Infiltration
From D20advanced
| INFILTRATION | DEX, Requires Tools, Manipulation |
|---|
Through combinations of stealth and capabilities for getting locks open and security disabled, you are skilled at getting into places where you probably shouldn't be.
Contents |
Use
Stealth
Your Infiltration check is opposed by the Perception check of anyone who might detect you. While using Infiltration, you can move up to half your normal speed at no penalty. At more than half and up to your full speed, you take a –5 penalty. It’s practically impossible (–20 penalty) to use Infiltration while attacking, moving all out, or charging for stealth.
Size Modifiers
Apply the modifier from your size category to your Infiltration checks to represent the relative ease of noticing smaller and larger targets.
Hiding
If others have spotted you, you can't use Infiltration to remain unseen. You can run around a corner so you are out of sight and then use Infiltration to hide, but others then know which way you went. You can’t hide at all if you have absolutely no cover or concealment, since that means you're standing out in plain sight. Of course, if someone isn't looking directly at you (you're sneaking up from behind, for example), then you have concealment relative to that person. Characters with the Hide In Plain Sight feat can make Infiltration checks without the need for cover or concealment.
Creating a Diversion to Hide
A successful Persuasion check can give you the momentary diversion needed to make a Infiltration check while people are aware of you. When others turn their attention from you, you can make a Infiltration check if you can reach cover or concealment of some kind. (As a general guideline, any cover has to be within 1 foot for every rank you have in Infiltration.) This check, however, is at a –5 penalty because you have to move quickly.
Sniping
If you’re successfully hidden at least one Perception range increment away from a subject (usually 10 feet), then you can make a ranged attack and immediately hide again, but you suffer a –20 penalty to your Infiltration check.
Tailing
You can use Infiltration to tail someone at your normal speed. This assumes you have some cover or concealment (crowds of people, shadows, fog, etc.). If the subject is worried about being followed, he can make a Perception check (opposed by your Infiltration check) every time he changes course (goes around a street corner, exits a building, and so on). If he is unsuspecting, he only gets a Perception check after each hour of being tailed. If the subject notices you, you can make a Persuasion check, opposed by Perception. If you succeed, you manage to pass off your presence as coincidence and can continue tailing. A failed Persuasion check, or being noticed a second time, means the subject knows something is up.
Open Lock
You can pick conventional locks, finesse combination locks, and bypass electronic locks. You must have a lockpick set (for a mechanical lock) or an electronic tool kit (for an electronic lock). The DC depends on the quality of the lock.
| TABLE 3.8: DISABLE LOCKS | ||
| Lock Type | Example | DC |
| Cheap | Briefcase lock | 20 |
| Average | Home deadbolt | 25 |
| High quality | Business deadbolt | 30 |
| High security | Branch bank vault | 40 |
| Ultra-high security | Bank headquarters vault | 50 |
Disable Security Device
You can disable a security device, such as an electric fence, motion sensor, or security camera. You must be able to reach the actual device. If the device is monitored, your attempt to disable it will probably be noticed. When disabling a monitored device, you can prevent your tampering from being noticed. Doing so requires 10 minutes and an electronics tool kit, and increases the DC by +10.
| TABLE 3.9: DISABLE SECURITY | ||
| Device Type | Example | DC |
| Cheap | Home door alarm | 20 |
| Average | Store security camera | 25 |
| High quality | Art museum motion detector | 30 |
| High security | Bank vault alarm | 35 |
| Ultra-high security | Motion detector at Fort Knox | 40 |
Traps and Sabotage
Disabling a simple mechanical device is DC 10. More intricate and complex devices have higher DCs. You can use Infiltration to defuse explosives like the Technology skill, but at a -5 non-proficiency penalty (since Infiltration represents training with security devices and traps, not explosives specifically). If the check succeeds, you disable the device. If the check fails by 4 or less, you have failed but can try again. If you fail by 5 or more, something goes wrong. If it’s a trap or explosive, you set it off. If it’s some sort of sabotage, you think the device is disabled, but it still works normally. When you sabotage simple devices, you can rig them to work normally for a while and then fail some time later, if you choose.
Disable Technology
At the GM’s discretion, you can disable any technological device (see Chapter VI: Gear) with a DC 30 skill check. You can also disable technological creatures, like androids or robots, with the same check, but the subject must be helpless for you to make the check.
Try Again
Yes, though you must be aware you have failed in order to try again. You may not try again to hide tampering after the fact without retrying the entire check (see Challenges, below).
Action
Disabling a simple device takes two action. Intricate or complex devices require multiple rounds. Reducing a multi-round task to one round increases the DC by +20. Stealth is one action.
Special
You can take 10 when making an Infiltration check to disable a device. You can take 20 to open a lock or disable a security device, unless you are trying to prevent your tampering from being noticed.
Extended
Infiltration for stealth doesn’t normally lend itself to extended checks. However, the GM might call for an extended Infiltration check to simulate navigating through an area, such as a crowded urban environment, without being noticed (and without needing to make opposed checks for every single person the character might encounter).
Nearly any device can require an extended Infiltration check to disable rather than a simple one. A device requiring an extended check may have a lower Difficulty Class (say between 5 and 10 lower) to represent the additional work required. Extended Infiltration checks to disable devices are especially useful for heroes with skill bonuses unable to reach the highest DCs; they trade off time for a better chance of success in the long run.
Challenges
The following Challenges are appropriate for Infiltration checks:
Accelerated Stealth
You can move up to your normal speed in exchange for a –5 penalty to your Infiltration check to use stealth. In return for a –20 penalty to your check, you can move faster than your normal speed, such as by running or charging.
Hide Tampering
If you add +5 to your Difficulty Class, you can conceal any tampering with a device. Anyone who inspects the device must make a Perception check against your Infiltration check result to notice your tampering. On a failed check, it goes unnoticed.
Slip Between Cover
You can make an Infiltration check at a penalty to quickly cross an area lacking cover or concealment without automatically revealing yourself. For every 5 feet of open space you cross, you take a –5 penalty to your Infiltration check. You also take the normal penalties to your check for moving faster than half your normal speed and such. For example, you could slip past a 5-foot open doorway without being seen, or duck from shadow to shadow. Characters with the Hide In Plain Sight feat don’t need cover or concealment to hide, so these rules do not apply to them. The same is true for characters with the Concealment FX, since they’re capable of making their own concealment.
Vanishing
Stealthy characters in fiction regularly "disappear" when no one is watching them. This is essentially a use of Infiltration to hide when the character has some concealment or a distraction (no one looking directly at him, essentially). It requires a Infiltration check with a –5 penalty, and the character must be within a normal move action of an exit, or some cover or concealment (a window, skylight, ventilation duct, etc.). A successful check means the character seems to disappear; an observer looks only to discover he is gone. Characters can use Persuasion to gain the momentary distraction needed to vanish in this way. Characters with the Hide In Plain Sight feat do not need this challenge.
