Disable Device

Description

Ability Score Used:	Dexterity
Armor Check Penalty Applies?	Yes

You are skilled at disarming traps and opening locks. In addition, this skill lets you sabotage mechanical devices, such as catapults, wagon wheels, and doors. You can even use disable device to perform more elaborate bits of sabotage, such as slowing down or speeding up a clock, so someone leaves for an appointment at the wrong time.

As with all skills, the uses below are merely suggestions, and by no means the full gamut of possible ways a skill can be used. Players and GM's are encouraged to find additional ways to use each skill.

Pick Lock

You can use disable device to pick a lock. You must be adjacent to the lock to attempt to pick it.
Action Required:	Full-round action
DC of Check:	The base DC to pick a lock varies, based on the quality of the lock. Higher quality locks are often magically enhanced, but unless the specific magical effect states otherwise, the fact that a lock is magic or mundane does not affect its DC to pick. Quality of Lock DC to Pick Simple 20 Average 25 Good 30 Superior 40 Peerless 50
Modifiers to Check	Thieves' Tools: If you do not have a set of thieves' tools, these DCs increase by +10. Leave No Trace: Trying to pick a lock without leaving any traces you did it increases the DC by +5. Size Disparity: For every size category difference between you and the size of the creature for whom the lock was designed, the DC to pick the lock increases by +2. Thus, a sized-small creature attempting to pick a sized-large creature's lock (or vice versa) would have the DC increased by +4, since there is a two size categories difference. Trying to pick a lock made for a race of extradimensional sprites who are size 'Fine' means you're trying to pick a lock so small you can barely find it, much less get a tool in it. Defensive Lock Picking: You may attempt to pick a lock without provoking attacks of opportunity, but doing so increases the DC by 10, and an additional +2 for each enemy creature after the first. If you fail the check, you not only fail to pick the lock, you also provoke attacks of opportunity from any threatening enemies. Hurry: If you beat the target DC by a large amount (and didn't take 10 or take 20), you end up picking the lock more quickly than a full round action, as detailed below. Note that you can never reduce the time to pick a lock to less than a swift action, no matter how much you beat the DC by. If you exceed the DC by: Time to pick the lock is reduced to: 5 Standard Action 10 Move Action 15 Swift Action
Take 10? / Take 20?	Since (non-trapped) locks have no consequences for failure, you can take 10 or even take 20 on a pick lock check, if you are willing to take extra time to do so. If you take 10 or take 20, you cannot reduce the time it takes to pick the lock, regardless of your check result; it always takes a full-round action if you take 10, and it always takes 20 rounds (2 minutes) if you take 20.
Allows Assists?	Unless the lock is at least one size category larger than normal for a creature your size (see size disparity, in the Modifiers section, above), your allies cannot assist a lock picking attempt. There simply isn't room for extra hands to get in there and help out. If the lock is large enough to allow assists, your allies must be adjacent to the lock, just like you, in order to assist. Assisting allies who do not have thieves' tools suffer a -10 penalty to their assist check.
Results of Success	The lock is unlocked.
Consequences of Failure	The lock fails to open.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, you may make additional attempts to pick a lock. You may never attempt to pick a lock more than once per round.
Provokes AOO?	Yes

Dismantle Trap

Dismantle Trap is a combat maneuver. You can never perform more than one combat maneuver per round, even if you have sufficient actions to do so. The only exception to this is spending an action point, where that action point grants you an action sufficient to perform another maneuver, in which case a second maneuver in the same round is permitted. Dismantle Trap is used to inflict siege damage to traps (since traps, like all objects, are immune to normal damage) in a way that attempts to avoid any of the trap's built-in countermeasures. While Sunder can also be used to smash traps, traps are nearly always built to retaliate against such brute-force methods. Dismantle trap attempts to avoid setting off these countermeasures, while still damaging the trap to the point that it ceases being a threat. All traps have an origin space, which is often, but not always, the point from which the horrible damaging effect spews out. If the trap is larger or more potent, it will often have an origin space in which the controls are mounted, and an emitter space from which the damage comes (the emitter crystal for a crushing ray trap, for example). In order to perform a Dismantle Trap maneuver, a character must be adjacent to the trap's origin space (not an emitter space), even if they have a reach weapon, or some feat, ability, or size modifier that grants them reach. That being said, the Dismantle Trap maneuver can be attempted by anyone, regardless of the weapon they are wielding, even if they are unarmed. While Thieves' Tools are very useful for dismantling traps, they are not required. Where unattended objects that are fashioned from, or reinforced with, metal or stone can only be Sundered by a weapon with the Sunder quality, traps are fiddly things with many moving parts and precision(-ish) fittings, and can therefore be dismantled or sundered by any weapon (there are rare exceptions to this; some traps are specifically reinforced against sunders). Most traps are quite durable, requiring tens or even hundreds of points of siege damage to dismantle. Traps become broken when their Durability is reduced to 0 or less by siege damage inflicted. Be warned, however, that many traps are designed to explode in a final gout of calamity when destroyed. Even worse, most traps will also make a large final attack at the end of any round in which there are no enemies present, if they haven't been Dismantled by that time. These final attacks cause the trap to be temporarily out of service (and they are considered defeated for purposes of treasure and XP), but the trap will usually reset itself a minute or two afterwards. Unlike normal weapon damage, siege damage has access to very few modifiers. Very few feats, weapon qualities, or magic weapon properties exist that increase the amount of siege damage a character can inflict. As a general rule, damage increases never apply to siege damage, unless the ability explicitly states it increases siege damage.
Action Required:	Attack Action (i.e. as a standard action, or in place of any attack during a full attack action).
DC of Check:	The trap's Maneuver Defense
Modifiers to Check	If you are wielding Thieves' Tools in both hands when you perform the Dismantle Trap maneuver, you inflict the bonus damage provided by the Thieves' Tools (namely, you add your character level to the siege damage you inflict) on a successful Dismantle Trap attempt. Note that thieves' tools are not required to perform Dismantle Trap; you can perform this maneuver with any weapon, or even no weapon.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	No
Results of Success	Success: If your check equals or exceeds the trap's maneuver defense, you inflict 1d6 points of base Siege Damage to the trap. Like base weapon damage, base siege damage increases at each experience tier of the character, namely at 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 26th, and 31st levels, as described below: Character Level Siege Damage 1 - 5 1d6 6 - 10 2d6 11 - 15 3d6 Character Level Siege Damage 16 - 20 4d6 21 - 25 5d6 26 - 30 6d6 Character Level Siege Damage 31+ 7d6 - - - - Critical Success: If your check exceeds the trap's maneuver defense by 5 or more, the siege damage you inflict on the trap is doubled. The doubling is applied to any other adders you are able to include with your siege damage (such as the bonus to siege damage provided by wielding Thieves' Tools).
Consequences of Failure	Failing to equal or exceed the trap's Maneuver Defense on your attempt will typically trigger the trap's Anti-Tamper attack. In most cases, a trap's Anti-Tamper attack is an Immediate Action, meaning it can be performed outside of the trap's turn, but can only be used once per round. Some traps can use their Anti-Tamper attack more than once per round, but this is uncommon.
Retry Allowed?	Yes
Provokes AOO?	Yes

Sabotage Device

Sabotage Device covers a wide spectrum of messing with mechanical devices to cause them to behave differently than intended. You 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 1d4 rounds or minutes of use). This skill use also includes jamming a lock so it cannot be opened, turning road signs the wrong way, altering an alchemical clock to run faster or slower, or even altering a sextant or compass to give incorrect results. A successful act of sabotage also includes covering up your sabotage from casual observation. Creatures who investigate a sabotaged item can detect that it has been tampered with by making a successful perception check versus a Challenging DC, based on the level or CR of the character or creature who performed the sabotage in the first place. However, such a roll requires that the creature actively look. Successful acts of sabotage cannot be detected with passive perception. Thus, only a suspicious creature, or one who has been given some indication that something might be wrong, would even get to roll. Note that the difficulty to perceive sabotage can also be increased by the creature attempting the sabotage, by increasing the DC (see Modifiers, below).
Action Required:	The action required to sabotage a device varies by the complexity of the device, or the complexity of the sabotage intended. While a compass is a simple device, it is difficult to sabotage it such that it points East instead of North, for example. The table below gives some guidelines for GM's to adjudicate the action required. Complexity of Device Difficulty to Sabotage Easy Average Challenging Hard Impossible Simple Standard Action Full Round Action 1d4 rounds 2d4 rounds 2d4+5 rounds Tricky Full Round Action 1d4 rounds 2d4 rounds 2d4+5 rounds 1d10 minutes Complex 1d4 rounds 2d4 rounds 2d4+5 rounds 1d10 minutes 1d4 hours Elaborate 2d4 rounds 2d4+5 rounds 1d10 minutes 1d4 hours 1d4 days Convoluted 2d4+5 rounds 1d10 minutes 1d4 hours 1d4 days 2d6+2 days
DC of Check:	The DC to sabotage a device is also based on the complexity of the device, or how difficult the device is to alter. The difficulty to alter a device is increased if you are trying to make it behave in a way that would be extremely unlikely for it to behave. For example, altering a clock to attack nearby mice is much harder than altering the clock to run slower or faster than normal. Complexity of Device Difficulty to Sabotage Easy Average Challenging Hard Impossible Simple 10 15 20 25 30 Tricky 15 20 25 30 35 Complex 20 25 30 35 40 Elaborate 25 30 35 40 45 Convoluted 30 35 40 45 50
Modifiers to Check	Leave No Trace: While any successful sabotage requires a Challenging DC perception check (versus the level or CR of the creature who sabotaged the device), you may increase the target DC by +10 to increase this to a Hard DC perception check. You can instead increase the DC by +20 if you wish to make it an Impossible DC perception check. Size Disparity: For every size category difference between you, and the size of the creature by whom the device was designed, the DC increases by +2. Thus, a sized-small creature attempting to sabotage a sized-large creature's device (or vice versa) would have the DC increased by +4, since there is a two size categories difference. Defensive Sabotage: You may attempt to sabotage a device without provoking attacks of opportunity, but doing so increases the DC by +10, and an additional +2 for each enemy creature after the first. If you fail the check, you not only fail to sabotage the device, you also provoke attacks of opportunity from any threatening enemies. Take Your Time: You can voluntarily increase the time required to sabotage a device, and thereby decrease the DC. You may increase the time take by one step on the time progression table (below), in exchange for a -5 reduction of the target DC. You cannot reduce the DC by more than -5 (one step). You must declare you are taking your time before you attempt the skill check, and before the GM rolls to see how long the sabotage attempt will take. (That is, you can't use take your time to make the GM re-roll an unfavorable result.) Hurry: You can attempt to reduce the time required to sabotage a device by voluntarily increasing the sabotage DC before you make the check. Each step faster on the time progression table increases the total DC by +5, cumulatively. Note that you can never reduce the time to sabotage a device to less than a swift action, no matter how much you increase the DC by. Time Increments 4d10+10 days 2d6+2 days 1d4 days 1d4 hours 1d10 minutes 2d4+5 rounds 2d4 rounds 1d4 rounds Full round action Standard action Move action Swift action
Take 10? / Take 20?	Because there are consequences for failure (you might fail to sabotage the device but believe you succeeded), you cannot take 10 or take 20 when attempting to sabotage a device. Even if you have some special ability which allows you to break this rule, you may not use the take your time or hurry modifiers when sabotaging the device, if you choose to take 10 or take 20. If you take 10, the sabotage attempt always takes the maximum listed time for the device in question, and if you take 20, the sabotage takes 20 times the maximum listed time for the device.
Allows Assists?	Allies who wish to assist your sabotage check must stand adjacent to the device. If there is not enough room for an ally to stand adjacent to the device, then they cannot render assistance.
Results of Success	You sabotage or alter the device to behave in a way you prefer.
Consequences of Failure	If you fail by 4 or less, you are aware that the device was not successfully sabotaged. If you fail by 5 or more (or roll a natural 1), you believe the device was successfully sabotaged. In any case, failure means the device continues to behave normally, despite your efforts.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, but only if you are aware that the device was not successfully sabotaged.
Provokes AOO?	Yes

Mitigate Trap Damage (Epic)

If you are caught within a trap's area of effect when it goes off, you can attempt to mitigate the damage the trap deals to you by making a Disable Device check as an immediate action (adding your trap sense bonus, if any) in place of a saving throw. If you choose to use Disable Device to mitigate trap damage, you may no longer make a regular saving throw for the trap — you must use your Disable Device check result instead. This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	Immediate action
DC of Check:	The same as the saving throw DC of the trap (if any). If the trap does not allow a save, this skill use cannot be attempted.
Modifiers to Check	If you have the Trap Sense class feature, you may add its bonus to your Disable Device check.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	No
Results of Success	If you succeed, you take half damage (or one quarter damage if you exceed the DC by at least 10). If you choose to use mitigate trap damage, your Evasion class feature (if any) does not apply (since you didn't roll a Reflex save).
Consequences of Failure	You take full damage from the trap.
Retry Allowed?	No
Provokes AOO?	No

Delay Trap Trigger (Epic)

Instead of disarming a trap, you can alter the trap's trigger such that the trap activates either a particular number of rounds from now, or when the next creature passes it. If you choose to make it go off after a set number of rounds, you must declare how many rounds in the future (starting at the top of the next round) the trap will go off, at the time you succeed in delaying the trap's trigger. Note that, if you or any of your allies are still in the area of effect, your alterations do not protect them from the trap's effects. This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	as Disarm Trap
DC of Check:	+20 to the DC normally required to disarm this trap.
Modifiers to Check	as Disarm Trap
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Allies who wish to assist your delay trap trigger check must stand adjacent to the trap, just like you, and are always included in the target area of the trap, in the event it is accidentally set off. If there isn't enough room for an ally to stand adjacent to the trap, then they cannot render assistance. The assisting ally must also have at least 21 ranks in disable device to assist.
Results of Success	The trap's trigger has been successfully modified to either go off after a set number of rounds you have declared, or when the next creature passes it.
Consequences of Failure	If you fail by 4 or less, you are aware you failed to alter the trigger successfully, but nothing bad happens. If you fail by 5 or more, you trigger the trap.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, if the trap has not been triggered. If the trap was triggered, no.
Provokes AOO?	Yes