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<blockquote data-quote="Philotomy Jurament" data-source="post: 5073368" data-attributes="member: 20854">I use a mix of die rolls and descriptive search, and like Ant, often have successful die rolls &quot;focus in&quot; on something.&nbsp; I don't use a one-size-fits-all approach; exactly how I handle it depends on the situation.&nbsp; If the players say &quot;we carefully search the room&quot; I'll mark of the turns required and roll the dice.&nbsp; A successful die roll might focus players on an area that invites descriptive search or manipulation (&quot;you find an stone block in the NE corner that seems to be unmortared&quot;) or it might reveal the secret outright (&quot;you find a key hidden under the throw rug&quot;), depending on exactly what is being found, whether the PCs have found similar secrets before, etc.On the other hand, maybe the players say &quot;we quickly check out the room; what's here?&quot;&nbsp; In that case, I'll describe the obvious features of the room (e.g. I'd mention the throw rug, but not the unmortared stone), and wait for more direction from the players.&nbsp; If a player goes on to tell me he looks under the rug, he finds the key with no roll necessary.&nbsp; Et cetera.The main thing when searching (whether using die rolls or not) is to keep track of the time spent, marking off the turns and rolling for wandering monsters as appropriate.&nbsp; For secret doors, in particular, I allow &quot;detailed searches&quot; and &quot;tapping.&quot;&nbsp; Detailed searches take one or more turns, and success usually gives at least a clue as to how to open the secret door, if not finding the means to open it outright.&nbsp; Tapping takes one or more rounds, so it's much faster.&nbsp; However, it only detects the presence of &quot;hollow areas&quot; which may or may not indicate a secret door.&nbsp; (And tapping a large area usually will prompt a wandering monster check.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Philotomy Jurament, post: 5073368, member: 20854"] I use a mix of die rolls and descriptive search, and like Ant, often have successful die rolls "focus in" on something. I don't use a one-size-fits-all approach; exactly how I handle it depends on the situation. If the players say "we carefully search the room" I'll mark of the turns required and roll the dice. A successful die roll might focus players on an area that invites descriptive search or manipulation ("you find an stone block in the NE corner that seems to be unmortared") or it might reveal the secret outright ("you find a key hidden under the throw rug"), depending on exactly what is being found, whether the PCs have found similar secrets before, etc. On the other hand, maybe the players say "we quickly check out the room; what's here?" In that case, I'll describe the obvious features of the room (e.g. I'd mention the throw rug, but not the unmortared stone), and wait for more direction from the players. If a player goes on to tell me he looks under the rug, he finds the key with no roll necessary. Et cetera. The main thing when searching (whether using die rolls or not) is to keep track of the time spent, marking off the turns and rolling for wandering monsters as appropriate. For secret doors, in particular, I allow "detailed searches" and "tapping." Detailed searches take one or more turns, and success usually gives at least a clue as to how to open the secret door, if not finding the means to open it outright. Tapping takes one or more rounds, so it's much faster. However, it only detects the presence of "hollow areas" which may or may not indicate a secret door. (And tapping a large area usually will prompt a wandering monster check.) [/QUOTE]

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