Corridors, treasure and traps

[knightkrawler]

NA rules say "Treasure is found only in rooms, not in corridors," which I always interpreted as, Heroes can't search for treasure in hallways.

Hah! The rules and the game are once again contradicting themselves. As a case-in-point, I must direct your attention to Quest 4 from Kellar's Keep, "The Great Forge". The treasure chest in the tiny corridor at point F contains 300 gold coins, but if the Heroes can't search this area for Treasure, what's the point? (The game does refer to that spot as a "special room", but it seems unlikely that the Heroes would think that themselves). Not to mention, the inside of a Pit Trap is treated as its own separate room for the purposes of searching (see the top of page 19...).

I have to disagree. Well, no, you're right. But those three squares in that quest are not corridor, but a room. Look at the color choice.

[lucasdp]

@sajungzak - I really like your succinctly worded explanation/interpretation/clarification. I'm copy/pasting some of your verbiage into my House Rules doc.

[sajungzak]

Thanks. I'm particularly fond of the run-on there at the end. It's thematic.
Here it is again so you don't have to go to the previous page.
Cheers

I'm a stickler for rules "as written" ( usually ). Here is my interpretation:

No searching when a monster is present, and
No treasure searches in corridors.

The action of searching involves an assumed movement. If a hero searches for treasure or secret doors before all traps are disarmed, they jump to the square with the trap and suffer the damage.

If a hero searches for traps in a corridor, they can "see" a trap a ways away ( "assumed movement" within "line of sight" of the hero's position ) but it is still active until a hero walks up to it and disarms it ( US rules ). Perhaps searching for traps and searching for secret doors could be combined into a single action called "scouting". The danger of searching for secret doors before disarming any traps would be negated, but this might be worth it for the sake of time.
*Edit42 This would be a good ability for the elf.

Treasure associated with furniture is found when the room is searched. I thought of making treasure chests an exception, but then I would have to consider balancing it with traps on chests requiring the searching hero to be next to it for it to be found and I think this is taking too long. Nope, I'll stick with the first sentence of this paragraph. Keep it simple stupid.

[lucasdp]

Thanks. I'm particularly fond of the run-on there at the end. It's thematic.

Hahaha! I was mostly referring to your explanation of the "assumed movement" of searching. That had always bugged me and I have had difficulty putting it into words myself. I believe your phrasing will make it much clearer for my players.

[whitebeard]

Thanks. I'm particularly fond of the run-on there at the end. It's thematic.

Hahaha! I was mostly referring to your explanation of the "assumed movement" of searching. That had always bugged me and I have had difficulty putting it into words myself. I believe your phrasing will make it much clearer for my players.

We run the searching in the rooms in the usual way, but when it comes to searching for traps and secret doors in the hallways, the assumption that you run ahead and scout it out breaks down. What about the monster waiting around the corner? He really should have clobbered you. What if there are two traps in a row? or with a free space or two in between. How exactly did you find the second trap?

My players always search for traps when there are no monsters around. This practical limit on the search capability makes the random trap in the hallway more interesting.

[Redav]

I'm a stickler for rules "as written" ( usually ). Here is my interpretation:

No searching when a monster is present, and
No treasure searches in corridors.

Same here. I get annoyed with the idea that you can be at one corner of the board, search the longest corridor and see the trap at the other end of the board yet you don't get ambushed by the horde of gargoyles in the corridor in between, hence this thread. I'm happy to search from corridor to corridor though and my house rules are searching while you're moving.

The action of searching involves an assumed movement. If a hero searches for treasure or secret doors before all traps are disarmed, they jump to the square with the trap and suffer the damage.

I like this

[sajungzak]

Thanks. I'm particularly fond of the run-on there at the end. It's thematic.

Hahaha! I was mostly referring to your explanation of the "assumed movement" of searching. That had always bugged me and I have had difficulty putting it into words myself. I believe your phrasing will make it much clearer for my players.

We run the searching in the rooms in the usual way, but when it comes to searching for traps and secret doors in the hallways, the assumption that you run ahead and scout it out breaks down. What about the monster waiting around the corner? He really should have clobbered you. What if there are two traps in a row? or with a free space or two in between. How exactly did you find the second trap?

My players always search for traps when there are no monsters around. This practical limit on the search capability makes the random trap in the hallway more interesting.

Yes! This is why I love the Inn. That's perfect. Thank you! Oh whitebeard the wise, I would like to add this to my list:

In corridors, only the closest trap or secret door in any direction can be discovered at a time. If there is a monster just around the corner from "line of sight" of the hero's position, then the monster is placed on the board and can then move on Zargon's next turn.

edited*
No searching when a monster is present, and
No treasure searches in corridors.

The premise for my interpretation is that the action of searching involves an "assumed movement" within "line of sight" of the hero's position.

If a hero searches for treasure or secret doors before all traps are disarmed, they jump to the square with the trap and suffer the damage.

In corridors, only the closest trap or secret door in any direction can be discovered at a time.

If there is a monster just around the corner from "line of sight" of the hero's position in a corridor, then the monster is placed on the board and can then move on Zargon's next turn.

If a hero searches for traps in a room or a corridor, they can "see" a trap a ways away ( "assumed movement" within "line of sight" of the hero's position ) but it is still active until a hero walks up to it and disarms it ( US rules ). Perhaps searching for traps and searching for secret doors could be combined into a single action called "scouting". The danger of searching for secret doors before disarming any traps would be negated, but this might be worth it for the sake of time.
*Edit42 This would be a good ability for the elf.

Treasure associated with furniture is found when the room is searched. I thought of making treasure chests an exception, but then I would have to consider balancing it with traps on chests requiring the searching hero to be next to it for it to be found and I think this is taking too long. Nope, I'll stick with the first sentence of this paragraph. Keep it simple stupid.

[sajungzak]

Same here. I get annoyed with the idea that you can be at one corner of the board, search the longest corridor and see the trap at the other end of the board yet you don't get ambushed by the horde of gargoyles in the corridor in between, hence this thread. I'm happy to search from corridor to corridor though and my house rules are searching while you're moving.

So, do your heroes go, "I'm gonna search for traps", roll the dice, and search the squares they get? ( Or one or two ahead ) That's almost mean... but it would be a good mechanic for darkness!

[cornixt]

Anything that involves making the players move a couple of squares, searching, then moving a couple more squares, for the whole game is just tedious. Players will either not bother at all or make it the most boring game.

I limit corridor searches to the point where a corridor opens up. You have to have a balance between realism and playable game rules.

[Goblin-King]

Anything that involves making the players move a couple of squares, searching, then moving a couple more squares, for the whole game is just tedious. Players will either not bother at all or make it the most boring game.

I limit corridor searches to the point where a corridor opens up. You have to have a balance between realism and playable game rules.

So much this. The only reason ever for changing the search system is because of the long corridors around the edge of the board.
It's a good compromise to cut those corridors at the T-sections.

I think it's a mistake to demand realism on certain things like this.
If the whole game had to be realistic you would also sometimes just notice secrets without particularly searching for them.