How can I rob the church collection box if I'm not playing a rogue?

I've just picked up the Tithe Box from Dawnbringer Natrisse, who has asked me to deliver it to Brother Merring back in West Harbor. I remember from past playthroughs that it's possible, through some skill checks, to open the box, and skim a little off the top before making the delivery for some bonus XP, Gems, and Gold. Unfortunately, while I seem to be able to buff myself enough to pass the initial Search check, I can't pass the Disable Device check, nor can I pawn it off to Neeshka.

What's the minimum Disable Device skill required to rob the church box? Are there other, further skill checks required that I'm forgetting about? Or is it just flat out impossible to get enough Disable Device from buffs and equipment alone to pass this check as anything other than a Rogue?

Solution 1:

Minimum Disable Device skill rank required: 16
It uses the raw skill rank only, and does not take into account any skill buffs or ability bonuses.

To figure this out, I opened up the NWN 2 campaign in the toolset editor, and tracked down the conversation script for the tithe box.

Conversation Script

Click the image to open in the entire window. You may have to click on the image again to zoom in.

Key Points from the Script

• gc_skill_rank(19,15) Player can detect the trap if they have a Search skill of 15.
• gc_skill_rank(7,16) Player can disarm the trap if they have a Disable Device skill of 16.

gc_skill_rank function

gc_skill_rank(int nSkill, int nRank)
Determine if PC Speaker has sufficient rank in a particular skill.

Parameters:
int nSkill = skill int to check (19 == Search, 7 == Disable Device)
int nRank = minimum rank to return TRUE

gc_skill_rank checks for raw skill ranks only; It does not consider skill buffs or ability bonuses.

Assuming the Player has both a Search skill rank of 15, and a Disable Device skill rank of 16, they will be able to find the trap and disarm it. There are no other conditions in the script that would prevent robbing from the church box.

Achieving the Required Skill Level

Skill Caps

Class Skills: (Character Level + 3)
Cross-Class Skills: (Character Level + 3) / 2 [rounded down]

Four classes have Disable Device as a Class Skill: Rogue, Arcane Trickster, Assassin, Shadow Thief. Your skill cap will stay at Class Skill level as long as you have at least 1 level of one of these classes, even if your current class is different.

So, in order to get your Disable Device skill rank up to 16, you need one to do one of the following:

• Be at least character level 13, and one of your classes has to be a Rogue, Arcane Trickster, Assassin, or Shadow Thief of Amn.
• Be at least character level 29.