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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8285558" data-attributes="member: 82106">The problem with ALL of this sort of discussion is that nobody will ever agree on how things should work in game. <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/is-this-a-fair-trap.680276/" target="_blank">Is this a fair trap?</a> Here we are getting into a debate about a trap. Now you could argue that the trap description is insufficient, etc. but it seems to me to be pretty consistent with material I've seen in the past, or keys I drew up for traps in my own dungeons in the old days.As you can see, there is a wide diversity of opinion as to if this trap will even work! Obviously the DM can simply state that &quot;yes it works, as advertised&quot; and be done with it. The problem is, what interpretation did the players go by? To the extent that it differs from whatever the DM decided (or whomever designed the trap) there is a problem! My response was that this problem is not such a big deal, because the players should simply reason that the DM is out to get them (the trap designer in the perspective of the PCs). So they better assume it works fine. This is OK, but in many cases this issue is going to cause real problems in play. That is, I've seen plenty of instances where it did. I think the explicit declarations of 'rule 0' are a reaction to this (IE we are told who's interpretation will be followed). Again, this kinda works. It certainly goes back to the &quot;you need a skilled DM to pull this off&quot; argument. I think you ALSO need one who has the trust and respect of the players. I think this DM needs to be &quot;on their side&quot; in at least some sense. Again, the wrestling with your child analogy seems apt here.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 8285558, member: 82106"] The problem with ALL of this sort of discussion is that nobody will ever agree on how things should work in game. [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/is-this-a-fair-trap.680276/']Is this a fair trap?[/URL] Here we are getting into a debate about a trap. Now you could argue that the trap description is insufficient, etc. but it seems to me to be pretty consistent with material I've seen in the past, or keys I drew up for traps in my own dungeons in the old days. As you can see, there is a wide diversity of opinion as to if this trap will even work! Obviously the DM can simply state that "yes it works, as advertised" and be done with it. The problem is, what interpretation did the players go by? To the extent that it differs from whatever the DM decided (or whomever designed the trap) there is a problem! My response was that this problem is not such a big deal, because the players should simply reason that the DM is out to get them (the trap designer in the perspective of the PCs). So they better assume it works fine. This is OK, but in many cases this issue is going to cause real problems in play. That is, I've seen plenty of instances where it did. I think the explicit declarations of 'rule 0' are a reaction to this (IE we are told who's interpretation will be followed). Again, this kinda works. It certainly goes back to the "you need a skilled DM to pull this off" argument. I think you ALSO need one who has the trust and respect of the players. I think this DM needs to be "on their side" in at least some sense. Again, the wrestling with your child analogy seems apt here. [/QUOTE]

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