"Standard Thief S***"

[just__al]

In my WLD game, my players say we "LSD the door" Short for listen, search, dwarf. The rogue would check for traps, then the dwarven fighter would open the door.

Unless of course the rogue found something....

Worked out fairly well. I had the rogues checks (as will all "unknown success" checks) ready to roll. There's plenty of time to slow down have something other than just a die roll but checking the 356th door in a session isn't it.

 

[RFisher]

I've yet to found a party that enjoys exploring a dungeon at 2.5ft per round especially if you are asking the other other players what they are doing while the rogue searches for traps. Every single round he searches. More often than not the Barbarian or fighter will get annoyed at the pace and stroll off ahead of the rogue.

In the classic D&D game I'm currently running, this isn't a problem because everyone has a 1 in 6 chance of finding traps. With only three PCs (& no thief) that means there's an overall 42% chance of finding a trap if the whole party searches, which isn't too bad.

(Actually, it's better for the current party because the dwarf has a 2 in 6 chance. By the RAW that perhaps is only suppossed to apply to some traps, but I let it apply to all.)

You could get a similar effect in 3e by giving more traps DCs under 20. Especially the big, middle-of-the-corridor types. I think I'd probably keep the DCs for door & chest traps generally over 20, though.

Classic D&D also says that the standard dungeon movement rate is low because it assumes the PCs are being cautious. So, I think in the future I may consider the party moving at the standard rate means auto-search as has been suggested in this thread.

 

[Bagpuss]

I find Barbarians have a greater than 1 in 6 chance of finding traps, particularly those in the middle of corridors.

 

[Pbartender]

You could get a similar effect in 3e by giving more traps DCs under 20. Especially the big, middle-of-the-corridor types.

With a character that has no ranks in Search and no Wisdom bonus, a 1 in 6 chance of finding a trap would roughly equate to a DC 16 or DC 17. Anybody can find traps of that DC, a group of 4-6 average characters would have a decent chance of finding it, and almost every Rogue-type character would be certain find it if he was paying attention by Taking 10.

Which is pretty fair, I think.

 

[Korgoth]

In the classic D&D game I'm currently running, this isn't a problem because everyone has a 1 in 6 chance of finding traps. With only three PCs (& no thief) that means there's an overall 42% chance of finding a trap if the whole party searches, which isn't too bad.

(Actually, it's better for the current party because the dwarf has a 2 in 6 chance. By the RAW that perhaps is only suppossed to apply to some traps, but I let it apply to all.)

You could get a similar effect in 3e by giving more traps DCs under 20. Especially the big, middle-of-the-corridor types. I think I'd probably keep the DCs for door & chest traps generally over 20, though.

Classic D&D also says that the standard dungeon movement rate is low because it assumes the PCs are being cautious. So, I think in the future I may consider the party moving at the standard rate means auto-search as has been suggested in this thread.

All absolutely brilliant features of Classic, imo.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I agree. When I'm running a game and someone says that, they're essentially saying: "here you go, DM, here's a whole load of work for you and stuff for you to remember. You need to make dozens of rolls every couple of minutes for the entire evening for me. I'll just sit back and put my feet up - let me know when I'm needed for anything."

I rather think it sound more like:

"Here's what I'm doing. Tell me when I need to roll, or roll for me when I have a chance of success."

Of course I usually just assume they're taking 10 on Spot, Listen, Move Silently, and Search, and clip a note to my DM screen with that info. If they want to roll or take 20, they need to tell me. Otherwise, it goes like this:

either: As you walk down the tunnel, you notice a tripwire running across the floor,
or: As you walk down the corridor, you miss the tripwire running across the floor, and a trap goes off,
...depending on whether the take 10 score for the skill in question beats the DC.

 

[The_Gneech]

I find Barbarians have a greater than 1 in 6 chance of finding traps, particularly those in the middle of corridors.

Usually in this context, "finding" means "noticing before triggered," actually, rather than "sets them off by stomping through them".

-The Gneech

 

[TarionzCousin]

I'm more than content with the DM just taking it as read that I'm taking 10 every time -- I can't roll dice to save my life. If I rolled every turn, I'd be obliterated by traps because I can't roll above a 7. If he'd let me, I'd take 10 on every roll I ever made.

I think you're playing the wrong game.


I like the shorthand/SOP methods. Anything that makes the players more predictable is good for me when I DM. When I can accurately predict what the players are going to do, I can make cooler encounters that more accurately challenge them. This allows me to simply describe what might stand out as different and, hence, important.

 

[The_Gneech]

I think you're playing the wrong game.

Switching to one with a "roll low" mechanic doesn't help -- the dice know. Playing HERO, for instance, I usually can't roll below 15.

As curses go, it's a pretty lame curse. But it's still there!

-The Gneech

 

[TarionzCousin]

Switching to one with a "roll low" mechanic doesn't help -- the dice know. Playing HERO, for instance, I usually can't roll below 15.

As curses go, it's a pretty lame curse. But it's still there!

-The Gneech

Have you ever played a diceless game, like Amber Diceless? If you like Zelazny AND have a good group, it can be very fun.

---

I played in a Hackmaster group where the DM made us describe every action we did, and there were enough traps that we spent 21/2 minutes tapping every ten foot section of floor before progressing. No surprise, people got very irritated and eventually the game ended due to player revolt.