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<blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 3856720" data-attributes="member: 3424">I had previously described an encounter trap as a trap that has been turned into a monster. A standard trap relies on being undetected for its effectiveness, and the challenge is to bypass it by finding it and disarming it before it is triggered, or, if it remains undetected and is triggered, to survive the damage it deals.On the other hand, an encounter trap relies on being difficult to disarm for its effectiveness, with the added provisio that most, if not all, members of a typical adventuring party could contribute to &quot;disarming&quot; the trap. For example, an encounter trap could consist of spikes emerging from the floor to attack the party. The rogue could disable a 5' square area with a Disable Device check, or the fighter or barbarian could disable the trap by reading an action to sunder a spike that attacked him. Similarly, for a magical trap, the wizard or cleric could dispel the trap.To put it another way, standard traps tend to be passive, and to put the lion's share of defeating the trap on the shoulders of the rogue. Encounter traps tend to be active, and to allow other characters to take action to negate or mitigate the effects of the trap.If there is a warning sign, it will likely be in an obscure language, so that any character (and not necessarily just the rogue PC) who understands the language, succeeds at a Decipher Script check, or is able to cast comprehend languages can give the party an advantage in overcoming the trap. Similarly, if there is an emergency lever, it may require a few Strength checks to pull all the way down, so any character (again, not necessarily the rogue) with high Strength or who can cast telekinesis can help overcome the trap.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 3856720, member: 3424"] I had previously described an encounter trap as a trap that has been turned into a monster. A standard trap relies on being undetected for its effectiveness, and the challenge is to bypass it by finding it and disarming it before it is triggered, or, if it remains undetected and is triggered, to survive the damage it deals. On the other hand, an encounter trap relies on being difficult to disarm for its effectiveness, with the added provisio that most, if not all, members of a typical adventuring party could contribute to "disarming" the trap. For example, an encounter trap could consist of spikes emerging from the floor to attack the party. The rogue could disable a 5' square area with a Disable Device check, or the fighter or barbarian could disable the trap by reading an action to sunder a spike that attacked him. Similarly, for a magical trap, the wizard or cleric could dispel the trap. To put it another way, standard traps tend to be passive, and to put the lion's share of defeating the trap on the shoulders of the rogue. Encounter traps tend to be active, and to allow other characters to take action to negate or mitigate the effects of the trap. If there is a warning sign, it will likely be in an obscure language, so that any character (and not necessarily just the rogue PC) who understands the language, succeeds at a Decipher Script check, or is able to cast [I]comprehend languages[/I] can give the party an advantage in overcoming the trap. Similarly, if there is an emergency lever, it may require a few Strength checks to pull all the way down, so any character (again, not necessarily the rogue) with high Strength or who can cast [I]telekinesis[/I] can help overcome the trap. [/QUOTE]

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