[3.5] Trapfinding

[Necrosnoop110]

DM speaking here. Never been happy with the trapfinding rules. Either the PCs make 8,000 checks per session or they make none. If in a given session they have forgotten to think about checking for traps and they get burned by a trap then they switch over to the 8,000 checks deal. It's either all or none typically.

I was considering some sort of a passive check thing. Where behind the DM screen I keep track of the PCs passive search (10+skill) and compare it to the trap. But what I don't like about that is the second a PC gets burned by missing a trap on the passive search then they will switch back to 8,000 checks deal.

Anyone have any good houserules for this?

Thanks,
Necro   

[Nunkuruji]

I've been thinking about this fairly recently as well.

For the sake of fun and excitement, what I came up with was

1. Out of combat / exploration traps are more like puzzles, where the PC needs to use their IRL wit to solve them. Probably going to dig through some 2e traps, and other 3rd party splats. Not the 3.5e trap list. CR of damage or effect should be high for consequence of failure.

2. In combat traps, pits, tripwires, smoke releases, etc. would be a typical passive perception (or active if so inclined), and then the typical action and DC to beat. These should be designed to make the combats harder if not dealt with. i.e. obscuring poison gas device release in a fight with undead grimlocks or some such.

[RobbyPants]

I was considering some sort of a passive check thing. Where behind the DM screen I keep track of the PCs passive search (10+skill) and compare it to the trap. But what I don't like about that is the second a PC gets burned by missing a trap on the passive search then they will switch back to 8,000 checks deal.

This is similar to what I've done in the current incarnation of my house rules. I changed how Trapfinding works and created an Improved Trapfinding that rogues get at level 6:

Trapfinding
In addition to the normal abilities, a character with Trapfinding may make a Disable Device check in place of an Open Locks check.

Improved Trapfinding
A character with this ability is considered to be taking 20 on their Search check to find traps within ten feet of them so long as they move at half speed or slower.


Note: I have not actually playtested this in a game, so it's hard to say how it would really play out at the table. The reason I made it so automatic is that any smart player is going to be taking 20 every time they aren't pressed for time, and they will take 20 all the time anytime they encounter anything. Every time the DM "surprises" them, they'll just get more paranoid and take 20 more often, and it slows the game down.

Now, apart from that, traps can be interesting by being hazards on the battle mat and/or by running encounter traps like what they suggested in Dungeonscape. But as for straight-up DMG-style traps, they tend to be HP-sponge speed bumps that are defeated by taking 20 every time ever.

[Necrosnoop110]

What about turning trapfinding into a reactive-only thing. What are your thoughts on something like this (thinking out-loud here):

(1) No one can roll the d20 to find traps
(2) No one can take 10 or 20 for finding traps
(3) Those without "trapfinding" feature reactively check traps at search skill (no d20 roll); those with "trapfinding" feature check for traps at 15 + search skill; in both cases if the trapfinder slows to half-speed then they can add +5 to the "reactive" check.   

Peace,
Necro

[Amechra]

How about...

(1) Trapfinders always Take 10 to find Traps.
(2) Anyone with Trapfinding gives a +5; anyone else takes a -5 penalty instead.
(3) Moving at half speed gives a +5.

If a trap has a Search DC of 20 or less, a character may make a Search check instead of a save. If they succeed, they saw the trap before they started moving, and have the choice of trying again (or disabling the trap, taking a different route, etc). If it has a Search DC of 21 or higher, only characters with Trapfinding can take this option.

[faeryn]

My DM had an interesting solution... and it's a little bit immersion breaking but it works pretty well to resolve both issues...

any time there was a trap near by if someone in the party had trapfinding he would actively prompt them to roll search... we were to take the result of the roll(s) and act accordingly... so for example if the the parties rogue failed their search then we of course walked right into the trap and set it off... However if someone else had trapfinding as well and they succeeded on their check then depending on just how well they succeeded they would either save some or everyone from walking into the trap... If it was a case of an item or chest or door that was trapped, however, he left those for us to figure out on our own... it made traversing dungeon corridors less tedious but kept a sense of danger...

This method resulted in no unnecessary rolls while just wandering down corridors, and only had the chance of unnecessary rolls on things that any paranoid adventurer would have assumes was trapped anyways... It also lulls the players into a false sense of security, allowing you the DM to be a bit devious when it comes to trapped doors and such... let them search like 5 doors in a row that they discover are not trapped... then on the 6th door when they assume the doors are safe to just open spring the trap... they won't search every foot of the dungeon for traps anymore because they know you'll prompt them to search when they are about to walk into one... but when they do something to activate one besides walking into it they are entirely on their own.