DM Question: How can I keep my players from taking 3 days to check a room?

[Thebalrog]

The players I play with have gotten into the odd habit of "taking 10" or "taking 20" on a search check in order to fully search a room.

Unfortuanatly this makes for questionable role play if the room is of a very large size, as I can't see people searching a room for 3 days straight and thats litterally what they do EVERY time now.

I mean outside of them being in a someones house and there being a time limit on them getting out, there really is nothing in a normal dungeon that I'm aware of that would keep them from searching for such long periods of time.

I wouldn't mind it so much but such things kind of negate alot the skills used by the Rogue.

Can anyone come up with some valid deterants that would make them be more realistic about their searching. I'd rather not have them get jumped by Orcs everytime because it would kind of ruin the suspension of disbelief. They'd know everytime I wanted them to move on I'd hit them with an orc encounter.

So, any ideas?

 

[kreynolds]

Here's an idea. Just remind them that the only people capable of finding traps with a Search check are Rogues and Bards (I think that's right). When the fighters and such realize they can't do a damn thing, they might get the urge to move on a bit quicker since they can't help out.

 

[Macbrea]

Ah, you have a huge 100 foot by 100 ft room and they want to search it taking 20 per square.


Lets really take a look at this.

20 x 20 = 400 squares

400 squares x 2 minutes = 800 minutes

800 minutes / 60 = 13 hours 20 minutes to search taking 20

Ah. so, my faithful dust inspecting rogue has now been searching every square of the room for 13 hours 20 minutes.

Lets see how to abuse this fine fellow after a few hours.

House rule: (or basic use of the endurance feat)

As a gamemaster you could say that searching is mentally exhaustive after 1 hours time. Requiring a Con check DC 10 +1 cumlative per hour. Or take 1d6 subdual. This would follow the general rules for force marching and any other action done over a period of time.


My guess is they could searchg for the whole period, but its going to cost them resources and a wasted day. Any searching over 8 hours should also result in the "Force march" rules as the individual is still moving.....albiet very slowly.

 

[Leopold]

it takes 10min to search a 10ft area. You have a 40ft by 40ft room it would take quite a long time. Ask the fighters who are sitting there what they are doing. when they have to wait for 2 hrs while the rogue goes over every lil bit start rolling random encounters...it will teach them that the more they sit and wait the more the baddies come to them..quick strikes yield better results in the inital barrage..

 

[Sinjin the Rogue]

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Make sure that you are keeping track of their food supply. Normally, adventurers will only carry enough food for 5 to 10 days. Once they run out, they need to feel the effects. (Yes, some of the more difficult players will claim they are carrying 50 days worth of rations in the Heward's Handy Haversacks, but even rations can spoil)

2. Use wandering monsters to force them to leave.

3. Use magical traps that have a time delayed effect. Start counting allowed from ten down to one. After they have suffered the effects of a few magical traps, they will realize that when you start counting, it's time to move on.

4. describe to them the effects of the earth beginning to tremble, and dust and dirt falling frm the cealing. Let them realize that a cave-in is imminent so that they move on.

And if all else fails:

5. Grab your materials, get up from the table and let them know that while they search, you are going to take a break, smoke a cigarette, eat a snack or play nintendo.

 

[StealthyMark]

Thorough searching (Taking 20) of a 20' x 30' room (10' high) takes 80 minutes for the walls, 48 minutes for the floor and 48 minutes for the ceiling. A quick search (Taking 10) of the same room takes
4 minutes for the walls, 2:24 minutes for the floor and 2:24 minutes for the ceiling. If more than one character takes part in the search, divide above times by the number of searchers.

Most often, you simply don't have the time to search one room for three days. Your enemies may have a schedule, and you could miss an important opportunity to attack. Enemies could regroup, bringing new troops and other resources.

You (as DM) could play the search out (Where? How?). After the second (realtime) hour of searching, your players will become very bored and move on to real adventures.

Low level adventurers: You need plenty of torches and oil, to light the area you are searching. You also need loads of food.

Medium level adventurers: You may have permanent light sources. You may be able to feed yourself (Create Food and Drink).

High level adventurers: Powerful divination magic helps you finding all you're looking for. You often don't have to search.

 

[smetzger]

The players I play with have gotten into the odd habit of "taking 10" or "taking 20" on a search check in order to fully search a room.

First off 'taking 10' takes just as much time as a roll, 6 seconds.

On taking 20:
1) Keep careful tabs on Water and food.
2) Take a look at the fatigue rules.
3) Most dungeons have an ecology where the monsters move about a bit. They gotta find something to eat, go potty, or they want to visit their neighbor.

 

[Magic Rub]

I'm rather fond of Macbrea's take on this. After long periods of time on the same task, and a boring one at that, "dust inspecting". Your PC's will not only be exhausted, but they will also start making stupid mistakes. You start to over look things after a while, completely unintentionally, but over looked none the less. Talk to any professional who deals with proofing text/data/things & they'll confirm this.

 

[Uller]

I mean outside of them being in a someones house and there being a time limit on them getting out, there really is nothing in a normal dungeon that I'm aware of that would keep them from searching for such long periods of time.

Most "dungeons" should have mechanisms that prevent long searches...the most common is the fact that such complexes should be active places.

For example: Lets say a tribe of blind kobald Src20s have a lair....wait...nix that...

Try this instead: A group of 30+ ghouls have taken up residence in the catacombs below the local grave yard(why people bury their dead in a world where they come back to kill them I'll never fathom...but I digress...) and have begun making raids on the town. The walking dead often ransack the abodes of their victims as if they are searching for something.

Our heroes have been tasked with clearing out the evil creatures and discovering their source(and what they're up to). In the first room, they encounter 3 or 4 of the wicked things and after a short (and noisy) battle, the ghouls are destroyed. The room has all sorts of clues...a ramshackle alter to some dark god, maybe some hints about instructions to capture specific citizens and "convert" them...etc.

The party will naturally want to search it. Let them. But if they take more than a minute or so, have more ghouls attack, in greater numbers. As long as the party stays in one place, the waves of undead should become greater and more organized. It should be very clear that to stay in one place for more than a few minutes will be certain doom.

Also, you need to make your adventures seem like as time passes, the enemy will get stronger or commit more and more heinous acts. In the example above, perhaps the PCs learn that the ghouls are lead by some greater ghast creature that has plans to destroy the town and raise an undead army and only needs a couple days before his dark designs come to fruition. If the players spend hours and hours searching every room, they will fail in their mission and the town will be destroyed(and likely they will be killed with it).

One thing I do: I don't give XP for battles with "wandering" monsters that could have been avoided by simply moving a bit quicker(unless delay was necessary and the wandering monsters were obstacles to that goal). Such fights make the lives tougher for the PCs without any clear reward.

In otherwords, give them some real incentive to move on at a reasonable pace. Also, point out to them that if it is treasure they are seeking, they could always come back and search at their leisure once the monsters are defeated and the dungeon is cleared out...at least sometimes that is a possibility.

 

[DizzyKungFu]

You could make a plot device that puts a time limit on their activites (although this obviously has to be set up ahead of time, when you hook the characters into the adventure or dungeon or whatever). Such as, the PCs must recover item X from dungeon Y for noble Z before a certain event, or noble Z is in big trouble... etc.