secret doors

[ken]

rode your first bike in 1956 - HA, you're old. hehehe

As far as the movie goes - I don't even recall hearing any commercials about that one. How
did you find out about it?

Well, its a British film, so its quite possible you wont have heard about it in US. Its actually a remake of a film with Alec Guinness as the original George Smylie, Master Spy, so that dates it. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence Service. In keeping with le Carré's work, the narrative begins in medias res with the repatriation of a captured British spy. The background is supplied during the book through a series of flashbacks. The sun is well over the Yardarm, so,

[Daedalus]

Happy belatated Birthday, Ken. Perspicacious...had to look that one up. Been schooled by the old man.

I'm on torilen's side of the secret door rule. I prefer a little more realism in this area, so searches are house-ruled with a die roll. If a secret door must be found in order to continue a Quest, then it is automatically found as per the standard rule. I didn't limit the number of attempts to search one area, as I use a wandering monster rule as well. Otherwise, there would need to be a limit of 1 search attempt per room or corridor, as with treasure searches. Pointed out earlier, endless die-rolling to get the same results as the original auto-find rule is not desirable.

Here's a link to said rule. -edit

[wallydubbs]

I think the direction of the secret door doesn't matter and can be spotted and opened from either side (unless the quest notes say otherwise).
However the only difference this makes with my game play is in using the Clairvoyance spell from WoM. With this this spell, in my group, Zargon has to include traps and secret doors when laying out the contents of this room. But if the secret door opens from the other side I do not have to lay it out.

[Bareheaded Warrior]

I think that the default position is that a secret door can be found from either side, as has previously been stated on this topic (but Quest Designers can vary this by adding Quest Notes if they wish to create a particular effect)

For me personally I hate the boredom caused when Heroes have to endlessly back-track to locate a secret door that has been missed (or alternatively search 'everything' when most of the time there is nothing to find) so in Quests that I design I only ever use Secret Doors to provide a shortcut or easier route, or a side room with bonus treasure, so that if they are found there is a bonus, if not found then they don't prevent the objective being reached.

Part of the confusion is around the poor iconography of secret doors, they are ‘doors’ (the clue is in the name), but the difference logically is that they are not placed on the board as per normal doors until they are found. However rather than using an icon like a door which seems the obvious approach, the official icon is one that covers a square, which spawns a lot of confusion around which side can it be searched on, does it make a difference whether the icon is on the corridor side or the room side, what about LOS through a secret door

I would suggest two possible approaches, the first more in keeping with the original, the second a little different (but better – me thinks)

1. Both sides / either side - on the Quest Map, mark both squares that a secret door can be found from i.e., the corridor and room (or two different but adjacent rooms) with the secret door icon. This way it is clear which squares the door can be found from and where the door is located i.e., between the two. You could also place two secret door tiles on the board when a secret door is found, one of each side. This could also open the possibility if a Quest Designer wants a door to be found from only one side, then they could indicate which by only placing one icon on the Quest Map on the side it could be found from- (although I would suggest that a belt and braces approach of using that iconography AND quest note would be best)

2. New Icon – replace the existing iconography with a new secret door icon that is located like a door (possibly a standard door icon with a large “S” at 90 degrees crossing the centre – those who enjoy making icons, feel free to post some suggestions – I’m not precious as long as they are clearly distinguished from normal doors so that we “Zargons” don’t accidentally put them out on the board prematurely) and then, once discovered, a standard door is placed on the board in the location indicated, after all a secret door that has been found is just a door.

The second option also has a bonus, in that it frees up the formerly secret door tile (and the secret door icon on the Quest Map) to be used as a new feature – the trapdoor.

The Trapdoor is a small hidden sliding or hinged door in the floor that can be found in the same way as a secret door and can be opened like a standard door (not an action) at which point the tile is placed on the board. The Quest Notes would indicate where the trap door leads to, either another room indicated on the Quest Map (“the trapdoor leads to room B, place a figure that descends on the square marked ‘X’”) and then that room would be treated as per any other room with doors, contents, furniture, monsters etc or a corridor (and you could have another trapdoor at the other end of the corridor leading back up to another room, making a secret underfloor tunnel). The Quest Notes would also need to cover whether the trapdoor has steps, a ladder, or a rope to get you down/back up safely or whether you must drop and take your chances…the possibilities are endless…

[Kurgan]

Yeah the door is either pushed open or pulled open if you really want to get technical about matching the image to what's supposedly happening. Zargon could give a hint to the heroes in the above scenario as to where they have NOT YET searched (not telling them exactly where it is) if they are getting antsy.