The view from the throne - a looter's perspective

The other day in game, a PC found a hidden item through the simple expedient of sitting on a "throne." A stool, actually, set up in the chamber of the chief of some tribal humanoids, but set up as a ruler's seat.

Now, every time I've had an evil throne, or the throne of some dead king, or a throne-like seat of someone the PCs have defeated, someone has had their PC sit in it.

But Sunday had a first - or at least, something so rarely encountered in my play that it seemed like a first. Someone had his PC sit on a "throne" and ask how the room looked, and what he could see, from the throne. As the player noted, there is always something different about the room from the King's perspective.

In this case, it was an axe, hidden in such a way that it was ready to hand but out of view of anyone not seated. Facing the chief, he's unarmed, or armed with only what you see.

As a player skill moment, this was a good one.*

As a GMing moment, it made me think - when I put seats and chairs in a room, what do they face? What does that say about the room? Is there something the boss/chief/king/etc. expects to see, and things he/she/it expects the others to see?

It just so happened that I had put in a hidden weapon. But I hadn't given express, distinct, specific thought to what someone seated in the chair would see, only what was there and what people facing the chair would see.

Thanks to clever play, one of the players found a little bit of extra loot. But he also added a quick mental checkpoint I'll use to make better rooms in my castles, keeps, and dungeons. Thanks man!


* I still made a Perception roll, with a bonus for him. Sometimes you miss the totally obvious. But a +10 for "in plain sight" helps, especially when that bonus isn't there if you're facing the other direction.