The 10-foot pole, antithesis of what adventuring should be?

[Rystil Arden]

Never use a 10' pole to figure out something on your own, when you can just make some skill/feat/stat roll to take care of it for you. There's excitement and a sense of adventure and accomplishment for ya!!

I fail to see any significant difference between "I tap every five foot square with my ten foot pole" and "I check every five foot square for traps." In fact, I would say there is more of a sense of accomplishment from the latter by far, as presumably the former could have been done by an orc barbarian with a lobotomy and automatically succeeded without a roll, whereas if the latter is successful, it shows the character's skill.

 

[Mycanid]

Somehow I always associated the 10 foot pole with adventuring through 1e Tomb of Horrors, where such an item could CERTAINLY come in handy.

There was also an illustration in the back of the pre-1e/pr-Basic rulebook that had a character carrying what looked to me like a ten foot pole.

As for the fact that you don't see them nowadays ... that is not an argument that a ten foot pole is "useless" or whatever.

I rather liked the distinction Aaron L made ... these items do work well for the right character, but Umbran also pointed out a good point. Practicality wise it is kinda difficult to imagine.

Nevertheless, nostalgia reasons completely aside, I have found a ten foot pole to be very useful in many an adventure and put to good use by many a fellow adventurer! But then again, not every DM or player necessarily thinks in terms of either providing situations where such a thing could come in handy or taking advantage of such an item (as for example - and perhaps as a contrast too - a 50' length of rope).

 

[2WS-Steve]

My groups don't go much in for them nowadays, and I can see the Indiana Jones point -- but I've also found the 10 foot pole to feel very immersive.

Back in my teens, we'd occasionaly go hiking out in the woods, even through some shallow streams, and have our walking sticks to make sure that we wouldn't walk into a sudden drop-off. So, translating that back into the game, where the sudden drop-off might include a monster, felt really fun -- like our characters actually were exploring the unknown.

 

[Ranes]

Okay. Toss the 10' pole out of your game.

Now, dump that 50' rope. Climbing rope is for pansies. You're a danged spider on the wall for pete's sake. Spikes? Aaaghh.. who needs 'em? If you can't defeat everything that comes barging through that door, then you must have a killer DM. He's out to get ya.

Wait. A door? Don't tell me we're actually in a dungeon? Sheesh.. what kind of role-playing game is this? It's much more important to rub elbows with the Duke and his entourage at the banquet. You know. That banquet your character was invited to, because the Duke needs you to go rescue his daughter/son/wife/brother/sister/mother/father/best friend/valet/whatever from the next duchy/kingdom/bandit lair/wherever. Oh yeah. And while your characer is poncing around like it's at a ren fest, do be good enough to find out how much garlic the chef put in the guzpacho at the banquet for me will you? Now that's what role-playing's all about.

Never use a 10' pole to figure out something on your own, when you can just make some skill/feat/stat roll to take care of it for you. There's excitement and a sense of adventure and accomplishment for ya!!

Please post more (aka QFT). I could have made the same argument in a sentence but it wouldn't have been as funny.

Cheers!

Edit: Welcome to ENWorld.

 

[MerricB]

The biggest difference between a 10' pole and a 50' rope is that the latter's primary use is to overcome a found obstacle. The 10' pole is there to find the obstacle in the first place.

There's a significant difference between the two.

If 3e has abstracted away the finding of traps to a Search check rather than virtually prodding everything with a pole, it has merely come to the realisation that it isn't the finding of traps that is fun; it's the overcoming of the traps.

Those who say, "but the Disable check just abstracts away the overcoming of the trap as well!" are partially correct, but in the adventures I've run, even rogues quite skilled at Disable Device have not really been able to bypass every trap, especially the magic ones. The detailing of traps is of a sort that there are many different ways to bypass them... if one is clever enough to think of a solution! (Secrets of Xen'drik continues the evolution of traps; I hope we see more of their like).

Of course, when given a choice between a 10' pole and a 50' rope, I'd rather have a towel... no adventurer anywhere should ever be without one.

Cheers!

 

[The Forsaken One]

10 ft poles tend to become 9 ft poles in our games really fast.

That's all I'll add to the discussion .

 

[arscott]

I fail to see any significant difference between "I tap every five foot square with my ten foot pole" and "I check every five foot square for traps." In fact, I would say there is more of a sense of accomplishment from the latter by far, as presumably the former could have been done by an orc barbarian with a lobotomy and automatically succeeded without a roll, whereas if the latter is successful, it shows the character's skill.

I think you've hit on something here. In D&D, I have fun by overcoming challenges in interesting ways. A fight is fun, because it represents a tactical challenge to be overcome. An interaction encounter is fun because it represents a diplomatic challenge to be overcome. Giant pits, locked chests, and barren deserst all represent different skill challenges to be overcome.

Traps are fun, because they can be overcome in several different ways. They can be a skill challenge (search for and disarm them), a puzzle challenge (figure out how to bypass them without disarming them), or an endurance challenge (survive their effects and live to tell about it). They can even be combined with a tactical challenge (fighting a monster in a trapped room) or a diplomatic challenge (convince an NPC to help you bypass the trap).

But the 10 ft. pole approach is none of those. Depending on play, it's either an equipment challenge (Did I remember to get the pole?) or a simon says challenge (Did I remember to say I was prodding the ground in front of me?). Basically, it's the most boring way possible to get past a trap. If that's the proper solution, then then there's no real reason to have traps at all.

 

[Mark CMG]

10 ft poles tend to become 9 ft poles in our games really fast.

That's all I'll add to the discussion .

Good one.

 

[Crothian]

My pole goes up to eleven.

 

[jmucchiello]

If *I* (the real me) were forced to enter a dungeon I would be tossing concussion grenades down every corridor and into every room I had to enter. I am VERY cautious with my hide...

Ever get into an argument with the DM about whether or not you looked up? In this case you must not have since underground is a bad place to set off concussion grenades. They tend to cause cave-ins and ceiling collapses. Add it to the checklist: No concussion grenades. This also explains why sonic attacks overcome hardness.