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Checking for Traps and Listening for Noise - A Solo D&D Tutorial

In a group game of D&D characters often want to search for traps or listen for noise. In solo games this is a tricky mechanic, especially if as a Dungeon Master you already have an idea of what lies ahead. This is especially problematic if you’re trying to run through a prepublished adventure module by yourself. I have my own simple way of handling such situations.

Checking for Traps and Listening for Noise - A Solo D&D Tutorial

In my last article I touched on player autonomy and how you can switch your perspective from DM to player to observer depending on the situation. So with your DM hat on you will need to determine whether a character will check for traps where there is a possibility of traps. It’s important to remember that in a group game a player would not always remember to check for traps. We can easily tie the chance of making such a check to the character's level.

To handle this situation I roll a d10. The chance of checking for traps is equal to 1 plus the character's level, plus or minus the character's intelligence bonus. A level one character without an intelligence bonus has a 2 in 10 chance of checking for traps and a level 9 character or above, will always check for traps. For example, Yolanda is a Level 2 Thief, she rolls a d10 and has a 4 in 10 chance of checking for traps (1 + Level + Intelligence Bonus). She needs a 1 to 4 on the d10, but she rolls a 5. Yolanda will not check for traps.

If Yolanda had rolled a 1, 2, 3 or 4, she would check for traps. The normal procedure in the D&D game rules would then be used to determine whether she manages to find traps.

To determine whether a character will listen for noise where there is a possibility of noise, this is much the same as checking for traps: roll a d10. The chance of listening for noise is equal to 1 plus the character's level, plus or minus the character's intelligence bonus. A level one character without an intelligence bonus has a 2 in 10 chance of hearing noise and a level 9 character or above, will always check for noise.

Just some food for thought... Let me know what you think in the comments and be sure to check back for more content. In the meantime:

See you next session...

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  1. SSAPCO8 December 2022 at 22:15

    Very solid way to handle one of thr more difficult fudgeables. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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