that should not work, and hope the DM goes along with it." I get plenty out of the box thinking in part because I will tell people "You can't do that" followed by a "What are you trying to accomplish." Then we can work together to figure out an alternative. After all we're building a shared fictional world here, my view of that world will never be 100% agreement with the player but through discussion we can frequently work something out. I find that a back and forth is far more engaging. Note that this also goes with many things players attempt, I'll tell people that the halfling has low strength and can't jump across the chasm because it's too far but review options.

So if for some reason the PC things putting on gauntlets will protect them from a needle trap, I'll tell them that I disagree and why - that the need is going to pierce the part of the hand not covered by the metal of the gauntlet. But maybe through discussion we could come up with some other way of disarming it.

It's a myth that "Always saying yes" always leads to a better game. I find "No" with a follow-up and discussion is more engaging in many cases.

 

[soviet]

The fighter will probably get a little bored unless it’s a very small dungeon.

Well, only if you are in the habit of shutting down any creative solutions to problems by nitpicking or insisting on a roll or appropriate spell. If you can solve things with out of the box thinking then you can engage the fighter players also.

 

[Oofta]

I think I agree on disadvantage for picking the lock itself with the gauntlets on, but getting an AC/save advantage with them if/when the trap is sprung

Mage Hand could open it if it was unlocked, though unless the character was an Arcane Trickster, I'm not sure its dextrous enough to be used to pick a lock. Unseen Servant could open an unlocked chest, but couldn't do anything with a locked one (except maybe purposely spring the trap). Knock would work, but that expends a spell slot.

I agree, the Arcane Trickster's version of mage hand specifically calls out that it's a special version of the spell. Also don't forget that Knock is quite loud and can be heard 300 feet away.