"Standard Thief S***"

[lukelightning]

I agree, most of them were (except for that spears-in-the-sunlight trap, which I'd love to have an explanation for! )

Easy. Everyone knows that the Kawinga-mbanto indians of the Amazon were expert horticulturalists. They simply bred a strain of night-blooming trillium (Tifoilus nocturnus that resided in chambers behind the wall. When the sunlight was interrupted the trillium blossoms opened, luring the pollen-eating pied bats (Microleptera palinovorus) that lived in the crawlspace in the wall past a trigger which released the spears. Once the spears were released, simple counterweight and cantilevered vine-springs retracted them.

 

[Delta]

Can anyone explain to me why Barbarians of all classes get Trap Sense? Do you run into a lot of spring-loaded blades out on the wind-scoured steppes of your homeland, Thargor? WTF, people.

That's the kind of fiddly result that occurs when bowing to the "I hate dead levels" camp.
Score one for 3.0 in that regard.

 

[Joshua Randall]

One thing I might try is if my party's rogue wants to have a SOP -- have him write it down on an index card -- so we can both refer to it during play if something unusual or outside of the SOP happens.

There can (should) be SOPs for other situations as well. I believe the DMG specifically recommends this.

(If not the DMG, then maybe DMG2 or PH2.)

Other SOP-able situations:
* opening a door (who opens it? how is the party arrayed? what items do people have ready?)
* checking an intersection (who scouts ahead? how far down each branch to scout?)
* setting up camp (who's on watch and when?)
* carrying loot (does the strong fighter carry everything?) (this can be important if that person gets captured -- who has the McGuffin?)

 

[lukelightning]

There can (should) be SOPs for other situations as well. I believe the DMG specifically recommends this.

Another one is "long-term spells cast by casters." I don't want my players to bug me with "this morning I cast mage armor, false life, protection from arrows, and Lukelightning's luscious licorice of levity"

 

[Merkuri]

Other SOP-able situations:
* opening a door (who opens it? how is the party arrayed? what items do people have ready?)
* checking an intersection (who scouts ahead? how far down each branch to scout?)
* setting up camp (who's on watch and when?)
* carrying loot (does the strong fighter carry everything?) (this can be important if that person gets captured -- who has the McGuffin?)

Very true. Making a SOP for situations like this prevents situations like:

DM: "The rust monster jumps out at you and attacks! Who's in front?"
Players: "Uuummm... the monk?"
DM: "Why isn't the barbarian in front? He usually goes first until now."
Players: "Because he has no items that could rust... We mean, the barbarian was tired and fell behind?"

When you have a written SOP you can just refer to it in unexpected situations rather than having to argue about who was doing what when and why.

 

[The Grackle]

The SOP is fine, but how often do thieves have the time to search every inch of the dungeon? Our parties always move fast so our buffs don't run out, b/c we have a time limit or objective, or b/c we're in a running battle. Half the time, we just force the monk to open the door so we can keep moving.

 

[James McMurray]

And the monk doesn't leave, sell you to slavers, rob you while he's on watch, etc.?

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Very true. Making a SOP for situations like this prevents situations like:

DM: "The rust monster jumps out at you and attacks! Who's in front?"
Players: "Uuummm... the monk?"
DM: "Why isn't the barbarian in front? He usually goes first until now."
Players: "Because he has no items that could rust... We mean, the barbarian was tired and fell behind?"

When you have a written SOP you can just refer to it in unexpected situations rather than having to argue about who was doing what when and why.

This happens all the time in my games. Much like a previous poster, I would be pleased if my groups had something like this.

To me, it shows one of the weak points of the game. All of these repetitive actions should be condensed rules-wise. I've been toying with the idea of allowing the Trapsense ability to allow the character to make passive rolls to traps and secret doors. Moving at 1/2 speed allows for normal Search checks before you trigger a trap, pass a secret door, etc. Regular movement provides a -5 penalty to the check, hustiling a -10 penalty to the check.

 

[Merkuri]

Much like a previous poster, I would be pleased if my groups had something like this.

There's an easy solution to this... as the DM, the next time a problem happens in-game that could be solved or made easier by a SOP, tell them to make one. Give them paper, and say something like, "Okay, we are writing down a default marching order. Unless you specify otherwise, this is how you'll be marching the rest of the game." Let them argue over it and change it whenever they want as the game goes on, but that one argument over the SOP will be a lot shorter than the next fifty arguments over marching order. And once they make one SOP they might get the hang of it and make more. Just make sure you keep good track of them and let them revise the SOPs whenever they feel the need.

 

[James McMurray]

To me, it shows one of the weak points of the game. All of these repetitive actions should be condensed rules-wise.

In some ways they have been. For instance, the search skill is a vast improvement over "I look in the chest. I look under the chest. I look in the desk. I look under the desk. I look inside the legs of the table. I ..."

And taking ten (or twenty if you have time) also vastly simplifies the dungeon exploration process.