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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LurkAway" data-source="post: 5727619" data-attributes="member: 6685059">I've been so used to the knock spell that I never thought of it before, but I think that Gandalf didn't have a knock spell because it doesn't make as much narrative sense... does he have a kindred connection with all doors that he can speak to doors, get on their good side and convince them to open for him? People will say, you don't have to explain magic -- that's why it's called magic. But I think that Tolkien was more disciplinary than that. He was very precise (if I remember correctly) that it was a specific rune on the dwarven door that had to be 'cracked' like a security password, and so it was an academic/rune-knowledge challenge, not an automatic door opening magic. D&D didn't bother with that verisimilitude. They needed a metagame mechanism to open doors for dungeons, so they made a knock spell. (Interestingly, in early D&D, I think this was viewed as a boon for the entire party, now, it's just stealing the limelight). So up to 3.5E, we got used to the knock spell as being integral to magic. At least, this is my theory....EDIT: So what if some wizard utility spells help overcome physical challenges with a mental challenge. A mage makes a Knowledge/Intelligence check to somehow get psychic insight into the intricacies of a door lock, perhaps like a Tarot reading. He can then try to open the door by himself using that insight, but if there's a rogue in the party, he can confer that knowledge or mental image to the Rogue to give the thief an modifier or automatic success. I don't know, something like that. IMO, I would strongly prefer if the wizard didn't have a Knock power in that sense, but a more generalized skill/power that could be used in different contexts using the same 'power source' but not arbitrarily restricted to door locks.</blockquote>

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