Bolts, Open Lock and Thief Tools

[Storyteller01]

I was talking about metal slide bolts, although I'm more than happy to extend the conversation to rulings on other methods of keeping things closed.

OUCH!! The mechanical bolt is going to be fun to beat then! I think the acid/glass straw trick should still work, unless the lock resists acid. If it's a wooden door, a rogue could drill through said door and lock housing, playing with the internal mechanisms that way.

If the door is wooden and you know where the lock is attached, you could always cut the door around the lock, but that's the same as cutting though the bolt. Probably not the best example...

 

[Deadguy]

My problem with just applying open lock to the situation is that the skill description states quite clearly that it is a mastery of just openingvarious kinds of lock. Sawing through a bolt seems a little detached.

I'm not trying to make my players make noisy entrances through bolted doors. I just wanted clarrification on the mechaical aspects of a rogue bypassing a door sealed with a bolt rather than a lock

I would suggest that a Bolt is a Lock, at least so far as a game like D&D is concerned. I think it would be a mistake to restrict the skill to those things that we now colloquially refer to as locks, i.e. those locks opened by keys. In this I agree with argo - you would be unfairly restricting the characters who have chosen to pursue an already limited skill.

 

[ashfallen]

I think there's some argument for folding Disable Device and Open Lock into a single skill. A lock is, after all, a mechanical device.

 

[Shadeus]

Get those ranks of Use Magical Devise and get a wand of knock. Problem solved. Yeah, it's expensive, but compare to the price of not getting through the door.

 

[Kilroy]

An adamantine greatsword is an excellent lockpick. It's also an excellent bolt cutter, door remover, door creation tool, portcullis opener and building demolition tool. If you're looking to be a little more subtle, an adamantine dagger will cut through a lock, bolt, door and wall like butter.

Once you can afford 3k for an adamantine weapon, Open Locks is a useless skill in 95% of the already few places where it comes up.