this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2023
16 points (94.4% liked)

Asklemmy

43744 readers
1134 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I need this for a book I'm writing. A lot of people know about the existence of the room I'm talking about, but almost nobody has access to it.

top 30 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] dill@lemmy.one 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It would have to be well hidden or well guarded. Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider come to mind as well.

Yeah without knowing anything else about the world, hiding and guarding seem like the best options.

[โ€“] alex@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago

As many potential rooms as possible in as many locations as possible, and no way to distinguish the right one. Of course, rotate it regularly.

Some old palaces in Japan have "nightingale" floors that purposely squeak to keep people from sneaking in. Could be a security feature outside your room

[โ€“] athos77@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Is it on display in the bottom drawer of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying, "Beware of the leopard"?

More seriously, just make it an incredibly uninteresting door that no one even thinks about, which everyone thinks is like for plumbing or linens or something boring and irrelevant. Then paint the door in whatever Disney NoSeeUm color is most appropriate.

[โ€“] Shawdow194@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

You can use the low-tech mythos ideology or superstition to keep people out

"We dont go in there because our forebearers spoke of misery to those that enter the room"

[โ€“] JimmyDean@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Simply put: it stinks, like bad. The room is hidden under the largest city in the land, only accessible by spelunking through vast distances of underground sewers that smell like decomposing waste. This smell-field ensures only the bravest and most dedicated adventurers ever travel to the room, and none who attempt it enjoy talking about it.

[โ€“] th4@feddit.it 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The room is built on the inside of a giant snail's shell, if you give it a special kind of lettuce the snail will retreat and clear access to the room.

[โ€“] spread@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago

The whole thing is underwater

[โ€“] Lasairiona@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Boobytraps. Rumours about a curse/ghosts/entry fee. Pretend there's something boring in there. Allow entry, but make the process the full force of German bureaucracy (you need to file form A on a blood moon, to get form A, you need document B2, no not that one the green one, you can get it from Location C but that's only open once a month for half an hour, and if you don't wear pink they won't help you).

[โ€“] PlexSheep@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Upvote For German bureaucracy. Passierschein A38 bitte.

[โ€“] TZUI1hRq@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Put the room in an isolated location? In a cave, on a mountain, hundreds of leagues from the nearest settlement.

[โ€“] MyMulligan@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago

Magic can McGuffin any answer you need but it sounds like you want a non magic means to keep people away.

Have a guarded door, be it creature or armed guards. The room that is guarded is not the real room, just a place to hold private meetings. It's used on the regular to keep the focus on the guarded room.

The real room is in the town's bizarre. It's passed by all of the time and is curated by the most hated man. No one likes going to his shop. He's rude and his wares are over priced. Within his shop is the real room that is visited by the few who know.

[โ€“] pieceofcrazy@feddit.it 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Depends on the context, like what world it is and where the room is located, and so on.

I suppose it's in a building that people have access to except for that one room, and that it's a world where, while not particularly sophisticated, explosives exist, so it should at least have very strong walls. If magic exists you might want to avoid using it for this purpose as it often becomes a "because" kind of explaination, but you can use it as a tool (e.g. an obstacle that can only be overcome with powerful magic, and the magicians who are capable of such power can be counted on one hand).

If magic is a no-go, maybe it simply requires a specific kind of key to open (but maybe it's too high tech for your world?)

[โ€“] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Key?! What kind of futuristic sci-fi do you think I'm writing?!

But seriously speaking, I think I'll make it so that you have to visit a cave with a stream flowing through it, grab a fish from the stream, maybe do some rite and then the fish burps a key out.

[โ€“] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Set up a monastery in the surrounding building whose religion is centered on only letting in the one person. The 'key' is a complex ritual (like happens nightly at the tower of london) with lots of phrases and movements to learn. The ceremony happens somewhere dangerous to the person requesting access.

[โ€“] lerba@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Put a sign "staff only" on the door

[โ€“] Quereller@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Look at ancient Egypt. Big piramides didn't work. Getting your name erased from the society (Tutankhamun) somewhat.

[โ€“] MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Where is the room exactly? In a house? Palace? What now?

Hiding in plain sight is usually the best way to go about hiding (ime).

But plenty of people know about it...hmm

The room could just be closed off and unaccesible and unnoticeable at the same time..like a hobbit hole with no doors etc.

I'd love more context tbh....and do you write books often?

[โ€“] humdrumgentleman@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The room is filled with a deadly gas. Either it is built so that it vents into the room naturally from deep under ground, or a diffuser is periodically refilled by whoever controls access to the room.

The McGuffin is the antidote to the gas, which you must obtain and administer before entering.

One way of getting a very localised danger like this would be to put it near radioactive ore deposits? You can only go in with a lead shield, and have to angle it correctly

[โ€“] Elegast@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago
  • Strong locks on doors and windows.
  • Reinforce doors and windows with bars or metal.
  • Create hidden entrances or passages.
  • Use guard dogs to deter intruders.
  • Keep heavy furniture near entrances as barricades.
  • Set up alarms or noise-making devices.
  • Assign a guard or sentry to watch over the room.
  • Use traps like tripwires or pitfalls.
  • Conceal valuable items or use secret compartments.
  • Explore spells or enchantments for added security.
[โ€“] Jakylla@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Magic force field ? Or some gaz or magic that disable, give pain or kill when aproaching or entering it, without anybody knowing particularly that "a gaz" is the problem; just that whoever enters get sicks as hell and cannot move anymore

(If want to have a reason why nobody never entered, but your players needs to be able to enter)

[โ€“] DracEULA@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Not build a door or windows.

[โ€“] Abel@lemmy.nerdcore.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Guards with dogs. Cheaper than most alternatives, covers more ground, harder to confound, works against invisibility and disguises. With an advanced enough security protocol (against flying, burrowing, teleporting and magical disguises), it's nearly unbeatable.

Unless, of course, you don't want it to be unbeatable.

[โ€“] athos77@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Is it on display in the bottom drawer of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying, "Beware of the leopard"?

[โ€“] rsfitz6@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago
[โ€“] killick@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

You can spread powder on the floor so you could see if someone had stepped in. It wouldn't keep them out unless they didn't want anyone to know they'd been in there.

[โ€“] lorddresefer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Smoke and mirrors. Optical illusions. Puzzles. Riddles. Trap doors. Hidden sharp objects. Hidden blunt objects. Needing multiple people to complete something or turning multiple keys or keylike objects from other parts of the story perhaps?

[โ€“] preciouspupp@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Have you thought of aโ€ฆ lock?

load more comments
view more: next โ€บ