Hiding secret doors, but not too much

[DrKosmosis]

A classic staple of dungeons in D&D is the secret door. They're featured heavily in many classic dungeons, and as such I've been inspired to incorporate them into my homebrew dungeons after my recent purchase of Tales from the Yawning Portal.

However I have run into a bit of a problem when it comes to adding secret doors in my dungeons. How do I describe the scenery of a room without obviously pointing out the location of a secret door, while also not making it impossible for my players to find said door by not giving any hint to look for one? If I were to describe a specific spot on the wall where the bricks look out of place or something like that, surely the players will immediately know that something's there. But if I say the walls look just like any other wall, they won't even think to look for some secret door. Any advice?

[mephnick]

Doors, like traps, are much more interesting if they're easily detectable. Don't make them obvious, but make the clues they exist obvious. Like maybe finding the actual door is hard or opening it is a puzzle but don't even set a DC to notice the clues. Just tell the most perceptive players that they feel a odd flow of fresh air coming from the corner of the cavern and make them search for it. It gets players more involved than "you passed arbitrary DC, here is a door, congrats".

[Thrudd]

Don't give away anything up front. Assign a DC for the secret door. Use passive investigation checks if the players aren't actively searching around the room - if any character's passive score meets the DC, give the players the clue (without telling them that they have passed a passive investigation check) - like they feel a slight draft of air in this room, or they notice there are two colors of bricks, or one sconce is missing a candle. Then, if the player then guesses and actively describes their character finding the door, good for them. If not, they will likely be prompted to make an investigation check and you can tell them where the door is if they pass it.

[hymer]

My players usually look for clues for secret doors in the map, and so look for them towards the end of the exploration of a level. It becomes easier to see where hidden rooms or halls could be placed by then.
But like mephnick points out, sometimes it's more fun to allude to a secret place. The sound of stone grinding on stone is a classic. Enemies appearing where they shouldn't be able to is another. But in the end, if the PCs find every single secret door always, some small part of the mystery is lost. So if they miss one every now and again, this shouldn't be a problem as such.

[DivisibleByZero]

Doors, like traps, are much more interesting if they're easily detectable. Don't make them obvious, but make the clues they exist obvious. Like maybe finding the actual door is hard or opening it is a puzzle but don't even set a DC to notice the clues. Just tell the most perceptive players that they feel a odd flow of fresh air coming from the corner of the cavern and make them search for it. It gets players more involved than "you passed arbitrary DC, here is a door, congrats".

Alternately:
Secret doors, like traps, are a fairly useless waste of time if they're easily detectable. Don't make them obvious, and only give a clue that they exist if a passive investigation or perception check meets or surpasses the DC (which I generally set at -5 to the DC to immediately find it, -5 DC passed: give a clue, DC matched: found it). Just let the players miss them sometimes. I mean, they were hidden for a reason, and if everyone basically just finds them willy nilly with no effort, then they aren't very secret, are they? It's perfectly fine if PCs miss things sometimes.

[MaxWilson]

You could split the difference and give PCs a magic item like a glass bauble that turns green when a secret door is within 60'. Now you've given the players an interesting metagame (find the secret door!) without messing up the internal consistency of the world ("why would anyone bother to hide a secret door so poorly and obviously?").

I've occasionally done things like that for monsters and dungeon levels. "Your magic item says this is a Danger-7 area!" (I.e. CR 7 monsters.)

Bonus: 10 secret doors from Courtney Campbell. http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/on-thursday-trick-10-basic-secret-doors.html

[mephnick]

Alternately:
Secret doors, like traps, are a fairly useless waste of time if they're easily detectable.

Well, traps that just pop out of nowhere are pointless hp drains and bad design. Traps are better treated as an obvious problem to overcome. You can run doors and traps as DC checks but it offers no good decision points for players and no skill use outside of the primary call for a roll by the DM. They may as well not exist.

[EvilAnagram]

I personally enjoy attaching secret doors to obvious puzzles. If the party sees some statues and an obvious riddle, it peaks their interest. The gamers in them want to solve the puzzle, and the reward of a secret door is exciting. I usually play the LoZ music from Windwaker when they do it.

[DivisibleByZero]

Well, traps that just pop out of nowhere are pointless hp drains and bad design. Traps are better treated as an obvious problem to overcome. You can run doors and traps as DC checks but it offers no good decision points for players and no skill use outside of the primary call for a roll by the DM. They may as well not exist.

No.
The way that you do it, with the secret door that isn't secret at all. It's just a door that you give slightly more description to.
That's the one that may add well not exist. Because it's just another door.
If you do the same thing for traps, then you're right, they may as well not exist now either.

[Hrugner]

It depends on the room and the door. Mostly, you do this the same way you lie, by mixing in enough extra stuff that the deception isn't obvious.

"The floor in these hallways seems well worn from much use leading up to the door, but there doesn't appear to be anything of interest in this small room."
"You notice a deadbolt inside the closet."
"You've recovered the guard's keys and have found locks for every key but one large door key."
"This room is colder than it should be for an interior room, if it wasn't for the fresh air you'd swear it was haunted."
"The lamp on his bedside table has a larger reservoir than the others in the house, enough to spend half a day uninterrupted in the dark. The sword hanging over the fire pit appears to have seen recent use as well."



You know, give them a reason to take interest in the owner of the room, or users of the room.