>While I can conceive of situations where dealing with a trap is an
>extended contest (think disarming the time bomb -- yanking the red
>wire as the counter gets to 00:01 represents spending a HP), most of
>the time traps aren't worth much screen time. A simple contest should
>result.
I think we may be thinking of traps too "traditionally". Consider most of the Indiana Jones trap scenes, which are sometimes a series of traps. These are definitely extended contests, IMO. I can think of at least three that I'd run that way.
What's cool about all of these is that Indy knows that they're there. They don't just spring at him out of the blue. The contest usually starts with him noting something that warns him that some trap exists. Then it moves to figuring out what to do. Then it moves to avoiding the trap. Then it often moves to the repercussions of a bad die roll to avoid (chased by stone, hanging from pit edge as door closes, etc). Very dramatic, and very fun sounding, IMO. I admit that I've never run one this way before, but I'm itching to do so now.
Basically, what type of contest to run depends on how important the trap is as an obstacle. Just like any other conflict.
Mike
Powered by hypermail