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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8441967" data-attributes="member: 6779196">Ok. Consider combat as an analogy. In order to properly resolve an attack in combat, one needs to know which target the character is attacking and with what weapon, which can be seen as analogous to the goal (kill the goblin) and approach (by attacking him with my sword). Any additional details describing the specifics of the attack may be an enjoyable bit of color, but are unnecessary to resolve the action. Outside of combat it’s the same. When picking a lock, presumably your goal is to open the door/chest/whatever, and your approach is to pick the lock with your thieves’ tools. Any additional description about you carefully testing the lock pins with your probe or whatever are an enjoyable bit of color, but are unnecessary to resolve the action. When checking an area for traps, finding out if there are any traps there is a goal, comparable to killing the goblin getting a locked door or chest open. In order to resolve the action, I need to know what your approach is, Are you just looking with your eyes? Are you touching stuff with your hands? Are you using a tool of some kind? I need to know these things to determine what the potential outcomes will be, just like I would need to know what weapon you’re using when attacking or if you’re using thieves’ tools vs. smashing the lock or whatever. Checking an NPC’s emotional state for signs of deception is similar to checking a physical object or area for traps, just in a social context. Specific details about how you’re doing it are a nice bit of color, but are unnecessary to resolve the action.From that example, I would go with option D. “I’m hearing that you want to find out if the chest is trapped. What does your character do to try and find that out?” If the player said they don’t know, I would offer some suggestions, like “you could try running your fingers or a tool of some sort over its surface to notice any irregularities, try and tilt it to check underneath, stand behind it and open it a crack to see if anything happens, or anything else you can think of, it’s up to you.”</blockquote>

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