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Message: <blockquote data-quote="haakon1" data-source="post: 5639398" data-attributes="member: 25619">I agree with all that's been said.In my campaign, empty rooms are there for a reason that fits the locale.  Some examples that I recall in a goblin fortress we played through recently (using a WOTC module for 3.5e that I modified to fit my campaign):1) The bedroom of the goblin shaman.  The room is empty (except for two minor undead who take a flick of the wrist from the party cleric to destroy harmlessly) because the shaman on a trip.  "Treasure" here includes minor gear he didn't need for the trip, and notes about why he went -- his disatisfaction with the new leader of the dungeon and his hope that the goblins who now control the Caves of Chaos (due to earlier action in the campaign) will help oppose this strange new force.2) The storage room.  Stored travel rations for several thousand hobgoblin days.  Also, carpentry tools, torches, bandages, barrels of oil, and 5000 arrows.  Who owns all this stuff, and why did they put it in this minor dungeon used by hobgoblin bandits?It's all foreshadowing for the Red Hand of Doom module, of course!  My idea for large food and weapon caches being found as a clue is from the history of the period leading up to the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War.For game purposes, in editions that were not obsessed with preventing the 15 minute workday, abandoned rooms provided the possibility that the PCs could rest -- which was sometimes a good idea, and sometimes not, as I run it.The other game purposes, as mentioned, is it keeps the players guessing before they open a door -- you can't assume you should buff before each door, because there might be nothing there, and often it tales several minutes to determine if a room is REALLY empty and pointless, or not.But finally, I go back to the common description of war that I've heard many times: "Days of sheer tedium, punctuated by seconds of pure terror".  So empty rooms are a way to build in verisimilitude and amp up --or amp down -- the level of paranoia and stress for the PCs."Quiet, too quiet" is a place that can be fun to go.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" /></blockquote>

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