Stuck Doors

I've been thinking about stuck doors, what we get from them and what they cost. 

The Benefits:

Pacing: 

I've run dungeons where the doors just open and in my experience, the party wanted to open as many doors as they had people to open them, so that they could peek in to see if there was anything obviously valuable inside. This led to me describing several different rooms and their encounters to several different people, all split up and spread out. 

Using stuck doors serves as a clear end markers for dungeon turns. Strong characters have a much higher chance of opening a door quickly, and so doors require some commitment from the party in regards to where they will send their door openers. The time delay also gives other party members space to investigate seemingly minor elements of the environment that interest them while the party as a whole maintains a sense of forward momentum.

And even if the party does spread out to open multiple doors, the fact that some might fail to open a door gives you some space to adjudicate each room as it opens. 

Obfuscating Cost:

Opening doors takes time, and since each requires a successful force doors check to complete, the time required to open any door is uncertain. So, while a party can determine how far that they can walk in a turn, if their path has one or more doors blocking it, the party cannot really know how long it will take to get anywhere in the dungeon. Combine the uncertainty posed by stuck doors with the timer imposed by darkness and torches, and the persistent threat of wandering encounters and you make space for interesting and dire situations to arise.

Vibes:

Perpetually stuck doors reinforces the idea that the party members are intruders in the underworld. They demonstrate the obstinance of a malignant force within the dungeon that does not want them to succeed, and contribute to a feeling of being trapped wherever they go unless precautions are taken (i.e. spiking doors, posting watch, using magic etc.). Stuck doors help frame the location as an adversary to the adventurers and an opponent in the groups attempt to explore the area.

The Cost:

Time and Frustration:

It is not uncommon for my group to be done exploring an area, and waiting for a successful force doors check. In these moments, all the players can do is roll the dice again and hope to succeed. Time is still moving, torches are burning and wandering monsters are being checked, but the party isn't doing anything. This sucks, especially because the party probably isn't thinking about what the extra time taken might cost them in the future, or the increased risk of random encounters, they are probably thinking that this is taking forever and that they want to move on to the next room.

Possible Solution: Increase the odds of forcing the door by 1 each turn after the first. This would give a hard cap to how many times the roll would need to be made (6in6 chance opens the door automatically) and so if the party wants to skip the rolls (or you are handwaving the party leaving the dungeon) you can just mark off the maximum number of turns it would take opening the door, inform the party of any encounters and move on. Bonuses to force doors checks could also be granted situationally through the use of tools, environmental elements etc. 

Tactical Opportunities:

The fact that forcing a door takes a turn makes tactical retreats and maneuvers in combat impossible. This incompatibility takes away from the value of learning the layout and routes through a dungeon, and limits the players when it comes to making cool and interesting choices in a fight. The strict barriers also means that any fight taking place is probably limited to just one room unless the players are taking steps to keep doors open.

Possible Solution: A person can attempt to open a door in a round at the cost of 1hp per attempt. This is the method I implemented to keep the players options open while maintaining stuck doors, and it has worked pretty well so far. The cost will be much higher for lower level groups, but negligible for larger or higher level groups. I think that this still works because it reflects an increased effectiveness within the dungeon as the progress and become more confident.       

Possible Alternatives:

Living Doors:

Doors from Labyrinth (1986)

The doors are a faction within the dungeon, and as such can be bribed, bullied, allied with. This opens a ton of possible solutions and ways through doors. The living doors could all be part of a single entity that exists throughout the dungeon, each floor could have its own entity or every door could be unique. These open up the possibility of doors feuding with other doors, doors feuding with monsters (and being stuck for them instead), doors feuding with players, and doors feuding with the dungeon overall (maybe even providing a secret safe haven for the party). 

Codes and keys:

I touched on this briefly in my megadungeon retrospective, but the idea is that all doors are stuck, and maybe locked, until the party finds something (a physical object, a prayer, a secret knock), that allows free passage through certain doors, specific areas of the dungeon or entire dungeon floors. These methods of quickly traversing the dungeon can be used as treasure to be discovered or benefits offered by dungeon factions in exchange for favors or membership, and demonstrate a growing mastery of the dungeon on the players parts.       

Blessings of the Overworld:

If the dungeon is a mythic underworld, then the players delving into and resisting the hazards of the dungeon are agents of the overworld. In practice, as a baseline doors are always stuck for players, but once opened, the players can perform a ritual, marking both sides of the door and dedicating it to the overworld, allowing easy passage for them, and a hinderance for monsters in the future. These rituals could cost more than time, like holy water or worthy sacrifices, and result in some form of retaliation from the underworld like increased encounter chance, more environmental hazards or underworld sickness.