Lock and Trap Quality
by Anarion_ElendiliVery much in agreement with those house rules, although I tend to increase the time. Like the 1st attempt at the lock takes one minute, the 2nd attempt takes 10 minutes, and then the 3rd takes a full hour, after which you are done.
I would make the poor lock much easier, though, and the top tier ones much harder. Maybe something like:
Very Poor: +50% / +10 (cheap everyday use lock)
Poor: +25% / +5 (normal everyday use lock)
Standard: 0/0 (standard when you want to keep something safe)
Expert: -25% / -5 (when you really want to keep something safe and pay good money for it)
Master: -50% / -10 (OK, now you are just showing off)
The -5%/+1 is such a fiddly little modifier that I wouldn't bother.