As a halfling in my particular profession, I believe I’ve been trained to be overly cautious when it comes to any opportunity, especially loot. You see, us adventurers experience wild happenings every day, from mimics disguising themselves as chests, to stalactites that attack you out of nowhere. Then, there are the traps. If it’s a chest that’s sitting in plain sight, with no obstacle to open it, it’s either a mimic or it’s trapped. That’s not to say there aren’t situations where you just find a free treasure chest, but it can be very rare. When I was a young lad, I found myself in many a predicament because of treasure bait.
Now, being cautious is a good thing, it’s saved my team members from a plethora of dangerous situations. The thing is, however, that safe isn’t always better. Yes, there can be obvious traps, but that doesn’t always mean you should avoid them. If you suspect something is a mimic or booby trapped, then just go in with that knowledge. Don’t miss out on a great opportunity for adventure because you were afraid of a little scrape!
Walking into a trap fully prepared changes the whole game. You think you know what to expect, so whether it be an ambush or pressure sensor bombs you can handle it. In fact, I’ve found my best adventures start with a clear trap. Heck, this one time we were retrieving an enchanted medallion for some o’l witch in an ancient ruin. We were a few levels into the dungeon when we saw this ornate pedestal lit by magical light cradling what looked like the medallion. Based on the area, we knew for sure it was a decoy, but even decoys gotta be made out of valuable stuff! I figured we could sell it and make a little profit outside of our adventuring arrangement with the old hag. Well, that one decision to pursue a clear decoy led our party down a path to defeat a skeleton king and collect his horde of gold.
Long story short, even the worst traps can be opportunities in disguise. Just because something might seem difficult or hurtful at the time, it doesn’t mean you aren’t getting something from it. Heck, we wouldn’t have rainbows if we didn’t have a bit of rain.
