Opening Secret doors

[torem13]

I have a queston about secret doors, I know you can use search to find a secret door, but does noticing it allow you to open the secret door? If not, then what skill do you use to figure out how to open the door.

Thanks,

 

[IceBear]

I have a queston about secret doors, I know you can use search to find a secret door, but does noticing it allow you to open the secret door? If not, then what skill do you use to figure out how to open the door.

Thanks,

Depends. It could be trial and error ("I try to push open the door" - "With a grinding noise you push it open") or another search check to find the "button" that opens it.

Let's say turning a statue mounted on the wall will open the secret door. If the PCs know the statue is there they may start poking at it and through trial and error open the door. They might also decide to search around that statue and see the clues that lets them know it's moveable.

 

[CalrinAlshaw]

The original assumption in all past D&D versions and what I assumed was kinda the same in THIS D&D version, was that FINDING the secret door, you also find the mechanism to open it. At least, that was the original D&D assumptions of the past. A DM may run it differently however, being that it is their game.

Calrin Alshaw

 

[dcollins]

The original assumption in all past D&D versions and what I assumed was kinda the same in THIS D&D version, was that FINDING the secret door, you also find the mechanism to open it. At least, that was the original D&D assumptions of the past. A DM may run it differently however, being that it is their game.

Well, sort of but not exactly. From AD&D 1st Ed. DMG, p. 97:

Secret Doors:... Discovery does not mean that access to the door mechanism has been discovered, however.

In this context "discovery" could be done without a check, in 1/10th the time, by tapping on a wall for a hollow sound. The check to be rolled afterwards was when examining the area for the opening mechanism.

You're correct that most DMs since that time have probably rolled the two issues into a single one, and is the operating assumption for 3rd Ed.

 

[IceBear]

Oh? Crap - I guess maybe I should re-read the rulebook (not DMing in over a year has made me forget everything). Most of the time my secret doors are opened with a push so essentially I do the same thing, but sometimes the where the party finds the door is nowhere near where the switch is (and hence nowhere near where they were searching). But that's just me

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I would say finding a secret door is not the same as opening it (although the method of opening is usually discovered). For example, just b/c someone searches for a secret door you shouldn't assume they open it (and stumble upon the pit fiend conducting his unholy ceremony that will soon involve the foolish adventurer!).

 

[The Souljourner]

We always play that part of the difficulty in finding it is finding out how to open it. Now granted, if the DM were feeling onery, he might tell us we found a door but not how to open it. That would certainly be legal, and would often lead to a puzzle of sorts, but not what happens generally in our campaigns.

-The Souljourner

 

[Majere]

I would think that the RAW are:
Search to find a secret door
Openlocks to open the door

If you dont like open locks you could house rule using disable devise to open it.

Majere

 

[dcollins]

Here's the DMG section on secret doors (DMG ch. 4: Miscellaneous Features: Secret Doors"):

Secret Doors: Disguised as a bare patch of wall (or floor, or ceiling), a bookcase, a fireplace, or a fountain, a secret door leads to a secret passage or room. Someone examing the area finds a secret door, if any, on a successful Search roll (DC 20 for a typical secret door to DC 30 for a well-hidden secret door)... Many secret doors require a special method of opening, such as a hidden button or pressure plate. Secret doors can open like normal doors, or they may pivot, slide, sink, rise or even lower like a drawbridge to permit access...

So:
(1) The only Search check mentioned is the one to find a secret door.
(2) According to the last sentence, the first and default case is to have a secret door "open like a normal door". That is, just grab it and open it, no other checks, tricks, traps or locks.
(3) If the DM so decides, a certain secret door may have a "special method of opening", presumably requiring additional Search or other checks in this case (and "many secret doors" have such) -- just like any other "Special Doors" (see prior section on "Doors" in DMG).
(4) If the DM so decides, the door can be locked, requiring an Open Locks check -- just like any other locked doors.
(5) If the DM so decides, the door can be trapped, requiring a Disable Device check -- just like any other trapped doors.
(6) No has ever suggested that Searching for a secret door automatically opens it: just that by default, the method to open it becomes obvious -- just like any other detected doors.