Robert Fisher

Just thinking out loud

On perception and searching

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...in progress...

Things to cover:

  • No right way
  • Spotting
  • Listening
  • Searching

a.k.a. spotting & searching

Most games these days have perception skills & rules. Lots of older games offered little of that sort of thing. I don't believe either way is right. The line between what needs rules & rolls & what doesn't is somewhat arbitrary.

When I found myself wanting to again play classic Traveller & classic D&D more than anything else, I had to recall how I ever got along without perception skills & rules & also learn how others had.

Perception & searching rules are old school. The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures, one of the three little books of the original D&D game, had rules for listening at doors & searching for secret doors.

...

Some notes about how I might convert a D&D3e adventure into what I'll call my own old school style:

From The Burning Plague by Miguel Duran (p. 3):

A successful Spot check (DC 15) reveals that the wooden supports to the tunnel are chipped and torn, as if having been damaged in recent battle. Further examination with a light source reveals that they are also stained with blood.

In old school style, either the signs of battle are obvious enough to spot or subtle enough to require a close look. (The DC 15 perhaps suggests the latter.)

In the first case, this tidbit is merely added to the initial description of the area.

In the latter case... Firstly, the mention of the wooden supports in the preceding boxed text should perhaps be a bit more prominent. Then, if the players either say they take a closer look at the supports, the tunnel, or say that they search the area; the DM would then reveal the information.

Personally, I prefer just including this information in the initial description. There's really no reason to have the PCs dig for this tidbit.

p. 4

A successful Heal check (DC 15) reveals that Tungstan had symptoms resembling those of the Plague and that he has been dead for about two weeks. The check also reveals that there are a number of crude broken crossbow bolts within the puncture wounds that Jacen apparently died from.

(...)

last updated 2 months ago #