How often do you use traps?

[shilsen]

ok, that almost coated the keyboard in cola! Fanny means something different over this side of the pond.

Actually, I assumed he meant "fanny" in the same sense as you use it. tankschmidt, care to clarify?

 

[Aus_Snow]

Probably around the 10% mark. Between 5% and 20% anyway, I would say.

 

[greatamericanfolkher]

I’ve always found that the players in my game don’t check for traps until they set one off, then everything slows to a crawl as they check every single 10foot square they come across to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

 

[danbuter1]

I only use traps once in a while, to keep the party on it's toes and give the rogue something to do.

 

[howandwhy99]

It's hard to say. I said about 50% of the time. It really depends on the the places in the world the PCs go. Lots of people do defend themselves though. It's only natural.

Plus, it could be said that the PCs trap themselves by stumbling into dangerous place and players tend to find the least safe places within it. That's a bit broader definition than a pit trap, but it holds true to comparable frequency.

 

[diaglo]

does a gordian knot count as a trap?

i let the players run the show i only make the rulings as a referee. this leads to many situations in which the players entwine their characters in a mess.

 

[Vague Jayhawk]

I have always had a soft spot for the rogue. Up until recently I have used traps frequently. No one wants to play a rogue in my current game so I really lightened up on the traps. I still use them (but not the killer variety) as a gentle reminder that they may need a rogue some time in the future.

 

[Masquerade]

0%.

This may increase with 4e, though.

 

[GammaPaladin]

Basically never. Less than 1% of sessions in campaigns I've run had anything you could refer to as a dungeon in them.

And even then, I'm just not a fan of traps, they're not terribly logical.

The most I'd be likely to do would be alarms, or tripwires/pressure plates that cause doors to lock (Or open, which can be worse).

That still gives the rogue something to do... If he had found the pressure plate, they wouldn't be fighting that Balor...

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, no dungeon crawls to speak of, but a few 'protect the item' type traps. And one or two 'destroy the incriminating evidence at the same time as the adventurers' traps, and one or three ' trapping the escape corridor behind me' traps. (You cannot imagine how much work some of those villains put into 'I'm getting out of this alive! methods....)

The Auld Grump