Topic: How long should it take to pick a lock?

[magritte@shaw.ca]

I'm going to be in a situation where a thief will be using lockpicking skills under some time pressure and need to decide how long it's going to take him to open the door.  As my own thieving skills are rather limited, I have no sense of what a reasonable length of time to pick a typical medieval technology lock with an appropriate tool set would be.  I'll probably modify the base time up or down depending on the degree of success, but I don't have a good sense of what a normal time for a skilled lockpicker might be.  What have other people used? 

[Ecthelion]

IIRC School of Hard Knocks - which btw is in most parts perfectly usable for all RM versions - does specify the time to be <difficulty rating> * <difficulty rating> rnds. So a Routine (rating 1) lock would take 1*1 = 1 rnd while a Medium (rating 4) lock would take 4*4 = 16 rounds.

[Fornitus]

 Just as an aside, in moddern locks, a locksmith I saw the other day at a job we were both at, (the tenents locked their keys on the counter for the owner ) popped a deadbolt once everything was signed in about 20 or 30 seconds.
   I just looked away and the owner was entering wheen I turned back around.
 
 This is with all the special tools and such though.

[Erik Sharma]

Ya and I have picked the lock on my own car and my mothers car in just a couple of seconds (an very old Saab 900 and a Mazda 323). I guess it all depends on the lock the suggested times in Hard Knocks seem reasonable.

[magritte@shaw.ca]

Okay, I've gone with those...it makes for an interesting situation because the thief in question has five minutes to work before he's discovered.  There are several locked doors and he's not sure which is the one he wants, so...definitely will be under some time pressure.  Thanks.

[Karizma]

If you look around on the internet, you can find a neat guide for lock-picking (search for "MIT Guide to Lockpicking").  I've been taught that it's a good idea as a GM to understand everything your characters are doing (I once had a party on a boat, and then I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about nautical activity.  To make it worse, one player was in the Navy, so he helped me understand some of the necessary bits about being on a boat.)

From my understanding, the basic ideas of locks are the same from the medieval ages, and have only refined in complexity.  So with this knowledge, you could "intensify" the situation by making it a series of quick maneuvers for each tumbler.  With each tumbler a specific Maneuver, you can play out the encounter over a specific time.  Normally, I wouldn't do this for picking a lock, but if the moment is dramatic, I wouldn't sum it up to one roll.

[Skaran]

If you get to see the 2 part series the Hogfather there is an interesting scene where the locksmith is trying to pick a six lock door, unfortunately every now and again the lock changes since it is magic.

[markc]

 If you also know the inside of the lock it is a lot easier to pick.

MDC

[ironmaul]

Apparently it takes about ten minutes for an unfarmilure lock for a locksmith. I read this in a magazine regarding lockpicking shown in movies and the realality of how fast it can be done. Although if the locksmith is familure with the type of lock/type then I guess the time to pick it would be shorter.

[thrud]

Lock Lore

[Aspire2Hope]

I'm dropping this info dump here because I had been thinking about the same thing and also the generic difference between a "normal" Medieval type Warded lock and a more complex crafted lock with ingenious mechanism. IF I store this here then there is more chance I can find the info when I need it.

The fastest time for modern locksmiths appears to be in the 10 sec range but they know the lock and have picked it multiple times before and they tended to be the locks that only took 1-2 min to pick.

Wafer locks - less than 1 minute. 2 or 3 minutes for car door locks.
Masterlock locks - Less than 1 minute.
Tubular locks - 1 to 10 minutes
Disc Detainer locks - 2 to 20 minutes
Schlage/Kiwkset door knobs and deadbolts - less than 2 minutes
Medeco - 5 to 10 minutes
Assa Abloy - 5 to 10 minutes
Mul T Lock - 20 to 30 minutes. Probably more.

[jdale]

It's probably reasonable to reduce the time to 30-50% of the base if they get an absolute success. Since you would get bonuses for good equipment, for being familiar with the lock, good lighting, etc, not to mention for being very skilled, all those things increase the chance of an absolute success and a quick pick.

Partial success will require multiple tries (roll again with a bonus) so that's how it will take you longer than the base. Regular failure could take the base time, absolute failure could result in spending a lot more time. E.g. I've seen someone spend an hour trying to pick a lock and not get it. But he was sure he could given just a little more time.

[Aspire2Hope]

Thanks for the reply JDale. I was thinking more of the base time for each complexity level of lock that could then be modified by the roll and modifiers to give longer and shorter times. The SM table does work for each one, but in its current state needs multiple rolls if a partial success is achieved. I think I have a reasonable mechanic now and can apply this to other situations when I have some solid information. Unfortunately, it does need a chart but only to simplify the calculation time.

The Excel sheet attached is my consideration of picking locks from the times given by "experts" on the net based on them not being under any pressure and being in a comfortable situation.

Essentially, I thought about the type of non-magical locks for a fantasy setting as a technology level and settled on 7 mins for an absurd lock and worked back. I compared times taken using SM and MM roll tables based on 100%. I compared the perfomance of an unskilled, tyro, apprentice, journeyman, master and expert lock picker based on skill level (roughly) to see how that affected the time taken and success.


My take on it is that the SM table gives a very black and white result either you do it quick or you do it very slow. Also it limits the chance of the idiot wiggling the lock and being able to open a difficult lock but allows them to open a simple one as quickly as an expert, which to me is just a poor reward to effort ratio. The MM table gave a better gradation in the time taken and still allowed for all levels to pick a lock just it is more likely to take you a couple of hours the less skillful you are.

This gives me a chance of a mechanic that runs along the lines of either the player gives an amount of time they are prepared to spend on the lock and after the roll they either stop when it is open or at the time limit. Or hidden roll and GM tells them how much time has elapsed and manages things that might happen during the time, which makes the players work out if the gamble on time is worth the reward.