How can relatively low-level characters get an idea of what's behind the door?

Question

When exploring a dungeon, we rarely hear anything when we listen at doors (even with a very high listen check result). We have walked in on some strong but silent types without warning. As a party I feel like we don't have enough player experience to know useful strategies. Our DM is also inexperienced, so there's mentorship in strategy to be found there.

What are good ways for relatively low-level characters (say levels 4-8) to get some idea of what is behind the next door, in order to figure out when it would be a good idea to use buffing spells?

For what it's worth, the party does not include an arcane caster, but does have a psion and a favored soul, as well as a scout-type character.

Trying a listen check at the door is standard, but what else might they try if the listen check fails to reveal anything (as often seems to be the case)? And even when something is heard, it's not necessarily helpful in terms of knowing "how dangerous" the thing we hear shuffling around inside the room is.

Casting augury outside every door seems a bit extreme.... but beats "wasting" multiple buffs outside every door "just in case" when many of them wear off pretty quickly.

In terms of resources, the party could probably pool together up to 10k gp for something, depending on how helpful it would be. But we have some basic needs as well (better AC, better weapon, better saving throws...), so expense is an object.

Answer 1

You could try knocking.

Seriously though, there's some good low-level options. The first one that comes to mind is Detect Evil. It's a first level cleric spell (which means your favored soul should be able to cast it), it emanates in a 60 foot cone, and does exactly what it says on the tin. Plus:

The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

Unless you're facing some paranoid villains, this should give you some information on who's hiding on the other side of the door. If you run up on a sheet of lead that blocks your detect spell, that should probably tell you something too.

Detect Thoughts is even better, but I'm not sure if anyone in your party can cast it (although the Psion might, depending on the build.) This one is great because within one round, you get to detect:

Presence or absence of thoughts (from conscious creatures with Intelligence scores of 1 or higher).

So you're not limited by alignment. There are other detect spells that might help you, especially detect magic, but those two are probably the best, and most accessible to your party.

Non-magical means include peering under the door or through a keyhole (looking for light, moving shadows, a draft), opening the door a crack and peeking through with Move Silently, searching the door for trap triggers, feeling the door for heat or cold, and smelling. Get creative.

EDIT: There's been some discussion about the underlying problem here being that the DM is ambushing the players and they need a way to fight back. It's possible that the DM is being a bad DM, but it's also possible that they're running a dungeon that rewards paranoia because of the way it's designed.

I ran the World's Largest Dungeon a few years ago and encountered this problem. Every time the party hit a door, the players cast Detect Evil, Detect Magic, checked for traps, listened, opened the door a crack, checked the ceilings, and on and on. It got pretty laborious, and no one liked it.

The solution we hit upon was to establish a standard operating procedure for opening doors. Whenever they approached the door, I would just assume they'd listened, checked for traps, and cast detect evil without them needing to tell me so, and I'd give them the information straight away. They had to specifically tell me when they were deviating from the procedure, such as when they were running from an enemy or wanted to try something different. It worked pretty well. I recommend it.

Answer 2

Magical means are exhausted pretty fast if you cast something at every door you encounter. However, normal perception is not restricted to sound. Maybe you can ask different questions when your DM describes a door the next time:

• Does it have a keyhole to peek through? Getting eyes on target is even better than hearing it.

• How does the room feel? Is it hot or cold?

• What materials are the door and the walls made of?

• Is there light coming out of the cracks? Is it static like a torch, or periodically like someone breathing fire once in a while?

If you encounter a fire-proof stone-door, with dog-like creatures that gets hot every time light is emitted from it, chances are it's a pack of hellhounds. Be creative in your questions and don't rely on the "Listen" skill check alone.

Answer 3

You could use magic items (edited to clarify it was potions anyone can use without UMD):

• With Gaseous Form (750 gp) potion you can move through cracks in most doors (remember you're not invisible) and scout other places (stairwells, etc.)

• With Invisibility (300 gp) potion you can actually risk knocking (remembering about creatures with scent and other abilities)

• Ring of X-Ray vision is not cheap, but 25,000 gp should be in range for 6-8 level PCs

• If anyone can learn Use Magic Device, arcane scrolls will be an option too or a Wand of Detect Thoughts.

Can the psion use Clairvoyant Sense?

Answer 4

Psions are masters of seeing things that they aren't supposed to see

Psions have a second level power called Clairvoyant sense that allows them to see behind an obvious location, such as behind a door or on the other side of a wall.

They also have a power of the same level called Object Reading, which allows them to touch an object and receive a history of the things that have occured involving that object. If you target the door you can receive a history of anyone who has used said door.

If you aren't a Seer you can utilize the power Control sound to completely nullify any sound created when opening the door, which will allow you to surprise whatever may be on the other side of the door if they are unaware of your presence.

Answer 5

What strategies might you — personally — follow in the real world to figure out what lies behind a closed door? Listen at it? Look through the keyhole? See if there are any cracks in it/under it/above it? Open it a crack and have a peep?

Try some of those before reaching for the spells and special abilities.

Answer 6

It seems to me like the problem is on the DM's side, not yours. You said that you got some rather high results and it still wasn't good enough to let you find out what was behind the door. That tells me that the DM is putting stuff behind the door that's impossible for you to discover, and that's a failure to balance the adventure properly as well as basically harping on something trivial; specifically, that you're expected to run a full diagnostic scan on every door that you come across lest what's behind it ambush and slaughter the entire party.

My solution? Point this out to the DM and ask what the DC for the Listen/Spot checks he's calling for are, then see if they're even possible for the party to semi-consistently make. F'rex, if for some reason all of his enemies are ninjas that can't be heard on anything less than a 40 and the best Listen check anyone in your party can manage is a 25, then that's a sign that the DM needs to stop using those ninjas and maybe go back to some kobolds with pots and pans for armor.