Question about Trap Sense

[Der Rote Baron]

Trap Sense gives a character a bonus to Reflex Saving Throws to avoid traps and to Dodge Defense, e.g. those nasty arrow traps.

Okay, Reflex Save is easy to understand, but a +1 or even a +6 to Dage doesn't do a thief any good when attackt by the standard +10 to attack arrow trap and he is standing there flat-footed with Dodge 10 as a base.

Or does it mena that you have your usual Dodge Defense PLUS the bonus? I am asking because a thief can't have Uncanny Dodge and the Barbarian gets Trap Sense +1 on 3rd Level and Uncanny Dodge on Level 4. So it seems that Trap Sense is something like the "non-combat only-against-traps uncanny dodge".

Am I right or do I just have to house-rule it that way?

 

[Clovenhoof]

That's a very good point there. I never thought about it.

If you ask me, it's one of those oversights where a rule was carried over from D20 SRD without proofreading for its value in Conan. Per SRD, Rogues also get Trap Sense _and_ Uncanny Dodge, so of course they enjoy the full benefit of the feature.

In Conan, there is technically no special rule so indeed, Thieves would have just their base 10 plus Trap Sense, which of course is pointless. The authors obviously never noticed because they just proofed it for the Barbarian. Anpther point for the case that the Barbarian is the only truly complete and functional class in Conan D20. :/

My advice would be to house-rule that Thieves get their full Dodge Defense plus Trap Sense against such traps.

 

[Clovenhoof]

The Thief in Conan is not supposed to be a fighting class. They are glass-jawed and are meant to avoid prolonged melee combat. The general idea is that they should get the drop on a target and kill them with one blow - i.e. sneak attack vs flat-footed - and then get out of the way.

A good compromise might be to give them Uncanny Dodge, but not Improved UD. That way they get their bonus against traps and aren't easily surprised, but getting flanked remains just as deadly.