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Traps, Agency, and Telegraphing Dangers
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<blockquote data-quote="Xetheral" data-source="post: 9094113" data-attributes="member: 6802765"><p>Whether any given set of players likes the idea of traps that aren't telegraphed in advance is a style question, so I don't think there can be universally applicable arguments for or against telegraphed traps.</p><p></p><p>That being said, there <em>are</em> ways to incorporate traps into the world where the trap both makes sense as presented <em>and</em> either makes sense to be telegraphed in advance, or else its presence telegraphs the danger of other nearby traps. Here are some possibilities:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap is old. Due to the passage of time and the decay of the structure around the trap, it's much easier to spot than it would have been when it was built. (Note that having one or more easily detectable old traps in a decayed part of a structure counts as telegraphing the potential trap danger in less-decayed parts of the same structure.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A trap has already been triggered, and the occupants of the structure (if any) haven't had a chance to reset it yet. As above, this telegraphs the potential danger of other, as-yet untriggeted traps nearby.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap wasn't designed to stop the PCs. This has many variations, from amateurish traps that the PCs are simply too skilled to miss, to traps designed for creatures of a wildly different physiology. These can still be an obstacle for the PCs, without being the unavoidable death trap that they might be for the intended targets.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap was never intended to be hidden. Instead it was meant as a deterrent and an obstacle.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap requires manual activation by an enemy. Reliable triggers that can discriminate between friend and foe are extremely hard to design and build, so it makes sense that many primitive traps would be manual in nature. Since the sentinel needs some way to observe the location of the trap, it makes sense that the sentinel might be noticable by the PCs, even if the trap mechanism itself is undetectable.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap isn't typically armed. This makes sense for traps in occupied structures, where leaving a trap set could pose too much risks for the occupants. Finding an unset trap telegraphs to the PCs that if their presence is detected, the occupants might arm other traps.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap requires inhabitants of the structure to take visible precautions to avoid. Traps that are always armed in an occupied structure require <em>some</em> way for the inhabitants to avoid triggering them. If the PCs observe such precautions, that can reasonably telegraph the danger.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The trap is a multistage trap, and the first stages can't be concealed. Anything that does progressive damage is a good example of this, such as a magical trap that simply does ongoing damage to everyone in an area. This kind of trap telegraphs <em>itself</em>, giving the party time to figure out how to respond, while still being an obstacle. (Another example of a multistage trap would be one that starts with <em>Dispel Magic</em> to strip protections, telegraphing an imminent follow-up attack to take advantage of the unprotected targets. That may give the PCs time to retreat out of range, but the trap is still an obstacle.) These sorts of traps make sense in the world if they're intended to deny or delay access to an area.</li> </ul><p>Note that traps that the PCs successfully avoid don't have to be wasted table time. In addition to telegraphing the possible presence of other nearby traps, they can continue to be a danger if they're not disarmed (for example, making rapid retreat much more dangerous), or they can potentially be repurposed by the PCs against other foes, making them an active component of later encounters. And if disarming a trap requires more interaction than a simple skill check (e.g., the party has to figure out how the thing works first, then decide between various ways of sabotaging it and any potential consequences those might have, and <em>then</em> roll to find out if they're skillful enough to effect the desired sabotage) then interacting with the trap can be an entire non-combat encounter on its own. Particularly formidable traps might be the subject of an entire adventure, if bypassing it requires resources the party doesn't yet have.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Xetheral, post: 9094113, member: 6802765"] Whether any given set of players likes the idea of traps that aren't telegraphed in advance is a style question, so I don't think there can be universally applicable arguments for or against telegraphed traps. That being said, there [I]are[/I] ways to incorporate traps into the world where the trap both makes sense as presented [I]and[/I] either makes sense to be telegraphed in advance, or else its presence telegraphs the danger of other nearby traps. Here are some possibilities: [LIST] [*]The trap is old. Due to the passage of time and the decay of the structure around the trap, it's much easier to spot than it would have been when it was built. (Note that having one or more easily detectable old traps in a decayed part of a structure counts as telegraphing the potential trap danger in less-decayed parts of the same structure.) [*]A trap has already been triggered, and the occupants of the structure (if any) haven't had a chance to reset it yet. As above, this telegraphs the potential danger of other, as-yet untriggeted traps nearby. [*]The trap wasn't designed to stop the PCs. This has many variations, from amateurish traps that the PCs are simply too skilled to miss, to traps designed for creatures of a wildly different physiology. These can still be an obstacle for the PCs, without being the unavoidable death trap that they might be for the intended targets. [*]The trap was never intended to be hidden. Instead it was meant as a deterrent and an obstacle. [*]The trap requires manual activation by an enemy. Reliable triggers that can discriminate between friend and foe are extremely hard to design and build, so it makes sense that many primitive traps would be manual in nature. Since the sentinel needs some way to observe the location of the trap, it makes sense that the sentinel might be noticable by the PCs, even if the trap mechanism itself is undetectable. [*]The trap isn't typically armed. This makes sense for traps in occupied structures, where leaving a trap set could pose too much risks for the occupants. Finding an unset trap telegraphs to the PCs that if their presence is detected, the occupants might arm other traps. [*]The trap requires inhabitants of the structure to take visible precautions to avoid. Traps that are always armed in an occupied structure require [I]some[/I] way for the inhabitants to avoid triggering them. If the PCs observe such precautions, that can reasonably telegraph the danger. [*]The trap is a multistage trap, and the first stages can't be concealed. Anything that does progressive damage is a good example of this, such as a magical trap that simply does ongoing damage to everyone in an area. This kind of trap telegraphs [I]itself[/I], giving the party time to figure out how to respond, while still being an obstacle. (Another example of a multistage trap would be one that starts with [I]Dispel Magic[/I] to strip protections, telegraphing an imminent follow-up attack to take advantage of the unprotected targets. That may give the PCs time to retreat out of range, but the trap is still an obstacle.) These sorts of traps make sense in the world if they're intended to deny or delay access to an area. [/LIST] Note that traps that the PCs successfully avoid don't have to be wasted table time. In addition to telegraphing the possible presence of other nearby traps, they can continue to be a danger if they're not disarmed (for example, making rapid retreat much more dangerous), or they can potentially be repurposed by the PCs against other foes, making them an active component of later encounters. And if disarming a trap requires more interaction than a simple skill check (e.g., the party has to figure out how the thing works first, then decide between various ways of sabotaging it and any potential consequences those might have, and [I]then[/I] roll to find out if they're skillful enough to effect the desired sabotage) then interacting with the trap can be an entire non-combat encounter on its own. Particularly formidable traps might be the subject of an entire adventure, if bypassing it requires resources the party doesn't yet have. [/QUOTE]
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