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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5679525" data-attributes="member: 80487">REALLY PUZZLING Traps basically fall into two classes. Some are simply hazards one either notices in time or not. The typical dungeon inconvenience triggered by a pressure plate or tripwire might be revealed either by something like a "spot traps" roll or by taking appropriate precautions. It can probably be avoided or set off safely in several ways. A "disarm traps" roll is called for only in case of an operation requiring finely honed dexterity or expert knowledge. The other class is essentially a puzzle. Adventure fiction is full of "death traps" that are Rube Goldberg devices giving the victims time to figure out a solution and escape inexorably approaching doom. The challenge for the players in that case ought to be just the same mental one that's posed to the fictional heroes. Reducing it to a matter of dice rolls rob it of the essence that makes it fun -- at least for some of us game players. Puzzles that depend on player knowledge a character should not have -- modern chemistry or cultural references in a medieval fantasy, for instance -- raise another issue. How seriously do you take your milieu? If verisimilitude is a priority, then some things that were fairly common in early dungeons are probably a poor fit. Conversely, presenting puns in actual Elvish or Tsolyani is probably an excessive expectation of players knowing things their characters do know.</blockquote>

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