Doors (B/X + Old School minimalist)

Another brief pause in our series, because I think this deserves a post of its own.

Moldvay's rules about doors are so terse that they are almost cryptic:

Normal (i.e., non-secret) doors are "often" stuck or locked. How often? No idea. There’s no explanation elsewhere, or in AD&D either. The rules for dungeon creation do not include a chance of being stuck, or even a dedicated symbol (unlike secret doors).

It wouldn’t be absurd to think all (or at least most) unlocked doors are stuck, since “an unlocked door must be forced open to pass through it.”

However, the effects of playing this RAW do look absurd. Since doors close (and presumably stick) by themselves and cannot always be forced, 99% of parties would quickly end up trapped in a dungeon they barely explored, unless they spike every door they pass (and no monster can ever put or remove these spikes, of course).

Maybe a door that has been forced will close but doesn’t have to be forced again? That would make little sense; it would be a creepy special effect rather than a rule of any consequence.

Forcing doors in B/X only makes sense if PCs can keep trying indefinitely, with each attempt costing time. How long? It doesn’t say anywhere. I’d guess 10 minutes, because that looks sensible and is also the duration of a turn (and of many dungeon activities).

It looks very tedious. I’ve mostly abandoned it myself, just leaving most doors open. But the alternatives to barring endless attempts are worse: letting weaker PCs try and succeed where stronger ones failed, letting all parties get trapped and die, etc.

Of course, maybe the doors can be taken down with an axe (which is not as easy as it sounds), but the rules do not specify that either. A crowbar may help... how? Again, no clue in the rules, as far as I can remember.

The OSE note that forcing a door ruins the chance of surprise is a good one.

How could we easily fix this?

We need MOST doors to be easily opened so the dungeon can be explored and PCs don’t always get trapped. But re-rolling ad infinitum is boring.

So maybe: you can open a stuck door in 2d6 minutes MINUS your Strength modifier. Subtract one minute if you have an axe, hatchet or crowbar. Minimum one minute.

Boxcars (or any result greater than 10?) means you cannot open it without a lot more time and equipment (and maybe you ended up hurting yourself or your axe in the process)?

An even better solution would involve adding a random table upon dungeon cration, something to the effect of:

1. Open.
2. Closed.
3. Locked.
4. Stuck.
5. Closes by itself after a while.
6. Roll twice and combine.

It would, however, add significant complexity to dungeon maps. Ultimately I might leave this for each dungeon/module to decide.

Find secret doors / listen

I do not have much to add here other than to avoid roll-playing and pixel-bitching.

What about you?

How do you handle doors at your table? Does it work well for you? What do you think of the suggestion above?