Three Kinds of OSR Obstacles
(Challenging myself to express this thought in under 500 words)
What kinds of obstacles do OSR characters typically encounter? The broad categories of traps, puzzles, combat encounters, and social encounters encompass many of them, but what fundamentally separates a combat encounter from a trap or a social encounter from a puzzle?
I think the prototypical dungeon threat is not the monster, but the trap; and their simplicity is a good foundation to think about other kinds of hazards. Let's think of a pit trap: it may hurt you if you don't see it, but then you know about it for next time. Most traps are an immediate threat to the PCs, but are neutralized upon being activated, almost like "speed bumps." To me, the most significant characteristic of a trap is that the players' reaction changes based on whether they know about the trap's existence or not.
Whereas the most interesting aspect of a trap is whether or not the players know about it, I think of puzzles as obvious, open-ended challenges: a magic sword at the bottom of a lake of acid, a chasm that separates the PCs from an objective, or a room full of corrosive gas. With these obstacles, what is salient is not whether the players know about them but how the players apply their creativity to solving the problem.
Next, what I consider distinctive about combat encounters is that they engage more with the mechanics of whichever system you are running than traps and puzzles, which are more likely to be adjudicated through the conversation between GM and players. Combat encounters almost always have a chance of going extremely well or extremely poorly for the party depending on the luck of the dice (or whatever other randomization mechanic you're using).
Finally, social encounters are the odd one out, as nothing fundamentally separates a social encounter from a puzzle except for the fact that the "goal" of a puzzle is usually self-evident whereas the "goal" of an encounter with NPCs tends to arise from the emergent goals of the players.
There is both crossover between categories (knowing that there is a medusa in the next room drastically reduces the threat of dealing with her) and potential for one category to transform into another (a pit trap can become a chasm that must be crossed, a bad negotiation can lead to a combat encounter).
I propose a three-way distinction:
- "Knowledge-Based Obstacles" like traps and secret doors
- "Stat-Based Obstacles" like combat encounters and locked doors in many systems
- "Creativity-Based Obstacles" like puzzles and social encounters
I think OSR play moves between these different spheres of challenge, with players exploring and strategically gambling in order to gain resources and information that they can leverage to overcoming open-ended problems. This kind of dance between spheres is perhaps what ultimately defines the OSR style.
As always, let me know if you think there's anything I missed or others who have discussed this topic and come to similar (or different) conclusions.