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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8992329" data-attributes="member: 29398">Random roll, based on whatever odds seem reasonable to you-as-GM at the time when thinking about what makes those nomads tick.This is one where you pretty much just have to wing it; though some systems might give guidelines, no system is going to go into that much hard-coded rules detail.&nbsp; Which is fine; unless the rulebooks rival the Encyclopedia Britannica in size, corner cases will always arise where a GM just has to make up something bespoke to that specific situation and go with it.That said, pulling back from granular resolution to something that sorts it at a more macro level e.g. a single 4e-like skill challenge IMO isn't the answer, and would likely dilute the at-table tension significantly.What happens if you treat that multitude of people as if it was an individual, or a few individuals, looking for a hidden thing?&nbsp; In other words, batch them into a group (or a few groups) for purposes of resolving this.&nbsp; And instead of &quot;close quarters&quot;, decide or determine how big an area they intend to search and make that the &quot;room&quot; for purposes of resolution, and then just use the system that's already given.&nbsp; That would, it seems, sort things as seen from the NPC side.The unpredictable variable, however, is that what's being searched for is not a simple object in a static place but is itself mobile, intelligent, and capable of independent action; which potentially turns what would otherwise be a fairly simple yes-no search into more of a cat-and-mouse affair.&nbsp; Maybe after each time the PCs do something that materially changes their situation or discoverability (e.g. move, split apart, make excessive noise, etc.) the NPCs get to repeat their search-the-&quot;room&quot; sequence at a penalty?Heh - and meanwhile the same search-the-room sequence could be playing out for the PCs as they quietly search for whatever it was that they initially came here to find. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8992329, member: 29398"] Random roll, based on whatever odds seem reasonable to you-as-GM at the time when thinking about what makes those nomads tick. This is one where you pretty much just have to wing it; though some systems might give guidelines, no system is going to go into that much hard-coded rules detail. Which is fine; unless the rulebooks rival the Encyclopedia Britannica in size, corner cases will always arise where a GM just has to make up something bespoke to that specific situation and go with it. That said, pulling back from granular resolution to something that sorts it at a more macro level e.g. a single 4e-like skill challenge IMO isn't the answer, and would likely dilute the at-table tension significantly. What happens if you treat that multitude of people as if it was an individual, or a few individuals, looking for a hidden thing? In other words, batch them into a group (or a few groups) for purposes of resolving this. And instead of "close quarters", decide or determine how big an area they intend to search and make that the "room" for purposes of resolution, and then just use the system that's already given. That would, it seems, sort things as seen from the NPC side. The unpredictable variable, however, is that what's being searched for is not a simple object in a static place but is itself mobile, intelligent, and capable of independent action; which potentially turns what would otherwise be a fairly simple yes-no search into more of a cat-and-mouse affair. Maybe after each time the PCs do something that materially changes their situation or discoverability (e.g. move, split apart, make excessive noise, etc.) the NPCs get to repeat their search-the-"room" sequence at a penalty? Heh - and meanwhile the same search-the-room sequence could be playing out for the PCs as they quietly search for whatever it was that they initially came here to find. :) [/QUOTE]

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