Secret Doors have been a staple of d&d and other fantasy games since the beginning. Finding one is exciting, because there is a high probability you will find some good loot behind it.
I feel that the secret door is a bit underutilized, however. First of all, I hate the idea of a player strolling into a room and predictably saying "I search the room" and "gets a good perception check" and "oh, congratulations, you found a secret door!"...
They should be a lot more interesting than that, and are in my games. First of all at the point you roll a good perception check, that's when I'll drop a vague hint there may be one in the room. That's it. As the player it is now your job to recognize that vague hint, for instance if I was to say after the check, "you notice a bloodstain on the wall".. This may prompt you to take a closer look.. "the bloodstain is about the size of your fist"... hmm, you decide may be someone pressed their bloody hand on the wall here.. nothing happens. Darn. Oh wait! May be I need to press my bloody hand here. You cut you palm and press, and the stone panel of the wall glows, accepting its toll, and swings aside...
Isn't that better way to run secret doors? Make a mini game out of them like you would a puzzle or riddle challenge. It is much more exciting and rewarding for the players in my opinion, they feel like they earned it when they find the door. And since it took much more effort to find compared to a good perception check, feel free to stuff proportionally more treasure behind it.
Anyways, am I right or wrong here? How do you like to run secret doors in your games?
I feel like that's a great idea! It sounds like it would reward the player for finding that out, however, some people maybe arent that intuitive or dont think to apply their own blood. In those cases maybe a clue or something in the environment clues them into that, for the example provided I'd say if this hidden door is in some sort of dungeon then maybe a small statue or engraving nearby depicting a self sacrifice (like the statues of knights of Lothric on ds3 decapitating themselves). And I feel like if hidden doors occur rather commonly in a campaign then maybe they shouldn't always lead to a reward, maybe it could lead to a encounter or just a room that has environmental story telling, like the self sacrifice door leading to an alter t a god of sacrifice. In summary I do agree that a good roll doesn't just tell them theres a door, it should provide clues that lead to the door. And maybe they shouldn't even have to make the roll to knowtice something's like a statue, maybe it's in the room description and they have to figure out the clues themselves.
It really depends on the context of the adventure. Sometimes finding the secret door is a puzzle. Sometimes there’s so many in one building, they are just disguised as walls and “Ohp. You found another one because your passive perception is high enough to see the seam in the wall.” Sometimes it’s somewhere in between. The perception or investigation check will show scrapes on the floor consistent with the arc of a swinging door. Or the entire bookcase seems to have been emptied when the building was abandoned, except for one lone book that still balances perfectly upright at eye level. As they go to pull it off the shelf, it tilts on a hinge, clicking open the latch that keeps this bookcase secured over the opening to the secret room.
I think most pre-written adventures do a good job with secret doors. Many end up being only short cuts between areas. Some lead to bonus treasure, and some lead only to dead end, collapsed passages where ochre jellies lay trapped and hungry. The most important thing about secret doors is that finding them isn’t essential to continuing the adventure. Or if it IS essential, the clues about its being there have to be free boxed text. So that its inclusion is to add to the drama of what you’re getting involved in, but it’s still playable for any party makeup.
I want to have a discussion about secret doors.
Secret Doors have been a staple of d&d and other fantasy games since the beginning. Finding one is exciting, because there is a high probability you will find some good loot behind it.
I feel that the secret door is a bit underutilized, however. First of all, I hate the idea of a player strolling into a room and predictably saying "I search the room" and "gets a good perception check" and "oh, congratulations, you found a secret door!"...
They should be a lot more interesting than that, and are in my games. First of all at the point you roll a good perception check, that's when I'll drop a vague hint there may be one in the room. That's it. As the player it is now your job to recognize that vague hint, for instance if I was to say after the check, "you notice a bloodstain on the wall".. This may prompt you to take a closer look.. "the bloodstain is about the size of your fist"... hmm, you decide may be someone pressed their bloody hand on the wall here.. nothing happens. Darn. Oh wait! May be I need to press my bloody hand here. You cut you palm and press, and the stone panel of the wall glows, accepting its toll, and swings aside...
Isn't that better way to run secret doors? Make a mini game out of them like you would a puzzle or riddle challenge. It is much more exciting and rewarding for the players in my opinion, they feel like they earned it when they find the door. And since it took much more effort to find compared to a good perception check, feel free to stuff proportionally more treasure behind it.
Anyways, am I right or wrong here? How do you like to run secret doors in your games?
I feel like that's a great idea! It sounds like it would reward the player for finding that out, however, some people maybe arent that intuitive or dont think to apply their own blood. In those cases maybe a clue or something in the environment clues them into that, for the example provided I'd say if this hidden door is in some sort of dungeon then maybe a small statue or engraving nearby depicting a self sacrifice (like the statues of knights of Lothric on ds3 decapitating themselves). And I feel like if hidden doors occur rather commonly in a campaign then maybe they shouldn't always lead to a reward, maybe it could lead to a encounter or just a room that has environmental story telling, like the self sacrifice door leading to an alter t a god of sacrifice. In summary I do agree that a good roll doesn't just tell them theres a door, it should provide clues that lead to the door. And maybe they shouldn't even have to make the roll to knowtice something's like a statue, maybe it's in the room description and they have to figure out the clues themselves.
Sorry if that's a little rambly
I always roll a d6. Based on the outcome, info is given about the door.
Cedo nulli, Calcanda semel via leti.
Parvi sed magni.
It really depends on the context of the adventure. Sometimes finding the secret door is a puzzle. Sometimes there’s so many in one building, they are just disguised as walls and “Ohp. You found another one because your passive perception is high enough to see the seam in the wall.” Sometimes it’s somewhere in between. The perception or investigation check will show scrapes on the floor consistent with the arc of a swinging door. Or the entire bookcase seems to have been emptied when the building was abandoned, except for one lone book that still balances perfectly upright at eye level. As they go to pull it off the shelf, it tilts on a hinge, clicking open the latch that keeps this bookcase secured over the opening to the secret room.
I think most pre-written adventures do a good job with secret doors. Many end up being only short cuts between areas. Some lead to bonus treasure, and some lead only to dead end, collapsed passages where ochre jellies lay trapped and hungry. The most important thing about secret doors is that finding them isn’t essential to continuing the adventure. Or if it IS essential, the clues about its being there have to be free boxed text. So that its inclusion is to add to the drama of what you’re getting involved in, but it’s still playable for any party makeup.