Players : we open the door Me : ok. How exactly are you proceeding ? Do you touch the handle ? Them fretting for a minute, doing a couple checks, and finally trying the handle Me : the door opens no problems Them : what happens ? Me : nothing special.
Dont worry, I just do it once or twice per dungeon. It helps them remember to check the trapped doors.
I feel like trap checks should be passive checks or at least called out by the DM, otherwise dungeons can turn into a slog.
If you ask for a passif that isnt improvised then you decide in advance if they can find it and by whom.
I like to ask for die rolls. Because its a die rolling game. If I want them to know something for free without the risk of them failing it I will use passives as an excuse
Yeah asking for die rolls is a good play, I just think it’s boring when you take 10 minutes to open every door because every character has to independently check it for traps lol
Do like me. Max one check with help or 2 checks for anything. If it fails, try something else. If it really takes too long, next door the trap is obvious and the challenge is to disarm it.
It’s a difficult one to rule, as suddenly being meticulous about positioning and line of sight telegraphs that the players should suddenly be focused on these things. I usually just have them roll luck or try to perceive the threat before they accidentally trigger its ability. If they fail, they get a Medusa blast
This is probably the best way to generally handle this, but the OP is certainly the funnier option!
I also like to describe random monsters’ movement as “shambling” on occasion just to watch them hurl turn undead and other holy attacks at, like, an orc with a limp.
This reminds me of a dnd game I stumbled upon a few weeks ago where it was a sort of AI roulette. The DM described the monster(s) and a designated player would input their description into their choice of art AI. They fight whatever it spits out, with the DM’s stat block adjusted to match. That burning gaze you described? Surprise, it came from a fire elemental!
Pathfinder’s Recall Knowledge checks have totally changed my relationship to creatures, in a way that’s probably going to hurt me hard in my upcoming 5E crawl.
“Hey GM, can I role Fiend Lore to see if I know anything about this hunk of ugly? I want to know if it’ll do bad things to me if I look at it, or if it will take attacks of opportunity.”
Your horrible what?
behavior
Want to really mess with your players, make a note of who looked and then occasionally ask how many long rests they have taken since they looked.
You may need to split the cardiologist visit bills with them though.
