Search for Traps

Guest Colorist: Diana Smith

I never quite grasped the benefit of searching for traps in Dungeons and Dragons. Not so much for the players; aside from the tediousness of manually inspecting every square inch of room, life for an intrepid player party was happier trapless. No, what I did not understand was why the game included it. Traps aren’t meant to be found, they’re meant to be sprung. And thieves inevitably turn into obsessive-compulsive building inspectors, or immigrant maids of dubious legal status meticulously scrubbing every spare inch of wall and floor while trying not to get caught. It’s why I always preferred Mayfair’s Chill games. You always knew when traps were present, because they had sprung and you were dead.