Concealed Doors vs. Secret Doors?
Odd Carnivals
I'm new to D&D with the 3rd edition, and I'm wondering what the
difference is between "concealed doors" and "secret doors." The PHB
mentions both (in the profile of elves and in the Search skill
description), but I can't find anything in the PHB or DMG that
explains the difference between them.
From reading old threads on this newsgroup, it seems that concealed
doors were easier to find than secret doors (in 2E). Is that the main
difference? What 3E Search DC would you assign concealed doors vs.
secret doors?
Thanks,
odd_ca...@yahoo.com
Bill_Leary
news:b1c1e0c4.01080...@posting.google.com...
> I'm new to D&D with the 3rd edition, and I'm wondering what the
> difference is between "concealed doors" and "secret doors."
If you hang a tapestry in front of a door, it's concealed.
If you toss a rug over a trap door, it's concealed.
If you build a door so that it looks like part of the wall (no visible
cracks, hinges, handles, etc.), it's secret.
If you make the trap door look like just all the other 2' X 2' paving stones
in the room, it's secret.
- Bill
dave brohman & shoshana bir
Concealed doors are just normal doors that are covered in some way
(a tapestry in front of it, etc.) whereas a suecret door has been
integrated into the environment in such a way as to be virtually
undetectable (a bookscase that swings out, the section of wall that
opens up when a specil torch bracket is turned, etc.)
--
Budding RPG author: Relics & Rituals, Creature Collection II,
Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen
Check these out at: http://www.swordsorcery.com/
Fitz
wrote:
The criteria I use is this, more or less:
A concealed door looks door-like, while a secret door doesn't. A
concealed door will always be found by a careful, methodical search of
the appropriate area, while a secret door might well not.
If, when the door is pointed out, your average person would say "Oh
yeah, that's a door, of course, I wonder why I didn't notice it
before" then it's a concealed door. Once found, you're unlikely to
lose it again.
If, when the door is pointed out, the average person would say "Door?
What door? Are you sure?" then it's a secret door. Even when you know
exactly where it is, you may not be able to see it at all.
In short, a secret door is a portal which has been made to look like
something else entirely, while a concealed door relies on something
else (like a tapestry, or a shadow, or something) to remain unnoticed.
In both cases, the DC to find the door would depend on the situation.
A very old, worn secret door might be easily found because of the
scrapes on the floor and the peeling paint around its edges, while a
well-placed concealed door, hidden by cunningly arranged shadows and a
subtle shift in the angle of the wall, might be bloody hard to find.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fitz
http://mojobob.netnet.net.nz
http://fitz.jsr.com
http://usa.spis.co.nz/fitz
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
James J. Dominguez
Fitz <pj_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>In both cases, the DC to find the door would depend on the situation.
>A very old, worn secret door might be easily found because of the
>scrapes on the floor and the peeling paint around its edges, while a
>well-placed concealed door, hidden by cunningly arranged shadows and a
>subtle shift in the angle of the wall, might be bloody hard to find.
The big difference between concealed and secret doors in my campaign
is that when a player says he will search an area that includes a concealed
door, if he says he is looking exactly where I know it is, he finds it
automatically. For example, in the adventure I am running now, the
monsters have a secret entrance into the castle cellars, with a makeshift
door concealed behind a big pile of food sacks. The butler of the castle
has been replaced by a doppelganger, and he makes sure none of the staff
accidentally uncover the door. If a player were to say "I am going to pull
the sacks away from the wall and see what's behind them" then I would tell
him he had found a concealed door - no checks, no rolls. On the other
hand, finding a secret door requires a spot check with the door's DC,
unless the players chance upon a specified unlocking mechanism, such as
placing a torch into a rigged bracket on the wall, or pulling a specific
book out of the bookcase.
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David
(DC depending on how well the door is concealed). Secret doors, on the
other hand, should be found with Spot checks.
DmD
"James J. Dominguez" <de...@ihug.com.au> wrote in message
news:Xns90F8161424B...@203.109.250.24...
HADSIL
From a players' standpoint, it's a very helpful thing for my fellow elf party
member to have (I *never* play elves). However, from a GM's standpoint, I know
I'm not wanting the elf party member to keep finding secret doors I place just
for walking by it, yet it's not fair to the player to just ignore it.
Suggestions?
Gerald Katz
It's the players' game too!
Rupert Boleyn
Blow away the elf. :)
--
Rupert Boleyn <rbo...@paradise.net.nz>
"Inside every cynic is a romantic trying to get out."