I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 1:17 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.
For would-be Evil Overlords, mandatory countdown timers are actually the worst thing ever invented by a human.
Heroes have a flair for doing things at the last minute, and giving them a timer showing them exactly when the last minute is is probably among the worst mistakes you can make. It's fifteenth on our list, after all.
So never use a timer. Ever. If the device needs one, have it explode much earlier than when it hits zero, as you will certainly kill more heroes with explosions this way.
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