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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5874830" data-attributes="member: 92305"><a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/matthew-finch/quick-primer-for-old-school-gaming/ebook/product-3159558.html" target="_blank">Take a look at THIS.</a>  That's worth reading for the example featuring traps alone.     I do it, even in 3.x E, as it says in the linked document.  Olde School. Nobody is looking for a trap unless someone says that they're looking for a trap.  And, if they are looking for a trap, then I want to know how they're doing it.  Are they just moving slowly, keeping their eyes open and other senses tuned?  Are they probing the ground ahead of them with a 10' pole?  What? As GM, if I know a trap is n the area, I'll decide how it works.   It wasn't until 3.x E that published scenarios started explaining to the DM exactly how traps worked.  Before that, the trap would be indicated with the damage it does, but usually with no or little indication of how it worked.  For example, the text might read that a chest is trapped with a dart trap that does 1d3 points of poison damage. It was up to me, as GM, to decide how that trap worked.  Maybe there are little pinholes around the lid of the chest were a dozen toothpick sized darts shot out.  Most of these either miss the target or don't penetrate armor, so they collectively do the damage of 1d3 poison. Or, maybe near the embedded lock on the chest, there's a single needle juts up unexpectantly from right next to the lock.  If anybody is picking the lock, the trap will be sprung, giving the lockpicker a save. Failure means the needle stung the thief's hand, doing 1d3 poison damage. The GM's imagination is the limit on how traps work--especially if we sart talking magical traps.   When playing through the traps, I just GM the player's actions like I would anything else. The differnce, I've noticed, between this type of "Old School" play and 3.x E+ games is that traps are no longer roleplayed and are just rolled.  "I've rolled a 27 on my Spot check.  Do I see a trap?  I do.  OK (rolls dice), my Disable Device check is an 18.  Am I past the trap?" I don't think that's as near as fun as roleplaying through the trap scenario as described in that article I linked above.</blockquote>

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