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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7065247" data-attributes="member: 97077">Huh? My post clearly states that &quot;a character&quot; can do one task. So yeah, multiple characters can do multiple tasks. It matters though what each individual is doing when it comes to determining surprise (as an example). If you're doing something other than Staying Alert, you are surprised by the lurking monster or don't notice the hidden trap. So there's a trade-off there, a meaningful choice to make.Maybe that's just how you played ToH back in the day or how you heard it's supposed to be played. For there to be a fair challenge, however, we can't rely on &quot;gotchas&quot; in my view. As DMs, we are tasked with faithfully describing the environment (Basic Rules). As well, some element of a trap is usually visible to careful inspection (DMG) - Staying Alert should in my view provide a chance at detecting that trap. Telegraphing means you're including some clue when describing the environment that there's something going on worth inspecting further. Sometimes the players pick up on it. Sometimes they don't. When they don't and run afoul of the trap, they can look back and go &quot;Right, I should have inspected that thing the DM described.&quot; That is a reaction to a fairly presented challenge - they had an opportunity to make an informed decision and failed to do so by their own choice. In my experience, you get a very different reaction when you jack someone's character after the DM purposefully withheld information or encouraged the player to do the wrong thing because he or she has an agenda. That's adversarial and goes against what the game tells us about the role of the DM. I'll say it again - deadly dungeons can be great fun. But not when that deadliness is chiefly because the DM is being unfair.While it's related to the topic in a way, this is good fodder for another discussion if anyone wants to start a thread.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7065247, member: 97077"] Huh? My post clearly states that "a character" can do one task. So yeah, multiple characters can do multiple tasks. It matters though what each individual is doing when it comes to determining surprise (as an example). If you're doing something other than Staying Alert, you are surprised by the lurking monster or don't notice the hidden trap. So there's a trade-off there, a meaningful choice to make. Maybe that's just how you played ToH back in the day or how you heard it's supposed to be played. For there to be a fair challenge, however, we can't rely on "gotchas" in my view. As DMs, we are tasked with faithfully describing the environment (Basic Rules). As well, some element of a trap is usually visible to careful inspection (DMG) - Staying Alert should in my view provide a chance at detecting that trap. Telegraphing means you're including some clue when describing the environment that there's something going on worth inspecting further. Sometimes the players pick up on it. Sometimes they don't. When they don't and run afoul of the trap, they can look back and go "Right, I should have inspected that thing the DM described." That is a reaction to a fairly presented challenge - they had an opportunity to make an informed decision and failed to do so by their own choice. In my experience, you get a very different reaction when you jack someone's character after the DM purposefully withheld information or encouraged the player to do the wrong thing because he or she has an agenda. That's adversarial and goes against what the game tells us about the role of the DM. I'll say it again - deadly dungeons can be great fun. But not when that deadliness is chiefly because the DM is being unfair. While it's related to the topic in a way, this is good fodder for another discussion if anyone wants to start a thread. [/QUOTE]

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