Stopping take 20 Searching.

[Gruns]

Hey all.
Here's my problem: On every dungeon crawl, every time my group of PCs clears a room, they take 20 on the Search checks... With a typical party of 5, spreadout in a standard room, this doesn't take much time at all.
Short of simply not allowing taking 20, what are some good ways to make time more relevant? Wandering monsters doesn't do much, since the PC's will just kill them. (And if they can't kill them, they're in the wrong dungeon.). The "the dungeon is going to flood/explode/vanish in exactly 2 hours" thing is just a bit too farfetched for the typical dungeon.
So... What do you do to avoid this minor annoyance? Any good "realistic" reasons for the PCs to hurry through a dungeon? Maybe with enough examples, I can incorporate one into every dungeon crawl I run...
Thanks!
Gruns

 

[Mark]

Provide 20 mundane things for them to find, one per round, and describe them in great detail. Once they waste a bunch of divining and detection spells on these things they will be more discerning on how they spend both time and spells. Set up their goals, adventures, with more of a time factor and make them painfully aware of how quickly that time is running out.

 

[RSKennan]

Provide 20 mundane things for them to find, one per round, and describe them in great detail. Once they waste a bunch of divining and detection spells on these things they will be more discerning on how they spend both time and spells. Set up their goals, adventures, with more of a time factor and make them painfully aware of how quickly that time is running out.

Good call.

I remember in 2e an episode where a PC was convinced the macguffin was in the same area as he was (He was wrong) and after a few "I *KEEP* Looking!"s the whole group wanted to move on. It bacame a catch phrase for us.

 

[S'mon]

Why don't you want them taking 20 (taking 2 minutes to search each 5' area)? Don't you _want_ them to find things?

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

Some random thoughts:
- Constant harrassment from organized dungeon residents. Create one or two highly mobile NPC opponents with rogue levels whose job it is to make proceeding through the dungeon as difficult as possible for intruders. This might encourage the PCs to pursue them down the corridors, perhaps even into a trap.....
- Strictly monitor durations on all spells, light sources etc.
- If there really is nothing to find in a room, tell them how long they take to find nothing and move on!

Cheers


Richard

 

[LeifVignirsson]

Why don't you want them taking 20 (taking 2 minutes to search each 5' area)? Don't you _want_ them to find things?

I think it is more of a tedium thing... If there are things to find, then that is ok... But to do it ALL THE TIME would only lead to DM's killing themselves. A good rule my DM uses is that there are just too many things going on/you are being distracted/there is a threat too close... Say a bee that is buzzing around your head or the flies that are attracted to the dead bodies... Even something like that is going to break concentration.

And, if worse comes to worse, you just cut them off before they get going and give them the tedious details... Who knows, after awhile they might just miss that Helm of Godhood that was sitting there because they didn't want to look anymore...

 

[Starglim]

Traps and hazards. You can't take 20 if there is a consequence for failure, including having to make a saving throw for the round wasted against (say) heat exhaustion, hypothermia, disease, a nauseating smell or to avoid part of the wall collapsing on you.

 

[MerricB]

Hey all.
Here's my problem: On every dungeon crawl, every time my group of PCs clears a room, they take 20 on the Search checks... With a typical party of 5, spreadout in a standard room, this doesn't take much time at all.
Short of simply not allowing taking 20, what are some good ways to make time more relevant? Wandering monsters doesn't do much, since the PC's will just kill them. (And if they can't kill them, they're in the wrong dungeon.). The "the dungeon is going to flood/explode/vanish in exactly 2 hours" thing is just a bit too farfetched for the typical dungeon.
So... What do you do to avoid this minor annoyance? Any good "realistic" reasons for the PCs to hurry through a dungeon? Maybe with enough examples, I can incorporate one into every dungeon crawl I run...
Thanks!
Gruns

With a typical party of characters, only the Rogue has a chance of finding any of the traps. (Note that only Rogues can find traps of DC 21+). So, that increases the amount of time they must take significantly.

Wandering Monsters - set up a few encounters that are more powerful than the dungeon level, along with a few that are weaker. That way, staying around is more risky. It isn't just a "oh, another easy encounter."

Remember: finding traps easy, disarming traps hard.

Honestly, I don't see a problem in smart play. If they just say, "the party takes 20 to search the room", it's over in a flash.

Cheers!

 

[S'mon]

IMC I have no problem saying: "OK, you take 30 minutes to search the room. You find a dire flail under the straw pallet, and a pouch of 30gp in a crack in the wall." - which takes less than a minute. I don't understand the 'tedium' - surely rolling lots of Search checks is more tedious & takes much longer real-time than taking 20?

 

[Li Shenron]

I think the two best ways to handle this problem of yours could be the following:

- just overrules and disallow Take 20 on Search checks, asking your players if it's ok for them (beside the fact that it's best for the PCs, there are several players who don't like Take 20 with Search just like you)

- just don't worry and let them Take 20 in every room. This would take the PCs 2 minutes per 5x5 square, which is on the average about half an hour per room.

But are they really looking at every square? When I DM, usually players tend to search only on key spots such as furniture or doors. There is basically never anything interesting in the floor, unless the DM has hidden a treasure or a trap in a very stupid place.