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Is this fair? -- your personal opinion
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 3041331" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>Note: What I say in the text below the quoted section applies to the context provided by the quoted section, and not to the out-of-context example provided by the OP.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I've been thinking about this scenario some more. I will agree that it is a reasonable set-up for a dungeon, but there was something that was just bugging me about it. I've finally figured it out...</p><p></p><p>Under this scenario, a party could work their way carefully through the entirety of the 'public' parts of the dungeon. They carefully check every lever, every door, and anything else that looks suspicious, for traps, and find none. In every single case, this is because there is no trap.</p><p></p><p>And now they come to this room. They carefully search the room, and find the secret door, which wasn't that secret because the lever tipped us off. Still, a Search check was sufficient.</p><p></p><p>They then apply the Rogue's Search skill to the lever. They find no traps. Now, in EVERY PREVIOUS INSTANCE in this dungeon, this has been because there have been no traps. Suddenly, it's looking a lot more reasonable to assume that in this case there probably are no traps, isn't it?</p><p></p><p>Still, the party has a standard operating procedure with such things: the person with the best saves handles levers just in case. So, the same happens again here. And, despite having the best saves in the group, and having a really good roll, he still blows his save.</p><p></p><p>And, what's more, he is then insta-killed with no body, preventing an easy Raise Dead.</p><p></p><p>Basically, the DM has just inserted a MASSIVE jump in difficulty that has come out of nowhere (from the player's perspective), and which has had HUGE consequences.</p><p></p><p>And 'good play' can't even save you here. Unless the party has been extremely paranoid with every lever, every doorway, and every other thing that has looked suspicious, they have no reason to do so here. Do you really expect the party to use rope to pull every lever, to summon creatures to open every door, and to cast Augury every time the Rogue detects no traps?</p><p></p><p>It just reads like far too much of an intentional 'gotcha!' from the DM to be fair. And it certainly wouldn't be fun.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 3041331, member: 22424"] Note: What I say in the text below the quoted section applies to the context provided by the quoted section, and not to the out-of-context example provided by the OP. I've been thinking about this scenario some more. I will agree that it is a reasonable set-up for a dungeon, but there was something that was just bugging me about it. I've finally figured it out... Under this scenario, a party could work their way carefully through the entirety of the 'public' parts of the dungeon. They carefully check every lever, every door, and anything else that looks suspicious, for traps, and find none. In every single case, this is because there is no trap. And now they come to this room. They carefully search the room, and find the secret door, which wasn't that secret because the lever tipped us off. Still, a Search check was sufficient. They then apply the Rogue's Search skill to the lever. They find no traps. Now, in EVERY PREVIOUS INSTANCE in this dungeon, this has been because there have been no traps. Suddenly, it's looking a lot more reasonable to assume that in this case there probably are no traps, isn't it? Still, the party has a standard operating procedure with such things: the person with the best saves handles levers just in case. So, the same happens again here. And, despite having the best saves in the group, and having a really good roll, he still blows his save. And, what's more, he is then insta-killed with no body, preventing an easy Raise Dead. Basically, the DM has just inserted a MASSIVE jump in difficulty that has come out of nowhere (from the player's perspective), and which has had HUGE consequences. And 'good play' can't even save you here. Unless the party has been extremely paranoid with every lever, every doorway, and every other thing that has looked suspicious, they have no reason to do so here. Do you really expect the party to use rope to pull every lever, to summon creatures to open every door, and to cast Augury every time the Rogue detects no traps? It just reads like far too much of an intentional 'gotcha!' from the DM to be fair. And it certainly wouldn't be fun. [/QUOTE]
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