Disable device (with magical traps)

[boolean]

And, there is a spell called Divine Insight in Complete Arcane. Which lasts 1 hour/level and give you insight bonus of +5 +caster level to any one skill check. My Shadowbane Stalker cohort is using this skill intensively. Taking some cleric level, or taking enough levels of disable device, will give her access to this spell (or wand).

Divine Insight is also a second level Divination spell, and therefor eligible for Imbue With Spell Ability.

 

[nittanytbone]

A lot also depends on how much information you get with a search check. If the rogue gets a vague idea of the difficulty of the trap with her search check then she might be more inclined to try to defuse the easier ones and let someone else deal with the tricky ones.

 

[just__al]

Divine Insight is also a second level Divination spell, and therefor eligible for Imbue With Spell Ability.

ooooh, that's extra spiffy. And here I've been using it to let the party fighter cast shield other on her scout cohort.

 

[Len]

The problem that I've found is that at higher levels most of the traps are high-DC magical traps and it is much easier and safer for the cleric or wizard to dispel them from a distance than for the rogue to try to disable them. So after a certain point, when playing a rogue, I found exactly the same thing as skeptic's player. Except we don't have a tame monk to throw at the traps.

 

[Shin Okada]

Except we don't have a tame monk to throw at the traps.

I often use summoned celestial animals. Even celestial dogs can walk on corridor or pull lever. Celestial monkey can do much complex works.

 

[Len]

I often use summoned celestial animals. Even celestial dogs can walk on corridor or pull lever. Celestial monkey can do much complex works.

Oh great, now you've got a dog doing my job.

 

[Inigo Carmine]

If the chance of disabling the trap is too low, perhaps the DM is setting them too high. Remember, you have to fail your diable device check by 5 or more to set it off.

Dispelling and sending the monk through also shouldn't be incredibly viable. A lot of magical traps reset. So the wizard dispells it, and 1d4 rounds later it resets. The monk goes across the trap, survives it, but every other party member has to be able to do the same thing because it automatically resets afterwards.

 

[isoChron]

Triggering Traps isn't a good idea in a dungeon full of enemies. They hear the boom and know someone's coming. They gather and attack at the most convinient spot. Or they even send a part of the monsters into the back of the party and enjoy the old hammer-and-anvil game.

If you use dispel magic too often, the traps have done what they are build for. They drained the casters of important spells (=resources) .

Hmm, maxed out Disable Device means (no INT) that the PC has a bonus of 13. Count in that a trap doesn't spring if the check isn't 5 lower than the DC and the PC doesn't roll a 1 on d20 he can disable any mechanical trap and with rolling a 10 or more has no problem with DC28 magic traps (spell level 3). A boost to INT (eagle's splendor) may raise this to DC30.

Our party security expert isn't always successful at disarming traps but he seldom triggers them. Oh, and there are spell traps with a radius of 60 ft. so be sure everyone is far away when the monk jumps the minefield with a pogostick.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Oh great, now you've got a dog doing my job.

Could be worse - it could be a fiendish spider.

 

[Kilroy]

I've noticed the same thing. High level rogues are bad trapspringers, compared to a barbarian, paladin or monk with a couple levels of rogue and maxed disable device and search.

They may succeed slightly more often, but when they do fail, they're way more likely to die.

It is important to use Search to find the trap, and figure out what it does. Once that's done though, unless the rogue is seriously munchkin'd, if it's particularly dangerous, it's easier to deal with it some other way.