Do you pull the chain?

[Wik]

Hm. To answer your second question - I would think the secret door answer is perfectly fine. It's still a sense of reward... PCs that don't search the room and pull the chain see a door open. PCs that search the room, find the (hidden, and therefore SECRET) door first before pulling the chain and then pull said chain go "ah, I see!".

I mean, it could be that it's not a secret door at all - just a nice little bit of interior decorating.

There's still a sense of reward in this sense - the PCs have just discovered things in reverse order.

But I have a feeling that we come to the game from different sources.

 

[jaerdaph]

It depends. What edition is this for and can I buy a mule?

 

[tuxgeo]

Yup. Find the guy who used INT as a dump stat and exploit the hell out that.

Which when-any the why, now?

--> Better yet, "Find the guy who used" WIS "as a dump stat and " etc!

 

[nedjer]

Just so long as it's not attached to a toilet cistern.

 

[El Mahdi]

Cast Augury to determine the answer.

Nah! Just find some peyote and consult the spirit world (like in Youn Guns II).


Oh great spirits. Should we pull the chain? ...and did you see the size of that chicken?

 

[Herschel]

Thog think chain a trap. Thog worried sneaky rogue pull chain so Thog rip chain from it's anchor to keep sneaky rogue from pulling. Oops.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

For discussion in a different direction, let's say pulling the chain does not zap the puller (like in the other thread/poll).

What do you think would happen when the chain is pulled? What would you consider a legitimate result of pulling the chain in this set up? This is a question mostly for those who would pull the chain without precautions. If not a bad result to the puller, what result? Should it open the secret door?

Bullgrit

All kidding aside, I'd check the crap out of it, but it'd get pulled one way or another eventually. As for what I'd have it do if it didn't do anything bad? Open a secret panel with a lever/button in it. Now the PCs have it all to do over again! Heheh.

 

[FireLance]

I’m really surprised at the poll results. Most people here would just pull the chain. (Only a few would pull it with precautions/protections.)

It’s interesting to match this poll with this one:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/172293-fair-your-personal-opinion.html

It seems that most people would pull the chain/lever, and then declare a resulting death as unfair.

The death would be unfair only if pulling the lever resulted in a challenge (trap or fight) of party level+5 or more. Otherwise, it's just bad luck.

 

[FireLance]

This raises an interesting consideration.

Do you [general "you"] see the chain as placed by the DM or as placed by someone/thing in the game world?

The answer does probably make a big difference in how one should approach the chain.

Exactly! And for the record, I see it that the DM is ultimately responible for placing the chain there, because the person or monster who put the chain there was established by the DM in the first place. If he didn't want someone or something that would have created a deadly effect, then he should have given it different abilities, resources or motivations.

 

[Wolf1066]

To answer Bullgrit's question:

To my way of thinking, the chain would not open the secret door directly - waaaay too obvious. It may well be a trap - it's a pretty weird thing to be hanging around the dungeon with no obvious functionality at first glance (and far too obvious functionality on discovery of the secret door) - but it could also be there to perform some other function as yet undiscovered.

With whatever precautions are possible and with all party members rested up, armed and ready for action, it gets pulled.

My expectation is that either the trap will be sprung (and either pound harmlessly on a goodly length of rope or the horde of summoned things find themselves encountering an organised, armed and ready party rather than a bunch of surprised wanderers) or something will happen elsewhere - a staircase in a nearby area will slide aside to reveal another section to the dungeon or whatever.

The thing that triggers the secret door will probably be found somewhere else.