sunnyVoid says:
... At first I didn't like your solution and was writing a post refuting it ...
I didn't like my solution either.
And, please, everyone, if you have objections, say so and we can discuss the situation. As
sunnyVoid mentions, this was 'by the book' but that is less important than being a fun for everyone involved.
Even if we don't change the ruling this time, talking about it can allow us to do better next time, or to understand why things went the way they did (which can help for next time).
sunnyVoid says:
... just ask straight up if he's able to see another way ...
Yes, there is no 'notice' or 'perception' check in these games. If your character can see a thing they should be told. So narrating your character looking should reveal all that is reasonable for them to see, and a roll should not reveal more --actions reveal more, and a roll might suggest there is more to look for, but I don't much like that (think about the Miss condition).
The GM can't describe everything in every detail --posts get too long and hard to read-- so we can assume there is more to be seen and have our characters look (in the fiction) for things they are interested in.
sunnyVoid says:
... risky at all ... hard coming up with proper "resolutions" to it ...
True, true. Though this is not the worst example of this I have seen (DnD has taught us a lot of 'bad habits'). And there was some reasonable risk in the situation (think about if
Dirk had been walking there instead of the captain, a roll would not been at all out of place).
The roll benefited the party and revealed important information (which was both the reward
and the consequence). So this case is borderline, at worst.
sunnyVoid says:
... wasting time ...
I don't like that sort of consequence, and there is a bit too much of that here already (mea culpa) and a lot of resulting standing around.
sunnyVoid says:
... Not sure if my thoughts make sense ...
Perfectly.