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Traps, Agency, and Telegraphing Dangers
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<blockquote data-quote="Shiroiken" data-source="post: 9094309" data-attributes="member: 6775477"><p>Player agency doesn't extend to the possibility of bad things happening (otherwise characters couldn't get hurt by anything). Depending on the edition, you can search regularly for traps anywhere you expect there might be one. In a skill based edition you don't even necessarily have to describe the action all the time (taking the 10/passive checks take care of that). The problem with this is not traps themselves, but with DMs obsessed with "gotcha." Traps are meant to have a chance of being found and avoided; taking the chance away is the violation of player agency.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Traps aren't a waste of time from a worldbuilding perspective, even if they are found and avoided. Not only can the occasional trap trigger, searching for traps takes time for invaders, giving you time to prepare a defense. The pragmatic issue is that traps either need an easy way to be disabled or avoided, otherwise they're more a challenge for the occupants than invaders. Traps in dungeons work pretty well, because there can be multiple paths around them, and PCs should be on the alert for them in such a location anyway.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shiroiken, post: 9094309, member: 6775477"] Player agency doesn't extend to the possibility of bad things happening (otherwise characters couldn't get hurt by anything). Depending on the edition, you can search regularly for traps anywhere you expect there might be one. In a skill based edition you don't even necessarily have to describe the action all the time (taking the 10/passive checks take care of that). The problem with this is not traps themselves, but with DMs obsessed with "gotcha." Traps are meant to have a chance of being found and avoided; taking the chance away is the violation of player agency. Traps aren't a waste of time from a worldbuilding perspective, even if they are found and avoided. Not only can the occasional trap trigger, searching for traps takes time for invaders, giving you time to prepare a defense. The pragmatic issue is that traps either need an easy way to be disabled or avoided, otherwise they're more a challenge for the occupants than invaders. Traps in dungeons work pretty well, because there can be multiple paths around them, and PCs should be on the alert for them in such a location anyway. [/QUOTE]
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Traps, Agency, and Telegraphing Dangers
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