Problem with chest

[ShadowMaster]

The rogue in my campain raised a question last week. Haven't seen any real chest in my life, I got a little confuse about what to answer.

The question was : Can we just remove strap hinge of a chest to open it when it is locked?

 

[Magus_Jerel]

It depends on the lock and the hinge design. I would (by default) say no.

Now if the lock is built into the base, and the hinge is attached to the lid of the chest - this might be possible. It would be essentially dissassembling the lock - instead of picking it....

Still requires that "open locks" check.

 

[Grendel]

generally the easiest way into a chest, or door etc. is through the locking mechanism, otherwise anyone could leave their chest locked and just remove the hinges when they needed in.

Therefore I would allow a disable device roll with a -5 to -10 circumstance penlaty to remove the hinges (base the DC on the open lock DC for the device).

Keep in mind that some lockboxs may have designs that either do not expose the hinges or do not use hinges, in which case open locks is the only option.

 

[skunian]

Well without taking any magic into account, given enough time anyone should be able to open a chest, whether it be from removing the hinges or smashing the lock. Having been to summer camp enough and losig the key to my footlocker on more then one occasion, it's pretty easy to do. In either case there is a good chance that any trap on the chest will be set off. Add magic into the mix and you've got a whole new ball game.