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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 8165911" data-attributes="member: 97077">I wouldn't necessarily say they could always choose to skip the step of figuring out the trap before disabling it, but some traps are obvious enough where there is no time cost or ability check to figuring out how it works. Take a simple pit, for example. It probably doesn't take 10 minutes or a check to deduce that, if you step on that large cloth with the dirt and debris on it that you spotted, you will fall into a hole. So we can just skip that step. We can also skip the disabling of this trap as well because it's more about avoidance. So here there is perhaps 1 check in this interaction - spotting the pit's covering. Not the three checks that some folks seem to be concerned about.In general though, if the trap is somewhat complex, the character needs to know how something about how the trap works before disabling it has a chance of success. And given that failing to disable a trap can sometimes come with a high cost, the player is incentivized to want to figure out how it works before they start fiddling with it. In the doing, he or she may be able to come up with a solution that automatically succeeds in disabling the trap or setting it off in a way that doesn't harm anyone. (Or even more fun, using it against those wandering monsters they're worried about!)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 8165911, member: 97077"] I wouldn't necessarily say they could always choose to skip the step of figuring out the trap before disabling it, but some traps are obvious enough where there is no time cost or ability check to figuring out how it works. Take a simple pit, for example. It probably doesn't take 10 minutes or a check to deduce that, if you step on that large cloth with the dirt and debris on it that you spotted, you will fall into a hole. So we can just skip that step. We can also skip the disabling of this trap as well because it's more about avoidance. So here there is perhaps 1 check in this interaction - spotting the pit's covering. Not the three checks that some folks seem to be concerned about. In general though, if the trap is somewhat complex, the character needs to know how something about how the trap works before disabling it has a chance of success. And given that failing to disable a trap can sometimes come with a high cost, the player is incentivized to want to figure out how it works before they start fiddling with it. In the doing, he or she may be able to come up with a solution that automatically succeeds in disabling the trap or setting it off in a way that doesn't harm anyone. (Or even more fun, using it against those wandering monsters they're worried about!) [/QUOTE]

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