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LibraryOgre
2010-04-02, 11:05 AM
So, rogue trapfinding has always bothered me... or, specifically, the inability at everyone else to do it. My ranger character has a +20 search check... but I'm incapable of finding something with a DC of 21, because I don't have a level of rogue.

Would it be unreasonable to treat this similar to a ranger's Track ability... turn Trapfinding into a feat, perhaps, with a rogue getting a bonus based on level?

Yora
2010-04-02, 11:09 AM
I think making Trapfinding a feat that is free for Rogues at 1st level won't be a balance issue at all.
Only question is if you want every character with a good Search modifier to be able to detect even the most well hidden traps.

Draz74
2010-04-02, 11:11 AM
Would it be unreasonable

No it would not. I've seen a few games where Trapfinding was allowed as a feat, which also granted Search and Disable Device as class skills, and it was fine.

Heck, IMHO, the only reason not to do this is if you get rid of Trapfinding entirely, and let anyone who has the proper skills disable traps.

I guess the Rogue class could also feel left out and useless with this, but that just means the class needs more advantages than its silly Level 1 ability. This shouldn't happen in a game where skills, as a whole, are given enough emphasis; or if Rogues are given decent combat options (such as Penetrating Strike or other ways to deal damage to undead/constructs).

LibraryOgre
2010-04-02, 11:11 AM
I think making Trapfinding a feat that is free for Rogues at 1st level won't be a balance issue at all.
Only question is if you want every character with a good Search modifier to be able to detect even the most well hidden traps.

Here's the thing... without disable device, they can't exactly do anything about them. They know they're there, and may be able to work out ways around them ("Ok, so there's a 10' pit trap? We should be able to solve that with a rope."), but they won't actually be able to take care of the trap itself.

Zergrusheddie
2010-04-02, 11:15 AM
I think Trapfinding as added to give Rogues some extra power. They are now the only people that can find a trap. It gives the party a reason to keep the Rogue around. The problem is that in then pigeonholes a player into playing a Rogue, however someone is usually pigeonholed into playing a Cleric/Healbot and a Wizard.

Adding it as a feat doesn't seem to be too unreasonable. It does take the uniqueness out of Rogues though.

Nidogg
2010-04-02, 11:16 AM
How can you disable a 10 foot pit trap? Especially a crude "Lets drape some near-rotten wood over a dirty great hole"
Rouge-I know Ill just tamper with the space time continuum and disable gravity for a while.

Whats there DC?

Starbuck_II
2010-04-02, 11:21 AM
See I see disable device/trapdfinding as an extraordinary way of breaking traps.
They are allowed to break laws of physics since they are extraordinary so even though there is no way to disable a pit trap: a Rogue can.

QuantumSteve
2010-04-02, 11:24 AM
I like the Pathfinder fix. Trapfinding gives rogues a bonus to find and remove traps equal to half their level and lets them find magic traps. It lets rogues be better at trapfinding than everyone else and they still corner the market on magic traps without having every other class dumbfounded by a pit trap.

Eldariel
2010-04-02, 12:00 PM
Rangers HAVE an ACF that switches Track for Trapfinding; it's in Dungeonscape. Same book gives other classes some trapfinding abilities too, Barbarian in particular (though they get the ability to find 'em with Survival and smash them as opposed to disarming them; so very Barbarian). That said, the necessity of the whole "Trapfinding"-ability is really...questionable.

I realize they didn't want to obsolete Rogue's role, but the class is fairly solid; it's not gonna be obsolete if someone else, with great investment of skill points and feats, could do the same. I guess the biggest problem is that you suddenly make Wizards into übertrapfinders due to their Int SAD, but that's more of a factor of Trapfinding being Int-based than anything else.

ericgrau
2010-04-02, 12:05 PM
So, rogue trapfinding has always bothered me... or, specifically, the inability at everyone else to do it. My ranger character has a +20 search check... but I'm incapable of finding something with a DC of 21, because I don't have a level of rogue.

Would it be unreasonable to treat this similar to a ranger's Track ability... turn Trapfinding into a feat, perhaps, with a rogue getting a bonus based on level?

1/3 of traps are DC 20, no matter how high or low the CR. Have at them. If you really want trapfinding, then dip rogue. Trapfinding is a pretty signature rogue ability. This and the multiclassing xp penalties are the only thing keeping it from being a casual option for everyone and their grandma, making rogues that much less special. And no, they're too fragile to make excellent fighters; they need both sneak attack and skill advantage to hit par.

Eldariel
2010-04-02, 12:33 PM
1/3 of traps are DC 20, no matter how high or low the CR. Have at them. If you really want trapfinding, then dip rogue. Trapfinding is a pretty signature rogue ability. This and the multiclassing xp penalties are the only thing keeping it from being a casual option for everyone and their grandma, making rogues that much less special. And no, they're too fragile to make excellent fighters; they need both sneak attack and skill advantage to hit par.

Their skill advantage comes from having 8+Int skill points though, which is more than any other class in the game except for Scout, which is basically just Wilderness Rogue. So I don't see removing Trapfinding affecting that relevantly.