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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6028419" data-attributes="member: 6696971">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/members/lanefan.html" target="_blank">Lanefan</a>Its a thoughtful post Lanefan but I think that you're kind of illuminating pemerton's point in that your answer (to create a simulation-oriented paradigm for "failure gradation" of lock-picking) speaks to the tension of "fail-forward", "fiction-first" conflict resolution and simulationist agenda rather than providing an answer to alleviate it.Resolving out of combat conflict resolution, when lock-picking is a part of the equation (a la "breaking into the highly secured harbormaster's warehouse and locating, attaining and deciphering an encoded cargo manifest"), is a pretty standard fair scene.  Many-a-times have I used "fail forward" technique in a Skill Challenge with lock-picking.  You're not going to use this in simple task resolution (eg opening a treasure chest after slaying a dragon), but for conflict resolution (when the failure is not the deciding factor of resolution and thus you need the fiction to move forward in resolving the conflict despite the outcome of that singular check) you can use:- the guards walking past as pemerton mentioned.- the lock-pick breaks and now you have to remove the shard and then re-pick.- the lock is old, rusty or the mechanism is otherwise compromised and the lock breaks and the noise caused by the broken lock clattering on the floor leads to another complication; - unwanted attention which could be in the form of waking an chained (or unchained) guard dog who starts barking loudly (requiring handling in some form).- the loss of a healing surge due to hurting yourself in the effort.- the door or chest now becomes jammed and now requires force to open.- you knock over a lantern that you're using for light (or a lantern on a nearby desk), spilling flammable oil that immediately catches fire.- something else environmental/flukey...perhaps the sub-floor is old and rotted and cannot load-bear your weight for the amount of time required to pick the lock...the sub-floor gives way and you have to catch yourself or take a hard tumble into the floor beneath, a sub-basement or crawlspace...which can in turn cause all kinds of complications that must be resolved just to get back to the trunk/door (whatever).Anyway, its really limited only by the imagination of the person and/or their rigid adherence to a process-simulation agenda.</blockquote>

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