Guest Post - Locked Doors and Investigative RPGs

If you play Delta Green, or any other investigative RPG, for any length of time you will inevitably run into a ‘locked door’ — an obstacle in the path of the investigation that seems insurmountable, at least with the skills you personally have. However, if you apply some critical thinking and creativity to the problem there are often quite a few ways through that locked door well within your grasp. This blog post offers some examples for getting through a literal locked door and hopefully will inspire Agents and Handlers alike to think more creatively about solutions.

This list is hardly complete and in several circumstances different skills could very validly be used for the same purpose. It is not meant to be a definitive list of ways to get past a lock or a guide to breaking and entering. It is merely meant to serve as inspiration.

You and your fellow agents are surveilling a cult compound, it comes the time to make entry and you work your way up to the door. It’s heavy and securely locked…

...luckily, you have Craft (Locksmith), so once you’ve checked the coast is clear you quickly pick the lock and disassemble the mechanism. Once you’ve snapped a few pictures you put it all back and no one is any the wiser. Once you are back at the safe house you can cut a set of keys to the compound for the whole team.

...luckily, you have Special Training (Lockpicks), so you pull the pouch of tools from your coat and feel for each of the pins as you work the torque. In a few seconds you begin to ease the door open and peer inside.

...luckily, you have Criminology, so after glancing around for a few seconds you grab an old wire coat hanger from the dumpster out front and slip it under the door. You push it up and then quickly down again, searching for the handle. In a minute you have it and you put your weight against the door, listening carefully as you start to push it open.

...luckily, you have Athletics, so you don’t bother with the door and after making sure no one who cares is watching make a running jump for the fire escape. The rattle is far too loud and you wince as you rush up to the roof as fast as you can, but no one is waiting for you with a gun and you seem to have gotten away with it.

...luckily, you have Science (Physics), so you stand back and do your best to do the math in your head. You are pretty sure you have it in a few seconds and wedge the crowbar in just the right place before putting your weight into it. Who needs all that muscle mass when you have brains?

...luckily, you have Persuade, so you adjust your clothes over the vest one last time and take a deep breath before knocking. “Why the fuck weren’t you waiting for me with the shit loaded!?” You bellow at the stunned man in the doorway, doing your best to ignore the .44 in his waistband or the ritual scars crisscrossing his face. “Didn’t upstairs tell you I was coming? You know what, never mind just let me see what you’ve fucked up now.”

...luckily, you have Search, so you leave the door and start checking the windows. Sure enough somebody forgot to lock the last one. You pull it open slowly and boost yourself up to look inside before slithering in.