Taking 20 on traps search
- Thread starter douga
- Start date
No, in fact that should be the standard procedure for rogues checking for traps. The big downside is the time it takes, and the small area that the search covers. If you're searching for traps as your party advances down a hallway, it'll take you 2 minutes for every 5 feet you move.douga said:
Taking 20 works with open locks, as well.
Hopefully 3.5e will spell out how taking 10 and 20 work with each skill, as d20 Modern does.
Olive
Explorer
http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/misc/take20.html
check this out. Sean K Reynolds goes through skills and discusses taking 20 on them. he says this about search:
"Yes, because there is no penalty for failure (if you don't find what you're looking for, you're no worse off than if you had never looked in the first place, so there isn't a penalty). This means that you can take 20 when searching for something dangerous, like a trap, since searching doesn't make you any more likely to set off the trap than you would just by walking around (again, using the skill and failing does not put you in a worse position than not using the skill)."
check this out. Sean K Reynolds goes through skills and discusses taking 20 on them. he says this about search:
"Yes, because there is no penalty for failure (if you don't find what you're looking for, you're no worse off than if you had never looked in the first place, so there isn't a penalty). This means that you can take 20 when searching for something dangerous, like a trap, since searching doesn't make you any more likely to set off the trap than you would just by walking around (again, using the skill and failing does not put you in a worse position than not using the skill)."
"searching doesn't make you any more likely to set off the trap than you would just by walking around"
Or less likely, either, I would think. If the trap is a pressure plate, and you walk down a corridor looking for traps and fail, I don't see how you miss setting off the trap itself. In other cases, I would assume that searching for traps might involve feeling around in areas where failure to find a trap might also set it off.
In general, I find it difficult to imagine very many situations where you could examine an area for a trap (a dangerous hidden device intended to go off just because you are there), fail to find one that is there, and be at less risk than someone who does not look...even equal risk seems generous to me. I tend to think that if you don't find it, there is a good chance that it finds you instead. Not much of a trap otherwise. If searching for traps just means standing somewhere and looking around...I think that lacks panache.
Besides, if you don't find it and proceed, it is going to go off.
Or less likely, either, I would think. If the trap is a pressure plate, and you walk down a corridor looking for traps and fail, I don't see how you miss setting off the trap itself. In other cases, I would assume that searching for traps might involve feeling around in areas where failure to find a trap might also set it off.
In general, I find it difficult to imagine very many situations where you could examine an area for a trap (a dangerous hidden device intended to go off just because you are there), fail to find one that is there, and be at less risk than someone who does not look...even equal risk seems generous to me. I tend to think that if you don't find it, there is a good chance that it finds you instead. Not much of a trap otherwise. If searching for traps just means standing somewhere and looking around...I think that lacks panache.
Besides, if you don't find it and proceed, it is going to go off.
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Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Perhaps... but since the rules state "The character generally must be within 10 feet of the object or surface to be searched", someone can spend two minutes examining a 5' square of corridor for a pressure plate without ever being in danger of setting it off.
-Hyp.
Vaxalon
First Post
Here's a bit of a summary:
How careful are you proceeding down the corridor?
1> Not at all: Proceed at normal walking pace, usually 20 or 30 feet per round. Automatically set off all traps. Since everyone has their eyes peeled for monsters, they all get spot rolls to see monsters coming and act in the surprise round.
2> Careful: 5 feet per three rounds, given everyone in the front rank is searching for traps. This will mean that people in the front rank do not get spot checks to see monsters coming and do not act in the surprise round. If only one person in the front rank is searching for traps, then speed will be similarly reduced.
3> Paranoid: 5 feet per two minutes, given everyone in the front rank is searching for traps and taking 20. Again, people in the front rank do not get spot checks to act in the surprise round.
How careful are you proceeding down the corridor?
1> Not at all: Proceed at normal walking pace, usually 20 or 30 feet per round. Automatically set off all traps. Since everyone has their eyes peeled for monsters, they all get spot rolls to see monsters coming and act in the surprise round.
2> Careful: 5 feet per three rounds, given everyone in the front rank is searching for traps. This will mean that people in the front rank do not get spot checks to see monsters coming and do not act in the surprise round. If only one person in the front rank is searching for traps, then speed will be similarly reduced.
3> Paranoid: 5 feet per two minutes, given everyone in the front rank is searching for traps and taking 20. Again, people in the front rank do not get spot checks to act in the surprise round.
"The character generally must be within 10 feet of the object or surface to be searched."
Well, yes, I wouldn't let someone find a trap from more than 10 feet away...what is it, a sign saying "trap here"? I don't think that this means that you can find every trap by standing ten feet away from it and staring, though; it is a maximum distance, not a guarantee of safety, to me. Still, I agree that it is better, when DMing, to wait for someone to move into a trap that was not found, rather than have them all triggered by someone just looking for them. I like the process to feel dangerous at the same time; that is really my point. So, I would not want players to think that looking for traps will always give them the "no worse off" situation. That just seems too constraining, and too safe.
Well, yes, I wouldn't let someone find a trap from more than 10 feet away...what is it, a sign saying "trap here"? I don't think that this means that you can find every trap by standing ten feet away from it and staring, though; it is a maximum distance, not a guarantee of safety, to me. Still, I agree that it is better, when DMing, to wait for someone to move into a trap that was not found, rather than have them all triggered by someone just looking for them. I like the process to feel dangerous at the same time; that is really my point. So, I would not want players to think that looking for traps will always give them the "no worse off" situation. That just seems too constraining, and too safe.
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Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
By the rules, you can accidentally trigger a trap while attempting to disable it, but not just by looking for it.
-Hyp.
-Hyp.
They are wasting all kinds of time. If they're able to advance at a leisurely enough pace that they're taking 20 searching for traps all over the place, that's the DM's fault.Keith said:
Besides, finding the trap is only half of it. They still have to disarm it, which always carries the risk of setting it off, or avoid it, which can be problematic as well depending on the circumstances.
