Disable Device

(Dexterity; Armor Check Penalty; Trained Only)

Use this skill to Disarm a trap, open or jam a lock (in either the open or closed position), or rig a wagon wheel to fall off. You can examine a fairly simple or fairly small mechanical device and disable it. The effort requires at least a simple tool of the appropriate sort (a pick, pry bar, saw, file, etc.). Attempting a Disable Device check without a set of thieves' tools carries a -2 circumstance penalty, even if a simple tool is employed. The use of masterwork thieves' tools enables you to make the check with a +2 Circumstance Bonus.

Check

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. 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. 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. 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). You can try to sabotage a siege engine so that appears functional until it is first used, but doing so increases the DC by 5. Bypass Trap: You try to incorporate a bypass element enabling you to avoid a trap's effects if you encounter it again later. Doing this imposes a -10 penalty on your Disable Device check. If you succeed, you can not only bypass a trap without disarming it (just as if you had beat the trap's DC by 10 or more, see below) but also add a bypass element allowing you or your companions to avoid triggering the trap again later. For example, you could insert a wedge that blocks the gears of a mechanical trap, or pick out a narrow path between the pressure plates that trigger poison darts from the wall. Quick Disable: You can try to disable a device more quickly than normal. To reduce the time required to disable any device, add the modifiers below to the DC. For example, a trap that normally requires a DC 20 check and 2d4 rounds to Disarm could be disabled in 1 round with a successful DC 40 check.

The DC for opening a lock varies from 20 to 40, depending on the quality of the lock. Attempting to open a lock without a set of thieves' tools carries a -10 circumstance penalty rather than the normal -2. Quick Lockpick: You can try to open a lock more quickly than normal. To reduce the time required to open any lock, add the DC modifiers listed in the open locks check table.

Action

The amount of time needed to make a Disable Device check depends on the task, as noted above. Disabling a simple device takes 1 round and is a Full-Round Action. An intricate or complex device requires 1d4 or 2d4 rounds. Opening a lock is a Full-Round Action.

Try Again

Varies. You can retry disabling a device if you have missed the check by 4 or less, though you must be aware that you have failed in order to try again. Disabling a lock can be repeated.

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.

Restriction

Rogues (and other characters with the trapfinding class feature) can disarm magic traps. A magic trap generally has a DC of 25 + the Spell Level of the magic used to create it. 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. Locks cannot be picked untrained, but they may be otherwise bypassed or Broken.

Other Ways to Beat a Trap

It's possible to ruin many Traps without making a Disable Device check. Ranged Attack Traps: Once a trap's location is known, the obvious way to ruin it is to smash the mechanism - assuming the mechanism can be accessed. Failing that, it's possible to plug up the holes from which the projectiles emerge. Doing this prevents the trap from firing unless its ammunition does enough damage to break through the plugs. Melee Attack Traps: These devices can be thwarted by smashing the mechanism or blocking the weapons, as noted above. Alternatively, if a character studies the trap as it triggers, they might be able to time their dodges just right to avoid damage. A character who is doing nothing but studying a trap when it first goes off gains a +4 Dodge Bonus against its attacks if it is triggered again within the next minute. Pits: Disabling a pit trap generally ruins only the trapdoor, making it an uncovered pit. Filling in the pit or building a makeshift bridge across it is an application of manual labor, not the Disable Device skill. Characters could neutralize any spikes at the bottom of a pit by attacking them - they break just as daggers do. Magic Traps: Dispel Magic helps here. Someone who succeeds on a Caster Level check against the level of the trap's creator suppresses the trap for 1d4 rounds. This works only with a targeted Dispel Magic, not the area version (see the spell description).

Skill Unlock

A character who selects this skill for the Signature Skill feat or a Rogue who selects it for their Rogue's Edge class ability gains the following abilities when they reach the designated number of ranks in this skill:

5 Ranks: 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.
10 Ranks: 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.
15 Ranks: When attacked by a trap, you can attempt a Disable Device check as an Immediate Action (adding your trap sense bonus, if any) opposed by the trap’s attack roll or its save DC. If you succeed, you take half damage (or no damage if you exceed the DC by at least 10).
20 Ranks: You halve the penalties for performing a quick disarm as described in the 5 Ranks entry. If you possess the trapfinding ability and accept a –20 penalty while using the ability unlocked at 15 ranks, all nearby allies gain the benefit, and you disable the trap as an Immediate Action before it can trigger if you exceed the DC by at least 10.