Max number to level Open lock/Disarm trap to?

[Myminion]

leveling a rogue right now with friends, at this point i think im overkilling DC's but i dont want to be undervalued later, so i was wondering when the DC of traps and locks max out at. (i know that you can just bash open every chest apparently, but you know, roleplay. and also i leveled my rogue to level 10 and at this point i gotta go all in on this omegalul)

[soltan-heatwave]

I have encountered, in the Original Game, DC's of 100 on locks and doors. Though those are on doors and locks that you need a key for.

[Lorcryst]

Official answer from the game manual, builder section from my original boxed set is DC 35 for "built-in" traps, with some traps and doors with "Plot Armour", and only the Rogue with the synergy of Set Traps Rank 5 + Disarm Traps Rank 5+ could reach it.

It probably changed with the expansions allowing the max level of characters to go up to 40 instead of 16-20, but I haven't found anything official yet.

And of course, the DM or Persistent World Creator has the final say whan he/she/it sets the DC of the traps.

[soltan-heatwave]

Originally posted by Lorcryst:

Official answer from the game manual, builder section from my original boxed set is DC 35 for "built-in" traps, with some traps and doors with "Plot Armour", and only the Rogue with the synergy of Set Traps Rank 5 + Disarm Traps Rank 5+ could reach it.

It probably changed with the expansions allowing the max level of characters to go up to 40 instead of 16-20, but I haven't found anything official yet.

And of course, the DM or Persistent World Creator has the final say whan he/she/it sets the DC of the traps.

True, and we must remember that non-thief characters with the non class open lock / disarm trap skill set are limited to opening locks / disarming traps to DC 35. Anything over that and you need the thief class.

[Myminion]

gotcha, so in the original campaign its 35+5(disarm trap +5?) for a max dc of 40 for traps?
well, sounds like i can probs stop leveling it then lol. i would imagine the pick lock is very similar as ive seen 39 on traps and locks, and i see no point in trying to break the game for some sort of pick lock 100 to break the game with if i can even do that in normal play. thanks for the answers boys

[Lorcryst]

Originally posted by Myminion:

gotcha, so in the original campaign its 35+5(disarm trap +5?) for a max dc of 40 for traps?
well, sounds like i can probs stop leveling it then lol. i would imagine the pick lock is very similar as ive seen 39 on traps and locks, and i see no point in trying to break the game for some sort of pick lock 100 to break the game with if i can even do that in normal play. thanks for the answers boys

in the Original Campaign "The Wailing Death", locks and traps with a DC above 35 are not meant to be picked by a Rogue, they have "Plot Armour" because you actually need to get some specific items to open those. DC 35 is the maximum in that Campaign, with the exception I'll explain a bit below.

I'll admit that even after buying 3 versions of the game with all extensions and some Premium modules I have not yet started a Shadows of the Undrentide or Hordes of the Underdark Campaign, so I don't know if those have higher DCs ...

Disable Trap and Set Trap are the only skills, as far as I know, that have that "Synergy" bonus : if a Character has 5 or more Ranks in the Set Trap Skill you get a +2 Synergy Bonus on Disable Trap checks (that virtual dice roll, not the skill Rank).

Since you can "Take 20" on most Disable Trap actions, unless you try to do that in the middle of combat, Rank 13 in Disable Trap and Rank 5 in Set Trap should allow you to remove all traps in "official" content.

BUT !

There are more actions you can do on a Trap than just disabling it :

Assessing it's difficulty reduces the DC by 7.

Flagging a trap to make it visible to party members reduces the DC by 5.

Recovering a trap (to sell or use yourself later) increases the DC by 10, so it's possible to "need" a total skill check of 45 in the "Wailing Death" Campaign, by stacking the +2 Synergy Bonus and the +3 from the Feat "Skill Focus : Disable Trap" with the INT Ability Modifier (yes, Disable Trap is under INT) you would need a "Take 20" and a combination of Skill Ranks and INT Modifier of 20 to recover the biggest "not relevant to the Plot" traps.

As a side note, the Pixie familiar from a Wizard/Sorcerer is better than the rogue henchman "Tomi Undergallows" at picking locks and traps from Caster Level 5 : she has a DEX of 18 (+4 on Open Lock checks), an INT of 16 (+3 on Disable Trap checks), starts with the Feat "Skill Focus : Open Lock" at Caster Level 1 and gets the Feat "Skill Focus : Disable Traps" at Caster Level 5, all that with Rogue levels and the relevant Trained Skills (Disable Trap, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search Spot) that increase in Rank by 1 up to Caster Level 30 ... she can get Rank 30, +2 Synergy, +3 Skill Focus, +3 INT Mod AND a D20 roll on top, but I don't remember if NPCs can "Take 20".

Tomi has given me "Errr, no can do" replies as soon as Meldanen's Castle in the first Chapter while the Pixie breezes through everything.

But she's not a fighter, the Panther got the combat part of the Rogue capacities, she'll have a +5 dagger for 1D4+3 damage (STR 7) at Caster Level 40 ...

Last thing : some chests and doors CANNOT be bashed down, even without "Plot Armour", because they have a Damage Resistance rating of 45+, it's usually the low, rectangular, reinforced-looking ones and you'll find one on the Pier at the very entrance of the Penisula District in the first Chapter of the Wailing Death Campaign.

Those were placed there for Rogue Character or Henchmen/Familiar, to avoid the "me strong me break everything" trope.

[allenayen96]

If you put Magic Weapon and Flame Weapon on the Pixie along with Mage Armor she can be a KILLER PIXIE. At higher levels I add Stoneskin to the mix
BTW. If you use a weapon with fire damage on it it will burn the chest

[elvendualwielder]

Originally posted by Lorcryst:

Those were placed there for Rogue Character or Henchmen/Familiar, to avoid the "me strong me break everything" trope.

I have played an elf rogue that could actually pick those locks (somehow, but that was also on DE, not EE). Also played as a 2 handed 1 Sorc/ 4 Fighter/ X RDD that was able to bash down those doors with a magical 2 handed sword I had AND if I used Improved Power Attack AND if I rolled almost max damage. It rarely helped other than gaining access to certain rooms slightly sooner than I was supposed to, once though it was an NPC I'd never met before trapped by a magical orb.