Lockpicking Reaction Roll

Here’s another 2d6 Results table for a thief skill, in this case for lockpicking. Thieves add half their level to the roll, but a natural roll of 2 always fails. You might want to be generous and say that a thief only jams a lock on a modified roll of 2 when picking a low-level lock, but still breaks the lockpick. Low-level means that the lock’s complexity or difficulty level is lower than the thief’s level. I define a lock’s level as 0 for a typical door lock in a town, or equal to the dungeon level, unless otherwise specified. A merchant, for example, will probably have a higher-level lock to protect valuables.

2d6	Result	Description
2	Very Bad	lockpick breaks, jamming lock
3-5	Bad	lockpick breaks, but may try again, if you have another pick
6-8	Average	unlock low-level lock
9+	Good	unlock any lock
(12)	Very Good	(non-thief unlocks lock)

Treat unjamming a jammed lock as a separate lockpick attempt. In other words, with the right tools, the thief can remove the broken lockpick, clearing the lock, and allowing further lockpicking attempts.

If the thief has no professional tools, they can improvise, shifting all results one step worse (unlocking low-level locks on 9+, other locks on a 12.) Thieves do not ignore “jam” results on a natural 2 when using improvised tools.

Non-thieves, if you allow them to pick locks, also shift all results one step worse. Non-thieves cannot quickly improvise tools. Instead, they must try to make a tool, then use that as an improvised tool. This will slow things down quite a bit, compared to thieves.

You can follow the same rules described for non-thieves removing traps: treat effective level as zero unless trained, in which case use years of experience, and the maximum roll possible equals the character’s Dexterity. Non-thieves never get a level bonus to the roll, even if they have mundane training.

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