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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mengu" data-source="post: 5044075" data-attributes="member: 65726">Very good question, and I've seen all sorts of different DM styles on this. Some rattle off everything there is to know about the trap for faster resolution. Some give a general description, and let you figure it out with trial/error. Some will hold off on the different bits until interacted with. It all really depends on the trap mechanics, complexity, and DM/Group style. There is nothing spelled out on how to run a trap, so it's all DM discretion.I try to give descriptions and let them try things from there. For instance they step on a trigger plate, and four nozzles in the room start spewing fire. At this point I would tell them the fire produced seemed to be generated by some ignited fuel stored behind the nozzle, and there is a bellow that helps spray the fuel. At this point someone will tell me they want to make a dungeoneering check to see if it would be possible to exhaust the fuel, while someone else probably wants to make a perception check to see if there is a way to shut it off, and meanwhile the paladin is wanting to see what happens if he shoves his flamedrinker shield in front of a nozzle to let the rest of the party walk by safely. The paladin probably discovers his resistance is not enough to soak up all the flames, while the perceiver sees there are more nozzles that haven't yet been fired, which probably trigger off more plates in the room, and the dungeoneer figures out there might be a central fuel source, and knocking off one of the nozzles and dumping some fire down there might create a chain explosion to deplete all the fuel, and the cleric with an insight check tells him that might not be wise.I just try to keep things going, if they seem stuck at any point, I'll start giving more descriptions. They might see a pattern in the arrangement of the nozzles which indicates a certain timing. A few perception checks later they might discover a similar pattern in the depressions of various pressure plates on the ground, and after an insight check, the acrobat may be on his way jumping and ducking through the gauntlet to get to the far end, when the last pressure plate turns the whole thing off, at the same time opening the rear wall up to reveal a half dozen blazing skeletons and a pair of hell hounds.</blockquote>

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