Not sure what kind of locked storage you are familiar with but most of the ones I have come across do not have locks on the interior, just on the exterior next to the door. See, this is where we start having problems, we have some different standards on such simple things as what constitutes a locked heavy storage room. But still, silly as I think the lock placement is I will let that slide for now.
It's not silly at all, from my point of view. It's a Mark IIIa Vilani storage lock, provided on the world of Aramis, where, 23 years ago, they passed a law that mandates that all storage lockers have the locks on both sides of the door. There was an incident, where two teenagers, who worked at an establishment where the storage locker was in an unused part of the building, inadvertently locked themselves inside the locker in order to conduct some hanky-panky. The problem is, they couldn't get out. They went missing, and eventually died of thirst. The locker was checked, but no one actually went inside the locker to search for the kids when the searcher saw that the electronic lock was engaged.
Crazy, but crazy things happen. It's a big universe. Had there been a lock on the inside, the two could have freed themselves.
Since, the Marquis of Aramis has decreed a law that storage lockers must have access on both sides of the door.
BTW, I was thinking of the storage locker that Luke Skywalker was kept in, in Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novel, Heir to the Empire. That locker had two electronic pads, one inside and one outside. Luke escaped by working on the lock from the inside.
So, where are they getting the tools? Screws are notoriously difficult to remove with merely fingers.
Screws are not used. It's an adhesive holding the face of the lock onto the circuitry. But, since the storage locker is old, the adhesive is dry, weak, and cracked. With some determined effort, the Ref rules that the face can be pulled off (and this was made clear in the example).
Right, so what is the big deal, a 2.5% better chance to achieve the same result with pure luck and less Skill? Again, that does not bother me and does not seem like it is broken.
I'm not arguing that SS, at 2.5% better, is a problem. I made it bold to use it as the base point for comparison to the other outcomes.
Now see here is where we start having real problems. That first sentence should end at "Impossible" and not continued with any thing after that word since that would imply they could even attempt it.
That's not T5, though. The task system includes tasks that are harder than Impossible. Look at page 128.
Impossible = 7D
Beyond Impossible = 8D
Hasty Beyond Impossibe = 9D
Double Hasty Beyond Impossible = 10D
And, the TiH rule can always add a die to difficulty, regardless if the difficulty category is named in the book. If you've got a 10D Double Hasty Beyond Impossible task, and the TiH rule kicks in, then you're throwing 11D on your task.
Ziip isn't even getting to work with the e-lock other than randomly pushing buttons with his nose and praying to Lords of Space that he gets out. Or, he could attempt the not so impossible task of escaping the manga-cuffs and then see if he can crack the lock.
He raises his arms behind him, feels for the face of the keypad, tears that off, and deals with the wires, attempting to hot-wire the lock.
As I stated above, he has no chance till he escapes the cuffs.
No chance at all?
In the example, only a Spectacular Success will save the guy in cuffs. Every other outcome will not.
I thought you were accusing ME of not allowing the characters to be BIG DAMN HEROES!
BDH's have a chance to escape in cuffs.
I'M GOING TO STOP HERE.
It's clear to me that, no matter what I say, you will just argue against the example and ignore the problem with T5's SS rule.
Hey, if you want to play with a broken rule, then more power to ya.
Good luck.
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