[CONAN] Traps and Search

[Supplement Four]

Here's another "How do you run it in your game" question....




Consider a trapped chest. There's a mechanical trap on it that fires darts if/when the lid is opened without deactivating the trap with the key. There are small holes (the barrels for the darts) that can be detected in the lid of the chest, along the side edge, on a DC 14 Search check.

Do you automatically give this check to the PC that approaches the chest and starts to mess with it? Maybe by giving them a Take 10 Search check?

Or, do you insist that the player must ask for the Search check in order to find the trap?

 

[Pascalahad]

If they don't think to search for traps, I make a roll behind the screen anyway, with a higher difficulty. If they say they look for traps, I tell them about the holes, which doesn't indicate them how to disarm the trap, they have to make a roll for that, or finding a circumvoluted way of letting the trap goes on without being hurt. That can take quite a while!

 

[Cheomesh]

I roll secretly at a higher DC. At work the other day I walked right into something I was looking right at. Didn't auto dodge that.

M.