Disable Device

• Ability Score Used: Dexterity
• Usable Untrained? No
• Armor Check Penalty Applies? Yes

You are skilled at disarming traps and opening locks. In addition, this skill lets you sabotage simple mechanical devices, such as catapults, wagon wheels, and doors. To use this skill, you must be adjacent to the trap or device in question.

All attempts to disable a trap, pick a lock, jimmy a door, sabotage a siege weapon, rig a device, etc, are undertaken on the same timescale. This scale ranges from 2d4 rounds, to 1d4 rounds, to 1 round, then to a standard action, a move action, or finally a swift action. Under normal circumstances it is impossible to disable a trap or any other use of this skill any faster than that, and under normal circumstances, no matter how fast you do it, you can't use this skill more than once per round.

All attempts to disable a trap, pick a lock, jimmy a door, sabotage a siege weapon, rig a device, etc, assume the device, lock, etc is sized appropriately for a creature of size small/medium. Trying to pick a lock made for a race of extra-dimensional 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. Conversely, trying to disable the Great Wheel of Grantopia, a size Titanic-Plus water wheel, should be simple, except you need something the size of a armored galleon to jam into it. Such attempts can be made, but there is a penalty, see below.

Table: Common Disable Device Task DCs, Time Required and Modifiers

Device	Time	DC1	Take 10?	Take 20?	Example or Special Notes
Disable or rig simple device	1 round	10	No	No	Jam a lock, stick a hair on a windowsill, turn a road sign the wrong way, etc.
Disable or rig1 tricky device	1d4 rounds	151	No	No	Sabotage a wagon wheel1, disable a blacksmith bellows, jam a water wheel, etc
Disable or rig1 difficult device	2d4 rounds	Challenging check for the campaign CR1	No	No	Disable or reset a trap, sabotage a siege weapon, jam an alchemical clockwork toy, etc
Open a simple lock	1 round	20/301	Yes	Yes	Number after the slash is without using proper tools
Disable or rig1 extremely complex device	2d4 rounds	Hard check for the campaign CR1	No	No	Disable or reset a complex trap, cleverly sabotage a clockwork device, rig an Orrery to run fast or slow, tamper with a astronomical clock, etc.
Open an average lock	1 round	25/351	Yes	Yes	Number after the slash is without using proper tools
Disable a magic trap (such as a symbol spell)	varies	per trap CR, or, 25 + 2xspell level2	No	No	Only characters with the trapfinding class feature can disarm magic traps.
Open a good lock	1 round	30/401 +1 per CR after 20th	Yes	Yes	Number after the slash is without using proper tools
Open an amazing lock	1 round	40/50 or CRx2 for Epic1	Yes	Yes	Number after the slash is without using proper tools

• ¹: If you attempt to leave behind no trace of your tampering, add 5 to the DC.
• ²: See spell descriptions for specific details

Common Skill Uses

Disarm Trap or Device

When disarming a trap or other device, the Disable Device check is made secretly, so that you don't necessarily know whether you've succeeded. You announce what you wish to attempt, calculate your target and modifier to the roll, and the GM rolls, chuckles menacingly, and lets you know what happens.

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 (see table above).

If the check succeeds, you disable the device. If it fails by 4 or less, you have failed but can try again. If you fail by 5 or more, something goes wrong. If the device is a trap, you spring it. If you're attempting some sort of sabotage, you think the device is disabled, but it still works normally.

Special: A rogue who beats a trap's DC by 10 or more can study the trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it (along with her companions) without disarming it.

Retry? You can retry checks made to disable traps if you miss the check by 4 or less, though you must be aware that you fail in order to try again.

Sabotage Mechanical Item

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 1d4 rounds or minutes of use). See table above.

Open a Lock

The DC to open a lock depends on the lock's quality: simple (DC 20), average (DC 25), good (DC 30), or amazing (DC 40). Epic locks can be even better than that!

Modifiers: If you do not have a set of thieves' tools, these DCs increase by 10. Trying to pick a lock without leaving any traces you did it increases the DC by 5.

Retry? Yes. You can retry checks made to open locks.

Action

The amount of time needed to make a Disable Device check depends on the task:

• Simple Device: Disabling a simple device takes 1 round and is a full-round action.
• Complex/Intricate Device: An intricate or complex device requires 1d4 or 2d4 rounds. Attempting to open a lock is a full-round action.
• Trying to hurry: You can try to move one step down on the time chart by hurrying. If you hurry you cannot take 10 or 20, and the DC increases by 10. Ouch. You can't be faster than a swift action without something in your favor.
• Take your time: You can take your time on a trap, lock, device, rig, etc, and make things a bit easier on yourself. When you take extra time, the DC decreases by -5. You can never increase the time required by more than one step, and all attempts to take extra time must be announced before you roll the time required. Sorry, if you roll a 'four' on the 1d4, you can't try and gamble for a lucky roll on the 2d4. Taking your time on a 2d4 roll adds +1d4 rounds.

Modifiers

• Feats: If you have the Deft Hands feat, you get a +2 feat bonus on Disable Device skill checks. This bonus increases if you have certain numbers of ranks in the skill.
• Aid Another: If someone wants to help you with any of these checks, they must have Disable Device trained, and are at equal risk as you if things 'Go Badly'.
• Size Difference: For every size difference, larger or smaller, than small/medium, between the skill-using character and the device, lock, trap, rig, etc, take a cumulative -5 to the Disable Device roll.

Magical Traps

Characters with the trapfinding class feature can disarm magic traps. A magic trap generally has a DC described in the adventure or the spell description. Failing that, a base DC of 25 + double the spell level of the magic used to create it usually makes it a hard challenge.

For Example: The spells fire trap, glyph of warding, symbol, and teleportation circle also create traps that a rogue can disarm with a successful Disable Device check. Spike growth and spike stones, however, create magic traps against which Disable Device checks do not succeed. See the individual spell descriptions for details.

Epic Skill Uses

Note: All uses below require a minimum of 21 Ranks in the skill to use.

Fast Disarm

Reduce the time required to disarm a trap or open a lock by taking a -5 penalty on your Disable Device check for each step by which you reduce the time required: 2d4 rounds, 1d4 rounds, 1 round, a standard action, a move action, a swift action. You can try and hurry as much as you want, but you still can't get below a swift action.

Disable Magical Traps

If you have 21 or more ranks in Disable Device, you can disarm magical traps at a -10 penalty even if you lack the trapfinding ability. If you possess the trapfinding ability, when attempting to disable magic traps, you never trigger them, even if you perform the trigger action (such as looking at a symbol). If you fail the check, you can still trigger the trap, and you can't use this ability to bypass it.

Trap Mastery

If you are in the area of effect of a trap's effects or damage, you can attempt to mitigate the effects or damage the trap deals to you using a Disable Device check as an immediate action (adding your trap sense bonus, if any) instead of your AC or relevant saving throw. If you succeed, you take half damage (or no damage if you exceed the DC by at least 10).

Sabotage Trap

(Beat the trap's DC by 20) - Alter a trap to trigger either when you say, or when the next enemy passes it. Base 2d4 rounds, can never be hurried to be less than 1 full round of access to trap.