Thursday, January 17, 2013

Pathfinder: Perceiving Without Perception(Wis)


A bit back I made a ranty post about how utterly boring I found exploring a large number of non-combat encounters in Pathfinder. Just on a lark, I thought I'd follow up by describing how I'd actually like these encounters to run.

Consider the tobacco room I used in my example.  How would I like it to go?  To start with, here's the full text from the Carrion Crown: Trial of the Beast.

g5. Smoking room

Two plush chairs sit around a small lit f ire in this cramped, tobacco-stained room. Numerous tobacco jars stand on a shelf next to a pipe rack f illed with strange pipes. A DC 30 Perception check f inds a secret door in the north wall.

Treasure: The tobacco jars are f illed with various exotic tobacco mixtures, worth 200 gp in total. Among the mundane pipes are a calabash set with six small jets (worth 75 gp), and a long churchwarden with a gold tooth-guard (worth 50 gp).

Here's how I'd key it before play.

G5 SMOKING ROOM Two plush chairs sitting around a small lit fireplace in this cramped, tobacco-stained room. --> A loose stone in the fireplace --> penalty 25% to find --> secret door in the north wall opens as the display case pivots inward.
  1. Numerous tobacco jars on a display case next to a pipe rack filled with strange pipes. --> thin, whitish scrapes make an arc on the wood floor extending from the right side of the case.
    1. tobacco jars, 17 in all, are filled with exotic tobacco mixtures --> worth 200 gp in total.
    1. a calabash pipe set with six small jets, and a long churchwarden with a gold tooth-guard --> worth 75 gp and 50 gp, respectively.

Note that I had to make a bunch of shit up about the secret door because 3rd edition treats all traps and secret doors as abstractions.

Right then. If all went well, the player's exploration of the room might go something like this:

Me: You see two plush chairs sitting around a small lit fireplace in this cramped, tobacco-stained room. There are numerous tobacco jars on a display case next to a pipe rack filled with strange pipes.

Player: I gingerly cross the room to the pipe rack and look at the pipes.

Me: There is quite a collection of pipes, made of all different kinds of materials: rosewood, dark wood  teak wood  brittle wood, softwood, stone pipes set with jet, and a long churchwarden with a gold toothguard.

Player: Gold, eh? I'll take that one.

Me: It is long but fits into your backpack.

Player: All right, I'll wander over and check the display case.

Me: Checking for what?

Player: I'm checking inside the tobacco jars. Looking at the case to see if there's anything unusual.

Me: Is your character familiar with tobacco?

Player: Uh, not really. Doesn't smoke, but had an uncle on his mom's side who was an enthusaist.

Me: Even to your untrained nose, it is apparent that the pots contain strong, exotic tobacco mixtures. There are 17 jars in all. Also, you note that thin, whitish scrapes make an arc on the wood floor extending from the right side of the case.

Player: Hm. I'm looking for a lever or device that might open a secret door here. I'm checking around everywhere.

Me: You're a thief, so I'm going to roll your find traps check even though you didn't really say where you were checking. [rolls] You find no levers or other secret devices.

Player: Okay, let me check the chairs--I'm pushing them around to see if they activate the door.

Me: The chairs are made of red leather fitted with brass. Scooting them across the floor has no effect.

Player: The fireplace--I'm checking the mantle, the hearth, everything.

Me: As you run your hand over the stones, you find one that seems to be a little loose.

Player: I--uh, I'm going to check for traps here.

Me: [Rolls dice.] You discover no traps.

Player: All right, I'm going to try to pull the stone loose.

Me: The stone swings outward a little bit. You here a loud *click* in the display case to your left.

Player: All right, going over to check the display case.  I'll check for traps and then pull the thing outward--I'm thinking it is a secret door that opens along the arc on the floor.

Me: [Rolls dice.] You discover no traps. Pulling on the case reveals a secret door that opens as the display case swings inward.

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