1. Get deeds.
2. Open in a semi-public place or let a friend know
where you are.
It's embarrassing to die from an incinerator on top
of the colossus, and decay. The only thing more embarrassing would be to
die from a red vial trap on top of the colossus and decay.
Do not open your boxes in a crowded public place such
as the park or TC. When we want to watch you die that badly, we will light
you on fire ourselves.
3. Inspect your boxes by hand first.
No matter how high a creature is in level, it will
have the occasional easy trap. Check. The spell presence is rumored to help
in trap sighting. You still won't see the trap, but if you want to maintain
any semblance of dignity, you ought to do something other than stand there
looking like a miserable fool while you wait for more mana.
4. Disarm by hand if you can.
Disarming by hand is *always* better than disarming
by magic. You will still die, but you will die in a respectable posture.
Dying with one hand frozen in an interrupted casting gesture will only open
you to more ridicule.
You can disarm a trap if your disarm skill bonus meets
or exceeds the inverse of the difficulty of the trap. (For you wizards, that's
if your disarm skill is more than that number with the funny dash in front
of it.) The spell disarm enhancement will provide some benefit if you have
disarm skill. If you don't have any disarm skill, keep your damn fingers
out of the box.
5. Know your traps.
Some traps are not disarmable by magic. You could
bring those to a picker with skills to protect his hide. You could also show
a little backbone, pop the box anyway and use the contents to replace your
deed.
I'm not going to tell you which traps these are because
I want you to suffer.
6. Use the full name of the box when casting, along
with MY.
The coffee on the Hearthstone porch has been molested
enough. It doesn't need your filthy essence all over it.
7. Use the Lores if you can spare the mana.
They make a clear difference. The effectiveness of
your lore when using Unlock or Disarm is based on minor elemental spells
known, unless you're using Disarm Enhancement to open a box or vice versa,
in which case you deserve what you get.
8. Disarm is not Limb Disruption.
Lackwits.
9. Unlock is not Eye Spy.
See above.
10. Don't panic.
You are on fire. Someone just walked past you and
noticed nothing amiss. There he goes again in the opposite direction. Your
flesh is boiling off in sulfurous chunks. Your tongue has liquefied. You
are going to die. Do not panic. Accept it like the tough fearless bugger
you are.
