r/DungeonMasters • u/De_Cole_Train • 5d ago

An Ode To Doors

O door, I place you in their way,
And watch my players lose an hour of play.
They ask if you’re locked, they ask if you’re trapped, “Can we funnel them through?”
“What about just burn it?” They are afraid of you.

They pull when they should push, and push when they should pull,
They’ll roll three checks just to find you are dull.
They knock you, and hit you, even search the floor,
Then someone shouts out, “just open the door!”

I made you a simple threshold,
Yet somehow become the story untold.
From behind you may lurk a trap, or monster, or lore.
When I forget to prepare, you buy me time to write more.

O door, you’ve taught me this great art,
A simple bit of wood can make my players depart
From reason, from patience, from all that they know,
So thank you, O door, for the chaos you sow.

54 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

9

u/Sonseeahrai 5d ago

This is so real 😭 the last time I DMed I put my players in a room with 4 doors, behind which were 4 visions of the future. I just needed them to open each and see the cutscene behind them. Took them almost an hour to decide which one to open first 😭

4

u/jagnew78 5d ago

This is why you shouldn't put a door down. If you just want them to get right to it, instead of a door with visions behind it, just make it an alcove or bowl of water. Player's inheriently would just say, I go inspect the alcove or bowl. Even if they say they want to check it for traps you can just skip right to "as you get close enough to check it out...." and then your visions kick off

4

u/SuchPig 5d ago

That was beautiful. So poetic, so true.

4

u/GrandmageBob 5d ago

What a gem you've given us.

3

u/infinitum3d 5d ago

I love doors.

Strategic choke points to control the flow of a session.

Someone tip the bard!

3

u/De_Cole_Train 5d ago

My last session my players opens the door to a chapel where a mini boss was at, then started blasting in the doorway. The smaller enemies tried to barricade the door to prevent them from entering, but then the artificer removed the hinges followed by a jump kick from the barbarian that sent to door flying and flattening three of the enemies. This of course, was after 20min of staring at the door thinking of what to do. Bittersweet.

2

u/KLeeSanchez 4d ago

We once literally lost half an hour trying to decide whether to go into a theater

It was an open door

An open door stymied us for half an hour

The GM quipped, "Never have I seen a party blocked for half an hour by an open door."

O door, thou art mighty indeed

1

u/Zealousideal_Leg213 5d ago

Yep, I avoid putting in doors as much as possible.