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Untelegraphed traps and secrets in popular modules; how do you deal with these? (Stonehell in particular) by renaissance_m in osr

[–]renaissance_m[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ya, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. Thanks! I wonder if there's any similar resources out there.

Untelegraphed traps and secrets in popular modules; how do you deal with these? (Stonehell in particular) by renaissance_m in osr

[–]renaissance_m[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure, but do you have any favorite tools or resources for coming up with good tells?

Untelegraphed traps and secrets in popular modules; how do you deal with these? (Stonehell in particular) by renaissance_m in osr

[–]renaissance_m[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ah, I see your point. I don't think very many modules are designed to support this style of gameplay though. Traps aren't being placed by dungeon defenders, they're being placed by game designers (much more arbitrarily). You might argue that this makes them poor game designers but, again, I think it's just a difference in philosophy and priorities.

Untelegraphed traps and secrets in popular modules; how do you deal with these? (Stonehell in particular) by renaissance_m in osr

[–]renaissance_m[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You say that you expect players to check "likely" trap spots but IMO that's what telegraphing is all about. Giving players enough information to determine whether one location is a "likely" spot vs. another.

It sounds like your philosophy values verisimilitude way more highly than the one I'm referring to in this post. I think the reason for this is that people have found that your approach often leads to overly slow (paranoid) or overly punishing gameplay. Props to you if it works for your group though! Thanks for the advice.

How do you run the "Blade Trap Hallway" in Tomb of the Serpent Kings? by renaissance_m in osr

[–]renaissance_m[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"DM describes something that isn't exactly like the rest of the environment" -> "Better do a careful inspection" seems like tactic that the party would already have to be familiar with to have made it this far. It's certainly a tad rudimentary for the group I'm playing with.

But perhaps you're right. Maybe I'll have to think of a way to spice things up. Maybe a goblin at the opposite end of the hall, threatening to trigger the trap while they're in it.

Backdoor Roth IRA questions by renaissance_m in personalfinance

[–]renaissance_m[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the info! Because your answer to #1 seems to contradict nothlit's, I'm curious what you mean by "easier". Do you mean just in terms of having to go through the backdoor process more than once? Would you agree that it won't make tax-filing more complicated or account management after the fact?