I'm running a PFS adventure in play-by-post, and I just ran into this oddity. In the "Pick a Lock" section of Thievery, it says the following:
Success You open the lock, or you achieve one success toward opening a complex lock.
The "Locks" section gives the DCs and number of successes required for each type of lock, but it never says anything about a complex lock. It just gives qualities of locks, but "complex" is not one of them.
Am I missing something? Is "complex" just a modifier of a regular lock? Can I have a complex poor lock? Because I'm getting mixed messages here: "Picking a Lock"'s success and critical success conditions says you immediately unlock the lock, unless it's complex. Meanwhile, the "Lock" section says it's an X number of successes regardless of whether it's complex or not. Which is it?
Complex locks are ones that require making the check more than once.
For example,
The door leading out of this room into area F6
is locked, but it can be opened with two successful
DC 15 Thievery skill checks.
Yes, but how do I know if a lock is complex or not? Is it just noted in its statline? Why can't I find an example in the CRB?
As far as I know, it isn't detailed somewhere. But a given lock in a module will tell you how many successes it needs to open. If it doesn't say, then 1.
A complex lock is any lock that cannot be opened with a single success on a "pick a lock" roll. A success on picking a lock either opens the lock or makes tangible progress towards opening the lock in case a single success is insufficient.
Okay, thanks for that! Curious that it's never really explained anywhere, or that complex locks are apparently a GM only thing, then, since PCs can't get them (as far as I'm aware).
All of the locks and manacles that a PC can purchase in Chapter 6 are Complex Locks.
Lock: Picking a poor lock requires two successful DC
15 Thievery checks, a simple lock requires three successful
DC 20 Thievery checks, an average lock requires four
successes at DC 25, a good lock requires five successes at
DC 30, and a superior lock six successes at DC 40.
Freeing
a creature from poor manacles requires two successful
DC 17 Thievery checks, simple manacles requires three
successes at DC 22, average manacles require four successes
at DC 27, good manacles require five successes at DC 32,
and superior manacles require six successes at DC 42.