Taking 20 on Open Lock

[Ogre Mage]

Taking 20

There are many instances when Taking 20 is not practical. If you are infiltrating a fortress, for instance, you can't afford to Take 20 on a lock. How long before some wandering patrol spots you? It's up to the DM to decide when taking 20 could be detrimental or impossible.

If you have the luxury of plenty of time, it makes perfect sense that any rogue worth their salt would be able to bypass the lock.

As far as searching for traps is concerned, just because you find the trap doesn't mean that you have gotten around it. And you CANNOT take 20 on Disable Device.

I don't believe Take 20 erodes the game at all. There's plenty of randomization already going on with combat, saves and skills with a penalty for failure. Not everything is up to luck. Take 20 acknowledges that there are some instances when taking extra time can give you a guaranteed result.

 

[DarkMaster]

Im just averse to it because it stops being fun to be a rogue.
It means you can find almost eny trap and open almost any door by level 5.

I take 20 on my search- you find nothing
I take 20 on open lock - the door unlocks
Next !!

Bleah
just reading that makes me shiver
But thats a personal thing.

I know your gonna put all sorts of stuff about time and DMs, but given 3.5 Buff spells are worth dick all and in REAL LIFE terms taking 2 takes all of a breath, there is no reason for people to do otherwise. To me it just erodes another part of the game that isnt combat.
Roll some dice, take a chance, if you screw up, go route 1 and blow the door off the hinges. It makes the game more interesting.

Majere
Majere

taking 20 takes 2 minutes, rolling the skill check take 6 sec game time right there major difference.

taking 20 takes a few second and rolling skill check until you get it takes around a minute(assuming 6 sec per roll).

Much prefer to go through 20 room in one night than 1 room in 20 nights.

A basic lock should be open by any rogue with basic training. In real life giving enough time any car thief can open the lock of an average car, some do it faster than other but given time they will all open it.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Im just averse to it because it stops being fun to be a rogue.
It means you can find almost eny trap and open almost any door by level 5.

I take 20 on my search- you find nothing
I take 20 on open lock - the door unlocks
Next !!

You can probably open any door by level 5 anyway, given a bit of time - the barbarian just smashes it in. By level 5 a locked door is a speedbump - it slows the party down a little, and that's all. It won't defeat them.

And you can only find every trap THAT YOU THINK TO LOOK FOR. Part of the DM's job is to lure the rogue into a sense of false security, surprise him in places and otherwise try to make sure that he cannot always take 20 to search for a trap. Putting traps in non-obvious locations, putting traps in time-critical locations and putting traps in locations with other distractions all work to have the rogue miss some traps.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Im just averse to it because it stops being fun to be a rogue.
It means you can find almost eny trap and open almost any door by level 5.

I take 20 on my search- you find nothing
I take 20 on open lock - the door unlocks
Next !!

Bleah
just reading that makes me shiver
But thats a personal thing.

Yeah! Do it properly.

"I try to pick the lock." [roll] "16?"
"It doesn't open."
"Okay, I try again." [roll] "13. Gah. Again." [roll] "19?"
"No."
"Again. 12. 18. 14. 7. 13. 20?"
"Okay, it opens."

Much more exciting for everyone involved!

-Hyp.

 

[cidak]

Now Listen

Ok, thanks for all of your comments and feedback. I now am comfortable with taking 20 on Open lock (and if I had read the SRD on Take 20 before posting I wouldn't have need to )

What would be the DC for a Listen Check to hear the lock being picked?

I thought DC 15 (in line with whispering) and given the lock would go right through the door there would be no modifier from the door (normally +5).

Any thoughts?