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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 1828920" data-attributes="member: 3424">I can think of two situations. Other, more imaginative minds can probably come up with more.Sometimes, the point of a secret door, lock, trap, etc. is not to keep the PCs out but to slow them down. Whether you take 1 round or 2 minutes to pick the lock can be an issue when there's a cleric who is aware of you and casting buff spells on the other side. Taking your time can be a penalty in itself. Five rounds is the difference between a 7th-level cleric and a 7th-level cleric with divine power, divine favor, bear's endurance, magic circle against good and shield of faith.When you think about it, would the standard wooden door in a dungeon really stand up to assault from a determined party, even when locked? Same thing - it's not there to keep the party out, but to slow them down.[Aside]According to my pals in the military, the same principle applies to minefields. The effectiveness of mines is not in killing enemy soldiers, but in slowing them down because they have to carefully search for and disable them, thus giving you the time to do what you want without interference.[/Aside]Another is to create a plot hook which you don't want the PCs to follow up on until they reach a minimum level of experience. Early on the their careers, they might hear that something is hidden in a particular location, but until they get experienced enough (have enough ranks in Search), they won't be able to find it. It also really brings home the increased competence of their higher-level characters (although you have searched hard in the past, you have never been able to find it... until now).</blockquote>

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