Baldur's Gate III (2)

[Keltest]

Except it's not, because it's a skill check you can pass. It just doesn't tell you what the check is going to be until you've passed another check to get to it.

It's presented as a realistic option you might choose for a high Intelligence character, because that's how all the other skill checks in the dialogue system have been presented, a thing you can do because you built your character a certain way, but what it actually requires is multiple attributes to be high (Int and Wis). You can't find that out until after you passed the Intelligence check, by which point it's too late.

It's a design trap because it's a badly implemented option with a badly designed consequence for failure (your entire party stands and watches with nothing to indicate they are affected).

Its not a trap because it hangs a freaking sign on it in glowing neon lights that say "Bad idea ahead!" I mean, maybe its a trap in the sense that some people just have to push the button labeled "self destruct: do not touch", but thats not the game's fault.

If you go ahead with it anyway, thats on you. Some people like making bad decisions in games to see what happens. You dont have to pick it if you are averse to unnecessary risk.

Also, there is no rule anywhere, at all, that says that passing a skill check can only ever result in a good outcome. If the thing youre trying to do is transparently dumb then being stopped by your own incompetence before you get to the actually dangerous part is a perfectly plausible and acceptable thing to have happen.