[RPG] Searching for traps

dnd-5etraps

I've never played D&D before, but my friends want to try it and I've been appointed DM. A lot I have figured out, but what I don't know how to deal with are situations similar to this: The party is escorting a wagon. The party's rogue says they want to scout ahead. The path ahead has a trap on it.

If the trap's DC is higher than the rogue's passive perception, what do I do? They didn't specifically say they were looking for traps, but they said they went ahead scouting. Do I reveal the trap?

Also, how would I even use traps if a player just checks every single thing for traps every time? I'm assuming there is a way I can use always checking for traps as a drawback, but I'm unsure as to what that is.

Thanks for your help!

Best Answer

There are a few different options, and the links in the comment contains a lot of good content.

In this case there are a few things you can do. The player who is scouting ahead, you can either ask them for a perception roll, and say that when they're scouting you'll let them know when they need to roll, or you can let the trap happen and get the player because their passive perception isn't high enough.

I would personally ask for the roll, they said they were scouting ahead, and even though they didn't say they were looking for traps, it's part of what they likely meant.

The reason that I'd ask is this allows you to be the one who calls for trap rolls. You want to do that so that they don't end up with trap phobia. If they randomly stumble across this trap and even if it just gets the scout who is up front, they are going to be worried about traps all of the time. Even if they fail the roll and the trap ends up getting the scout, you've now set that you'll call for these rolls.

That does mean, when there are traps in the future, you'll need to call for rolls from whomever is scouting. With a high roll, they'll find a trap, and if they don't, the trap gets sprung.

You then limit who and when they can roll for traps which are often pretty problematic, again see the comment by @Rubiksmoose about curing trap phobia.