Ogre:CharacterCodex:Skills:Device

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Device[edit]

This is your ability with simple mechanical device like traps or lock.

Disable Device[edit]

Ability Intelligence
Action See below
Armor Penalty None
Untrained No
Concentration Yes

Synergy: Search (Trap Only)

Check: The Disable Device check is made secretly, so that you don't necessarily know whether you've succeeded.

The DC depends on how tricky the device is. Disabling (or rigging or jamming) a fairly simple device has a DC of 10; more intricate and complex devices have higher DCs.

If the check succeeds, you disable the device. If it fails you do not know if the trap has been disabled or not.

You also can rig simple devices such as saddles or wagon wheels to work normally for a while and then fail or fall off some time later (usually after a few minutes of use).

Device Action Disable Device DC Example
Simple Long 10 Jam a lock
Tricky Very Long 15 Sabotage a wagon wheel
Difficult Slow 20 Disarm a trap, reset a trap
Wicked Slow 25 Disarm a complex trap, cleverly sabotage a clockwork device

OTHER WAYS TO BEAT A TRAP

It's possible to ruin many traps without making a Disable Device check.

Ranged Attack Traps: Once a trap's location is known, the obvious way to ruin it is to smash the mechanism-assuming the mechanism can be accessed. Failing that, it's possible to plug up the holes from which the projectiles emerge. Doing this prevents the trap from firing unless its ammunition does enough damage to break through the plugs.

Melee Attack Traps: These devices can be thwarted by smashing the mechanism or blocking the weapons, as noted above. Alternatively, if a character studies the trap as it triggers, he might be able to time his dodges just right to avoid damage. A character who is doing nothing but studying a trap when it first goes off gains a +4 dodge bonus against its attacks if it is triggered again within the next minute.

Pits: Disabling a pit trap generally ruins only the trapdoor, making it an uncovered pit. Filling in the pit or building a makeshift bridge across it is an application of manual labor, not the Disable Device skill. Characters could neutralize any spikes at the bottom of a pit by attacking them-they break just as daggers do.

Total Success: You can study the device, figure out how it works, and bypass it (along with your companions) without disarming it.

Total Failure: The device is activated and you have a penalty to your save against the device equal to your rank of total failure.

Action: The amount of time needed to make a Disable Device check depends on the task, as noted above. Disabling a simple device takes long action. An intricate or complex device is a very long action or a slow action.

Try Again: Yes, though you must be aware that you have failed in order to try again. Also, for each failure, you have a cumulative -4 penalty to your next Disable Device check for the same device.


Open Lock[edit]

Ability Dexterity
Action Long
Armor Penalty None
Untrained Yes; see below
Concentration Yes

Description: You know how locks work and can open them without using the original key. Attempting an Open Lock check without a set of thieves tools imposes a -2 circumstance penalty on the check, even if a simple tool is employed. If you use masterwork thieves' tools, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on the check.

Check: The DC for opening a lock varies from 20 to 40, depending on the quality of the lock, as given on the table below.

Lock DC Lock DC
Very simple lock 20 Good lock 30
Average lock 25 Amazing lock 40

Total Success: You can study the lock, figure out how it works, and lock it again without any check after opening it.

Total Failure: You break the tools you were using to pick the lock.