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<blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 2853175" data-attributes="member: 1879">If you're going to do the teleport trap be sure and allow some way for the party to disable it. If it's a low level party they won't have Dispel Magic. As for how to describe it, you don't. Just ask how long they walk down the tunnel for.&nbsp; <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious&nbsp; &nbsp; :]" data-shortname=":]" />&nbsp; The key is that the trap isn't visible, even when it's working. If they get clever and leave something in the tunnel to mark their way they will come upon it again after walking the distance between zones 2 and 3.As for the rat, there really shouldn't be a roll for it, unless it tries to trip one of them (like my cat always does). Some games have a roll for startlement, usually called a horror factor roll, or somesuch. But D&amp;D doesn't have one by default. If you want to startle your players however, have them roll initiative when the rat shows up. Then have it beat their initiative and scurry away. They'll be plenty worried as to why that was important enough to call for dice rolling.It is a good idea to try to manipulate the mood, through atmosphere, description, background music, lighting, props, etc.. However unless there is some kind of magical compulsion effect or other game mechanic it's generally a bad idea to simply tell the players &quot;You feel happy&quot;,&quot;That startled you&quot;,&quot;You're afraid&quot;. You get to be the entire world, they want to be their characters, and it reduces their buy-in if you start to tell them how to think.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Andor, post: 2853175, member: 1879"] If you're going to do the teleport trap be sure and allow some way for the party to disable it. If it's a low level party they won't have Dispel Magic. As for how to describe it, you don't. Just ask how long they walk down the tunnel for. :] The key is that the trap isn't visible, even when it's working. If they get clever and leave something in the tunnel to mark their way they will come upon it again after walking the distance between zones 2 and 3. As for the rat, there really shouldn't be a roll for it, unless it tries to trip one of them (like my cat always does). Some games have a roll for startlement, usually called a horror factor roll, or somesuch. But D&D doesn't have one by default. If you want to startle your [i]players[/i] however, have them roll initiative when the rat shows up. Then have it beat their initiative and scurry away. They'll be plenty worried as to why that was important enough to call for dice rolling. It is a good idea to try to manipulate the mood, through atmosphere, description, background music, lighting, props, etc.. However unless there is some kind of magical compulsion effect or other game mechanic it's generally a bad idea to simply tell the players "You feel happy","That startled you","You're afraid". You get to be the entire world, they want to be their characters, and it reduces their buy-in if you start to tell them how to think. [/QUOTE]

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