Magical House Locks

[Teflon Billy]

Just thinking about different mass market devices for a High Magic campaign.

 

A house lock that is unpickable by mechanical means.

 

The Lock is magical, so mundane lock picks don't do anything (the lock might as well be a solid hunk of metal with a hole in it for all intents and purposes)

 

But if the owner uses their Key it opens normally.

 

Now, the Guild of Locksmiths have Master Keys (it is one of their symbols of Mastery within the Guild)

 

A Guild Master Key can open any Guild made lock, anyone that is not a member of the Guild can't use the Key and if anyone tries to use it they get a very painful shock.

 

Dispel Magic will turn the lock into an inert piece of metal, stuck in the locked position.

 

The lock itself can be drilled out normally, it isn't physically any tougher than normal locks, but it is immune to being taken apart without Guild tools.

 

How would this be written up?

 

TB

[CraterMaker]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Hmm.. I feel guilty about my first thought (Transform) but it would be the simplest -

 

Minor Transform 1d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (-1), Only On Specially Prepared Lock Limited Target (-1)

 

Which Comes Out to 3 pts.. They might have to fiddle with the lock a bit, but it IS secure..

 

-CraterMaker

[Teflon Billy]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Hmm.. I feel guilty about my first thought (Transform) but it would be the simplest -

 

Minor Transform 1d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (-1), Only On Specially Prepared Lock Limited Target (-1)

 

Which Comes Out to 3 pts.. They might have to fiddle with the lock a bit, but it IS secure..

 

-CraterMaker

Is this only to create the lock?

 

Otherwise, I figured there'd be a little more to it.

 

TB

[sbarron]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

If it's not a lock that can be picked, then I'd argue it isn't a lock at all. Create the door as a force wall, that can be deactivated only with the right key.

 

For the getting shocked part, make the key a magic item with the side effect that it shocks anyone not supposed to use it.

 

Truth is, I'd make all this just be, and wouldn't bother to stat out the details. How tough is the door? How much damage does the key shock do? That's really all you need to know. Everything else is sfx unique to the setting.

[Rapier]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

How would this be written up?

 

You don't. It's a plot device. The cost to actually try and write this up would be prohibitive. A house door lock has 3 DEF and 2 BODY. Just stick with that. The rest is all SFX.

 

If Thiefy McThief has a 28- Lockpicking and a really nice set of picks (+2 to roll), he still won't be able to open a magical lock. A skill roll cannot defeat a SFX.

[Teflon Billy]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Well, the thing is, magical lock picks would be perfectly usable at defeating the door (I forgot to mention this)

 

Part of the reason that everyone and their uncle doesn't have a Guild Master's key is that just like most guilds (book binders, goldsmiths, etc...) their magic is tied with ritual and a patron god's intersession.

 

I guess that is my key cunundrum (heh), the locks are pickable, just not by mundane objects. The barrier to entry is much higher to become a burglar (but this is why there are actual Thieves Guilds since it takes some actual organization to break into many peoples' homes in my campaign world)

 

So how do I do pickable by magic? These locks would still need a lockpicking skill check.

 

TB

[sbarron]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

I still say you just need to say it's so. Are you going to stat out every tree that the PCs might try to cut down or every wall they might climb? I doubt it. Magic locks should be the same way.

 

Magic Lock: Requires magic key to open. Can't be picked by mundane lockpicks. Can be picked normally by magic lockpicks.

[Cancer]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

This starts sounding like an opposed skill test, the burglar versus the locksmith, with modifiers for quality of magic tools on both sides.

 

In my last high fantasy campaign, I concluded that real security lay in keeping the burglars from finding the stuff that was worth stealing. Even in real life, security generally lies in making it not worth the thieves' time (and risk) to loot you, rather than making you unlootable. So there were concealment spells, false concealment spells, screaming distractor beacons, burglar alarm screams, plus some deliberate harm-causing traps, all layered on top of each other.

 

I had a lawyer NPC (working with the PCs) who had several flavors of Minor Transform spells (all of which were documents to other documents) for keeping confidential files secure. The really high-end ones included links to self-destruction effects, held in abeyance with other spells which had a deliberately lowered dispel threshhold.

[mattingly]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Buy the Base with the skill Lockpicking 14-, No Normal Defense (the defense is having the master key or being a guildmaster). A weird advantage to apply to a skill, especially a base attribute skill, but it works for me.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Is this only to create the lock?

 

Otherwise, I figured there'd be a little more to it.

 

TB

 

... Lets say you have a hunk of metal that resembles a lock but doesn't have any way to be opened (no gears, no tumblers- just a hole for the key).. The only way to open it would be to magically change it's shape, from a closed lock to an open lock. Ergo, transform that only works on a hunk of metal enchanted by the Guild of Locksmiths. The key casts the transform spell. Tack on a limitation that it can be picked by other magical means, and it'll probably come out to 2 pts.

 

-CraterMaker

[gojira]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

I was going to say Entangle the door. If you want an actual lock, then it's IIF.

 

But I'm not sure mechanically how to get the door to remain locked after the magic is Dispelled. Maybe add a Transform on the IIF, so that it locks itself when triggered (locked).

 

Hmm, that's a little ugly, but Transform might be what you want. Take a chuck of metal, solid but shaped like the lock, Enchant it to perform Transforms on itself: Locked to Unlocked and vice versa...

[Teflon Billy]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

I understand it might be not the easiest thing to simulate in the system, but I do think it's a legitmate and plausible form that a mundane magical item might come about.

 

So I guess a standard effect Major (Minor?) Transform with a trigger (Key Inserted/Key Removed)

 

The Key would have a Triggered EB (Damage Shield?) "not Proper User"

 

TB

[Edsel]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

In a world with magic the low active point cost of such locks would make them very suseptible to Supress or Dispel. You'll need to give it some defense against this or else a person with Detect vs. Magic, Analyse will Dispel such a lock easily.

[Teflon Billy]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

In a world with magic the low active point cost of such locks would make them very suseptible to Supress or Dispel. You'll need to give it some defense against this or else a person with Detect vs. Magic' date=' Analyse will Dispel such a lock easily.[/quote']In the game world, access to magical knick knacks is easy, access to real spell casting is not so easy (at least not for your average non-adventurer)

 

I figured that'd be the value added feature, x# Difficult to Dispel levels would indicate the level of masterwork of the Lock.

 

Primarily the locks would eliminate mundane lockpick burglars in the game world and require a bit more professionalism/training to make a go of it.

 

TB

[Krieghandt]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

I think your going at it backwards. I like the door as a force wall idea. Now, instead of changing the FW into a lock, change the key into a suppress (magical locks only). Now guild keys would be OIF, and theif tools would be IIF. Add in a simple side effect NND (defense, blessed by Locksmith patron god) for the Guild key, and viola, one mechanically unpickable lock. Add some power defense for midlevel locks and PD/difficult to dispell for the high end locks. These would also be hardened to prevent teleportation. Yep, good ideas, think I'll steal them for my self.

Krieghandt

[SpydirShellX]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Or even better - Make the key into Tunneling - Only through a defined doors, Fill In(By closing the door). Define the doors as part of the wall, since only a key can open it up.

 

Or define it as a teleport gate - only to the other side of the wall with a required focus of a key.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

You can also work difficulty of dispelling these trinkets into your campain, when your using the toolkit to craft your game- it can be added on the front side rather than the back side (the points characters must pay for the item)..

 

... Come to think of it, frontside is a good place to take care of a lot of problems like this.. hmm..

 

-CraterMaker

[Alcamtar]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Some ideas:

 

The lock itself is a solid piece of iron (or stone?). No moving parts, nothing to pick. The lock itself isn't magical so there is nothing to Dispel. Applying the key causes the "loop" part of the lock to become desolidified so it can be removed. Or, if the lock is built into a door, it is a solid non-moving deadbolt that desolidifies in order to allow the door to be opened or closed.

 

Two ways you could model this:

 

(a) the Key has a Suppress that applies to the lock. If the lock is 3 BODY 3 DEF then that's equivalent to a 30 AP Entangle that needs to be suppressed in order to open it. The owner has a key that only works for his lock, while the master locksmiths have a universal key. However if you could Suppress it then you could also Dispel it, so this is still kind of a "plot device" solution.

 

Key: Suppress 10d6, No END (+1/2), No Range

OAF key (-1), independent (-2), only works on keyed lock (-2),

gestures: apply key to lock (-1/4); Active: 75, Real: 12

 

( The Key is a Desolidification that only applies to the lock. This would be a very expensive way to build it but very secure.

 

Key: Desolidification, No END (+1/2), Usable on Others (+1/2),

OAF key (-1), independent (-2), only works on keyed lock (-2),

gestures: apply key to lock (-1/4); Active: 80, Real: 13

 

Guildmaster's Key: Each guildmaster has his own key, and they cannot use each other's keys. A guildmaster's key can only be used on locks he himself has made, so if anyone ever opens the lock the master is the prime suspect. The master's key has a 60 pt side effect that is triggered if anyone other than that guildmaster tries to use his master key, OR if he tries to use his key on a lock he did not make. (Locks are carefully marked for this reason!) The side effect is as 12d6 EB intended to knock out and injure a miscreant.

 

© An extra-secure lock could have X points of Power Defense against any key except it's own. This would protect against forged keys (that could be presumably be made by any wizard). Secured locks could also have glyphs (Damage Shield) against forced entry, alarms triggered by passwords, and so forth.

[Markdoc]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

Is it just me, or is this getting way over the top?

 

A GM can (and should) assign difficulties for picking a lock defined on its level of sophistication - I generally (if it's a special lock) make it skill vs skill (lockpicker versus locksmith).

 

I'd simply allow PS: Magical locksmith. You can make magical locks. The GM can easily decide that magical locks are impossible to pick with normal tool, or give a -5, or, if he wants to cost things out, allow the skill to be bought up with (for example) a -1 limitation versus non-magical lockpicks. (I'd give -1 since it sounds like the limitation is well known, and I figure PC thieves will rapidly try to acquire magical tools)

 

So:

PS: magical locksmith 12 - (2 pts, assuming an INT of at least 13) 17- vs non-magical lockpicks (+5 points for 7 total). Levels with general magic could presumably be applied as well.

 

Note, the GM doesn't actually need to know who the locksmith was - he just needs to assign a difficulty, exactly as he would for any normal lock.

 

cheers, Mark

[Krieghandt]

Re: Magical House Locks

 

What is this "over the top" you speak of?

Seriously, I do like some of the ideas, if only for other uses.