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<blockquote data-quote="Don Durito" data-source="post: 7896332" data-attributes="member: 6687260">Secret doors make most sense in a particular context.That context is when you make a &quot;home&quot; dungeon - possibly a megadungeon and you run multiple groups through it, or the same players multiple times.&nbsp; In this context there is less chance of secret stuff being wasted.&nbsp; Presumably somone will discover it eventually.&nbsp; And they may get a special kick out of beating the dungeon for it.&nbsp; This is also a situation is which you really don't want to move anything around or change locations as there is an element of competition here - there's a kind of across time competition against other groups that may enter the same dungeon.&nbsp; There is then a sense in which if you do well, you can be the players who finally beat Bob's dungeon.But most of us don't play that way (and don't want to).&nbsp; Secret doors are problematic for dungeons that won't be reused. Especially, if you the GM, are putting real effort into designing what's behind them.&nbsp; Why make the effort if it's likely it's not going to be used?&nbsp; If you make it too easy it's kind of pointless being secret.&nbsp; If you make it hard enough to be rewarding to find than it has to be hard enough it likely won't be found.&nbsp; In this context it makes more sense to say something like, there are are four places where there are potentially hints of a secret door.&nbsp; The secret door is potentially behind one of those four, the players only have to find one and when they do the other hints will disappear.There is then a sense in which this is, in microcosm, the potential issue with location based adventures.&nbsp; People who write modules can come up with all kinds of encounters and locations that will never see use in a particular game, because they will come up in someone's game (and they're being paid).&nbsp; But if you're prepping for a home game that's a lot of work that may not see use.&nbsp; Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, or you just use published material, you really need to find ways to be more efficient.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Don Durito, post: 7896332, member: 6687260"] Secret doors make most sense in a particular context. That context is when you make a "home" dungeon - possibly a megadungeon and you run multiple groups through it, or the same players multiple times. In this context there is less chance of secret stuff being wasted. Presumably somone will discover it eventually. And they may get a special kick out of beating the dungeon for it. This is also a situation is which you really don't want to move anything around or change locations as there is an element of competition here - there's a kind of across time competition against other groups that may enter the same dungeon. There is then a sense in which if you do well, you can be the players who finally beat Bob's dungeon. But most of us don't play that way (and don't want to). Secret doors are problematic for dungeons that won't be reused. Especially, if you the GM, are putting real effort into designing what's behind them. Why make the effort if it's likely it's not going to be used? If you make it too easy it's kind of pointless being secret. If you make it hard enough to be rewarding to find than it has to be hard enough it likely won't be found. [I]In this context [/I]it makes more sense to say something like, there are are four places where there are potentially hints of a secret door. The secret door is potentially behind one of those four, the players only have to find one and when they do the other hints will disappear. There is then a sense in which this is, in microcosm, the potential issue with location based adventures. People who write modules can come up with all kinds of encounters and locations that will never see use in a particular game, because they will come up in [I]someone[/I]'s game (and they're being paid). But if you're prepping for a home game that's a lot of work that may not see use. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, or you just use published material, you really need to find ways to be more efficient. [/QUOTE]

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