Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Legends & Lore: A Few Rules Updates
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 6253078" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>Well, then don't use a d20. You're the Dungeon Master, you can set the DC however you want. Roll 2d10 to get a DC if you'd prefer.</p><p></p><p>The only reason this idea of rolling dice to set the trap DC is being suggested is because some DMs don't want to just assign DCs to traps, knowing full well what their player's passive perception is (and thereby determining upon creation whether or not the trap will be found automatically.)</p><p></p><p>Of course... even beyond all of this... there is a very easy way to do traps in your game without needing to worry about passive perception or who rolls or whatnot. Quite simply... <em>don't put traps in random locations throughout your dungeon.</em></p><p></p><p>Here's the deal: The reason why players spend all their time checking every grid on the map with a 10 foot pole, searching for traps, secret doors, etc. etc... is because the game has been notorious for putting those things in completely random places with no rhyme nor reason, nor using any descriptive objects as masking agents that would tipped a player to ask to actually look at said thing (and thereby trigger an <strong>Active</strong> Perception roll). And enough people have blundered into a tripwire across some random hallway in a dungeon complex (which is really protecting <em>nothing</em> whatsoever and is only there to give a trap for the rogue to disarm)... to make them gunshy about just walking through dungeons. Or a "secret" door is for some reason built in the middle of some 75 foot corridor leading to another path, and yet somehow the seams of the door are able to be masked by... ??? (nothing)... so that it isn't blatantly obvious a door is there and is "secret".</p><p></p><p>So we need to retrain those players. Only put traps and secret doors in places that <em>makes sense</em> that someone would actually place one there, plus make sure you describe the areas in such a way that would indicate what <em>could be</em> used to make these things "hidden" or "secret". That corridor with the secret door? Line it with tapestries so the players might be inspired to look behind them and find the door. That tripwire? Make sure it's blocking an area that is relatively obvious needs protecting... like the PCs can hear voices beyond because it's a campsite or something.</p><p></p><p>You do all that... and you don't NEED to have PCs using "passive perception", because they know enough not to otherwise ask to "look for traps" every 5 feet because they know they won't be there. They'll know you aren't trying to just screw with them for no reason. It's really all down to you as a DM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 6253078, member: 7006"] Well, then don't use a d20. You're the Dungeon Master, you can set the DC however you want. Roll 2d10 to get a DC if you'd prefer. The only reason this idea of rolling dice to set the trap DC is being suggested is because some DMs don't want to just assign DCs to traps, knowing full well what their player's passive perception is (and thereby determining upon creation whether or not the trap will be found automatically.) Of course... even beyond all of this... there is a very easy way to do traps in your game without needing to worry about passive perception or who rolls or whatnot. Quite simply... [I]don't put traps in random locations throughout your dungeon.[/I] Here's the deal: The reason why players spend all their time checking every grid on the map with a 10 foot pole, searching for traps, secret doors, etc. etc... is because the game has been notorious for putting those things in completely random places with no rhyme nor reason, nor using any descriptive objects as masking agents that would tipped a player to ask to actually look at said thing (and thereby trigger an [B]Active[/B] Perception roll). And enough people have blundered into a tripwire across some random hallway in a dungeon complex (which is really protecting [I]nothing[/I] whatsoever and is only there to give a trap for the rogue to disarm)... to make them gunshy about just walking through dungeons. Or a "secret" door is for some reason built in the middle of some 75 foot corridor leading to another path, and yet somehow the seams of the door are able to be masked by... ??? (nothing)... so that it isn't blatantly obvious a door is there and is "secret". So we need to retrain those players. Only put traps and secret doors in places that [I]makes sense[/I] that someone would actually place one there, plus make sure you describe the areas in such a way that would indicate what [I]could be[/I] used to make these things "hidden" or "secret". That corridor with the secret door? Line it with tapestries so the players might be inspired to look behind them and find the door. That tripwire? Make sure it's blocking an area that is relatively obvious needs protecting... like the PCs can hear voices beyond because it's a campsite or something. You do all that... and you don't NEED to have PCs using "passive perception", because they know enough not to otherwise ask to "look for traps" every 5 feet because they know they won't be there. They'll know you aren't trying to just screw with them for no reason. It's really all down to you as a DM. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Legends & Lore: A Few Rules Updates
Top