D&D General How are locks so hard to open?

[Umbran]

If we're talking about a strongbox, perhaps, but would each individual door in a dungeon have such an intricate lock?

Would each individual door in a dungeon have a lock at all?

 

[iserith]

Hahahaha.

Man, I was one of the first people to complain about Knock back in the day, but what they did to that spell instead of just removing it was cruel and unusual.

Like Charm, it's not 'cast this spell to be instantly punished for what people in 3.x did'. Might as well include a 9th level spell that just straight kills the caster instantly and blocks resurrections.

I don't really see much of an issue with it.

I would prefer to look at the fictional reality over gameplay as much as possible.

The great thing about "fictional reality" is that you can make up whatever you want to explain things. Just pick the one that is most satisfying for you and yours. But if the game itself doesn't work well, that can be a harder problem to solve, depending on what we're talking about.

 

[ad_hoc]

If there is no consequence for failure they just succeed.

So if it is time sensitive then that 25% is to see if they can pick it in less than 6 seconds.

I also use checks if the lock is trapped. Other possible complications could be sound or if the character wants to make it look like it wasn't tampered with.

Just opening the lock though? Pretty easy.

 

[Cadence]

Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. (fantasy) series and Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe (1930s-1970s detective) series both have main characters musing on the different qualities of locks - from the trivial to the not trivial.

Garrett's Lord Darcy series makes a big deal out of the professional magic users who make their living working with locks and alarms.

The door to my renovated office IRL sometimes takes three tries to get... using the freaking key!!

 

[Baron Opal II]

After having a chance to play with some, I find latch/spring locks easy to pick with time, hard to pick with speed, and fast to bash open with a hammer. Especially easy if you don't care about what the lock is keeping closed. If they're pre-weathered (black colored steel rather than polished or rusty), greased, and out of direct weather they hold up for a surprising period of time. As in decades.

Pin/tumbler locks are much harder to pick, although still easy if you know what you are doing. I used to have a hot-rodded truck that had as its ignition key a simple small brass key. Which, naturally, I lost one day. Calling a locksmith, I showed him the keyed ignition switch bolted to the bottom of the dash, and asked what he could do. I was expecting him to sell me a new switch with a key. He got out a brass blank and said "let me see what I can do." Over the next 10 minutes he would put the blank in the ignition, wiggle it a bit, file the key, and repeat. Eventually I had two new ignition keys, one filed out by hand and the second a machined copy of the first. "I just listened to what the lock was telling me," he said.

So, from that, I tend to view locks on treasure or doors much like car door locks in reality. They're present just to keep honest people honest, point out that there's a place you're not supposed to go, and eat up time until someone notices you doing something you shouldn't. Or, make it obvious there's been a break-in if it wouldn't be otherwise. If there isn't a time factor or lock isn't special in some manner, the rogue picks the lock. If the fighter has some skeleton keys, okay, they pick the lock and it takes an hour. If time is a factor, then the rogue makes the check to see if it can be done quietly and quickly. If not, the fighter can at least open it quickly, if not quietly.

And, of course, there is the occasional special lock that was hidden, complex, needs two keys turned at once, &c. Those are rare, and a specific to keep out the common rabble and give the PC thief a chance to shine. It also takes more than one check, and not always a Tinkering check.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

DC20 seems appropriate.

A level 1 rogue needs about 20 seconds to open it...

 

[Micah Sweet]

I disagree. Making it a meaningful choice was a good idea. Now, maybe it doesn't need to include a sonic boom that brings every monster from three surrounding kingdoms to take a look, but modern D&D can't just say "roll for a wandering monster to show up," since that's no longer a core assumption for the game.

I can see them massaging the spell in the 1D&D test, though.

Correction: modern D&D has  chosen not to say "roll for a wandering monster to show up". That's on them.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't really see much of an issue with it.

The great thing about "fictional reality" is that you can make up whatever you want to explain things. Just pick the one that is most satisfying for you and yours. But if the game itself doesn't work well, that can be a harder problem to solve, depending on what we're talking about.

Yes, but if what you make up is chosen for gamist reasons, I have the same problem again.

 

[iserith]

Yes, but if what you make up is chosen for gamist reasons, I have the same problem again.

If the fictional reason otherwise makes sense, I don't see why it matters how we arrived at that fictional reason. Taking the position you seem to do just seems like choosing a preference that is going to lead to a lot of dissatisfaction in general.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If the fictional reason otherwise makes sense, I don't see why it matters how we arrived at that fictional reason. Taking the position you seem to do just seems like choosing a preference that is going to lead to a lot of dissatisfaction in general.

Verisimilitude matters more than gameplay to me. I compromise if I have to.