Should traps have tells?

[SteveC]

I think it can be a great idea based on what kind of game you're running. If you want to have an environment where the players explore it and you put in a lot of description, I think it can be great. If it's just "everyone roll perception" then I don't see the point. And a fully descriptive version can slow down the game, so I'd be sure to take that into consideration.

 

[Lanefan]

From a game perspective, yes, of course traps should have tells. These are games about choices. Without choices to make, traps are just time/resource sinks.

From a verisimilitude perspective, no, of course traps should not have tells. Traps are placed to scare, harm, and hinder people. Giving them tells defeats the entire point of traps.

It's all down to which of those is more important to you. Game play or verisimilitude.

Even from a game-play perspective, a tell isn't always necessary; sometimes the point isn't the choices to be made as to what to do about the trap but more what to do after the trap has been set off.

One of my favourite traps is the one-way chute trap where the first (or first few, if not in single file) character falls through an unseen or illusion-covered hole in the floor and winds up, usually unharmed, somewhere on a lower level in the dungeon*. (think Get Smart and how Maxwell arrives at work every morning)

Now there's lots of choices for those stuck above: do they intentionally follow their companion(s) down the now-obvious hole, do they keep exploring and hope to reunite elsewhere, do they spend time and effort trying to fish their companion(s) back out of the chute, if such is even possible, or ???

Meanwhile, whoever is stuck down below might have problems of their own and certainly has choices to make: try to get back up the chute, stay put and hope for rescue, carry on exploring alone, or ???

* - or maybe even teleported away somewhere else completely, I've done that one too.

Other than that I'm all about what makes sense in the setting. A new or well-maintained trap might not have any tells whatsoever. A long-abandoned trap might have started to show signs of its presence, or fail to function properly if-when triggered. That said, a long-abandoned trap might also have fewer tells than it once did as any clues to its existence are now under a thick layer of dust.

Unlike some here, I'm fine if they move at a snail's pace searching every square inch for traps, as that's what cautious characters would do.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yes.

Otherwise they're just a random "gotcha". Might as well roll a d20 every couple of turns and on a 1 kill a character.

 

[Scribe]

Tangent from another thread.

Simple question.

Should traps have tells?

Yes.

 

[Lanefan]

Yes.

Otherwise they're just a random "gotcha". Might as well roll a d20 every couple of turns and on a 1 kill a character.

Not all traps have to be deadly.

The best traps IMO are those that aren't deadly but cause the PCs serious headaches now or later: party-splitting traps, severe-delay or resource-consuming traps, traps that alert the inhabitants to the PCs' presence, and the like.

In fact, I can think of one memorable instance in my game where a trap proved highly beneficial. Basic pit trap with a self-closing "lid" that otherwise looked like normal floor. Party set it off, someone fell in and took some trivial damage, was easily rescued, and they carried on.

Not long after this they met something (a full Ghost, I think) they just couldn't handle. The PCs fled - not all by choice, the Ghost's fear effect did its job nicely - and one fell in the pit again. After picking herself up she realized the pit might actually be the best hiding place available; she was self-sufficient for food and water and so she stayed down there for days, knowing that if anyone else had survived they had the means to find her (a simple Locate Object on any of her known possessions would do) and bail her out, and that's what happened.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I've read so many books recently... I don't remember which one but one of the system was very explicit in its rules.

You either moved cautiously, or you didn't. Cautiously took more time, etc. But more importantly, you'd automatically get tells for traps when you did, and you'd have to roll if you didn't move cautiously. I thought that was a simple and elegant solution to the whole trap thing.

But I do agree that if you have to pick one, giving a tell leads to more interesting moments. I also agree that sometimes it's all about not triggering the trap, because once you do it's over. But I really like traps that you can trigger and still have time to react and do something (a boulder coming down, walls closing in, etc).

 

[Zaukrie]

Sure. There are some circumstances where that absolutely works. Traps that are old, not well maintained, abandoned, etc. But that's not all traps. In an active lair with trap-setting monsters, there's not going to be any reasonable in-fiction reason for traps to have tells. So we're back to having to decide which takes priority. Game play or verisimilitude.

Except nothing is perfect, so this is more opinion than fact. You can try very hard to conceal something and fail.

 

[overgeeked]

Except nothing is perfect,

You can try very hard to conceal something and fail.

Of course. But traps don’t have to be perfect to be effective. Also not every single trap is going to be so badly made that it provides a tell.

Seems to be a lot of excluded middle here:

“The only possible way a trap wouldn’t have a tell is it’s perfectly made.”

That’s obviously not true.

so this is more opinion than fact.

Look at the traps used in Vietnam. Most were crudely made with barely a thin cover of dirt and flora hiding them, and yet the casualties caused were devastating. Little to no tells and when there were tells, they were used as lures for other traps.

 

[Reynard]

What is a "trap" in the context of this question? Does it just refer to intentionally constructed hazards meant to maim or kill those who set them off? In that case, no, traps should not have tells.

But if "trap" is a broader term that includes everything from unsafe architecture to natural dangers to constructs meant to warn people off, then they should have tells that make sense for what they are in the world. If you are trying to protect something, the "Warning: 10000 Volts" sign is more useful than the actual electrical discharge.

 

[overgeeked]

Oh, right. I thought we’d already done this. Yep. It’s well trodden ground.

D&D General Thread 'Traps, Agency, and Telegraphing Dangers'

Aug 12, 2023

Variations of this have come up a few times so I wanted to have a thread on the topic.

The argument seems to go like this: traps that are not telegraphed are gotchas, and that's bad because without being able to make an informed decision, my choices as a player are meaningless. The whole point of player agency is to have meaningful choices. Non-telegraphed dangers violate my agency as a player, therefore should not be included in the game.

The counter argument seems to go like this: no one would ever build a trap that's obvious or telegraphed, therefore traps that are telegraphed make...

• overgeeked
• Replies: 57
• Forum: *Dungeons & Dragons

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