I'm actually looking into doing this right now (a year and a half later)! Should be pretty simple, but trying to make sure I have a good handle on how everything works so I can release as quality of a mod as possible.
But in the Creation Kit it requires only a requires a minimum 15 Alteration skill to cast, but costs a base 150 Magicka and has the Apprentice Alteration perk associated with it.
Is it meant to be a Novice spell or an Apprentice level spell? 150 base Magicka at skill 0 is a pretty steep cost and it can't be used for quite a few levels.
In 2E AD&D, the Wizard's Knock spell was 2nd level, so probably Novice, but could not be cast until Wizard level 3, so maybe that's a rough guide?
FINALLY !!! someone who knows their D& terminology ! (you realize, originally, this was just a cantrip (as in D& cantrips pre-Change, pre-2nd Edition, in what was Faffhrd & Mouser's realm called again?), a zero-level pre-spell, at least in its weakest form). [someone should go though those early D& spells and look at what could be usefully added to TES game, (tho I hope without IP challenge re names?). What about reeeaaally basic spells like 'Read Magic' and 'Write Magic' ? I always loved the cantrips, and wasn't happy when they, or a subsection of them, was converted to a level-one 'cantrip' spell with loss of the original cantrips. Dust surface, heat water, tie/untie rope, clean (clothes), etc, I guess non-tabletop-D& use would muchly depend on what the game engine supports, no point having a 'dusting' cantrip if that makes no difference in-game.. Cheers !
Yes! I'll just copy and paste part of what I said in another mod's page about D&D magic system. Here it goes:
"I always wanted a game where being a spellcaster, especially a mage or a cleric, required complexity. People familiar with the magic system of tabletop RPGs such as D&D (2.0, 3.5 and 5.0) will know what I'm talking about. Even some virtual RPGs such as Dark Souls have a more complex magic system than the vast majority of RPGs, since you had spell slots and had to carefully plan what spells you would use before adventuring, and to change the order you had to rest again. Kinda similar to D&D."
Game developers definitely need to take a look at the D&D magic system, which has the right amount of complexity, and its spells, which are a lot, and make a game with a proper magic system - from learning spells, to preparing and casting them. Spell and scroll crafting needs to be implemented too!
If someone wants a more complex and rewarding experience in Skyrim as a spellcaster, I recommend the mods Better Spell Learning and Spell Research. They are not compatible with each other, so you can only choose the one that suits you better.
Since I noticed you are having issues with the cell doors and the like. May I give a suggestion? If you make the spell an (very small) AoE spell that could help with the issue. A hypothetical example: First, the spell works as it currently does unless it can't find a lock to unlock. Then, if the spell didn't find a locked lock, it does a small cone effect and see's if it can now detect a lock. First locked lock it finds gets unlocked, others are ignored. If it can't find a lock then, it switched to a very narrow but somewhat tall rectangular prism that extends to the floor and roof, up to the spell's range. This would be a final check to try and find any doors, and the idea is that it is a failsafe for the player aiming at the top of a door. Again, first locked lock it finds gets unlocked, others are ignored. It could also be helpful if a mod adds a door leading out of a tunnel/corridor/room, with the "sweet spot" not target-able from within the tunnel. Most likely to occur with a mod using an door taller than the entryway, or sunken into the ground.
Downloaded it, tried it and happily came back to endorse.
I recently started a one-handed + alteration build and was looking for ways to immersively increase my alteration skill. Remembering my Oblivion days I regretted not having an open-lock spell in Skyrim so I searched the Nexus to see if I could find one. The most popular open lock spells didn't convince me, since they use pop-up windows and/or clutter your spell book with 5 different open-lock spells (one per lock tier). When I was almost ready to give up on the idea of having an immersive open-lock spell on Skyrim I found this little gem. This mod is just what I wanted! it opens locked chests without any pop-ups, the chests glow when being opened as they did in Oblivion and, last but not least, a single open-lock spell is enough to cover all your needs because it grows stronger as your alteration skill increases. Bravo Sir! And thank you very much for making and sharing this mod with us!
@Tiny, One-Handed and Alteration fits with many of the old classes in Oblivion and Morrowind so I can't give too many hints at upping the quality of your experience. Most of the difference between the old games and this spell (well, things I've seen complaints about) have to deal with the way range on a spell was dealt with by the games. In Skyrim touch range has been replaced by the spray and pray concentration category and cast on target with fire and forget. This was another part of merge and nerf done by Bethesda e.g. Blade of Woe in Oblivion once it was enchanted was a monster of a dagger - in skyrim it's got a meh absorb health such to the point that it can be out-classed by leveled daedric weapons given from completing the civil war quests. Back to the point, in Oblivion and Morrowind you couldn't use the unlock spell on a door that said "Requires Key" and with Oblivion you had to have master level alteration to open Very Hard locks so rating this as expert is fairly balanced.
I just wanted to let you know that "Knock - An Open Lock Spell" is now featured on GEMS under category 340 - Magic. I previously had Open and Lock Spells listed but it was brought to my attention that it causes save game bloat and has not been updated since 2012.
Thanks for sharing your mod with everyone and making Skyrim a better game!
After a while the spell stopped working. When I cast it on anything (door, boxes, chest, gates etc.) it just doesn't do anything. Could you update it, please?
Apologies for the late reply. I haven't been playing Skyrim for quite a while now, but when I return to it (which I do now and again) I will absolutely update this if I too find it to be not working.
Great mod! I altered it slightly to make it an Adept level spell, but otherwise I love the way it works. I'm especially impressed with the way it modifies the leveled lists via script, very cool.
As I mentioned in the "known issues" section, it does have problems working on gates (and dwemer doors are basically gates). It does work on "most" things, but not those things in particular. Hopefully I'll find some way of improving the detection method and can find a way to fix that bug.
I've been more into playing Skyrim rather than modding it lately. I'll get back to modding it eventually, and when I do I have a "To do" list here and that is certainly on it.
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But in the Creation Kit it requires only a requires a minimum 15 Alteration skill to cast, but costs a base 150 Magicka and has the Apprentice Alteration perk associated with it.
Is it meant to be a Novice spell or an Apprentice level spell? 150 base Magicka at skill 0 is a pretty steep cost and it can't be used for quite a few levels.
In 2E AD&D, the Wizard's Knock spell was 2nd level, so probably Novice, but could not be cast until Wizard level 3, so maybe that's a rough guide?
Cheers !
"I always wanted a game where being a spellcaster, especially a mage or a cleric, required complexity. People familiar with the magic system of tabletop RPGs such as D&D (2.0, 3.5 and 5.0) will know what I'm talking about. Even some virtual RPGs such as Dark Souls have a more complex magic system than the vast majority of RPGs, since you had spell slots and had to carefully plan what spells you would use before adventuring, and to change the order you had to rest again. Kinda similar to D&D."
Game developers definitely need to take a look at the D&D magic system, which has the right amount of complexity, and its spells, which are a lot, and make a game with a proper magic system - from learning spells, to preparing and casting them. Spell and scroll crafting needs to be implemented too!
If someone wants a more complex and rewarding experience in Skyrim as a spellcaster, I recommend the mods Better Spell Learning and Spell Research. They are not compatible with each other, so you can only choose the one that suits you better.
A hypothetical example:
First, the spell works as it currently does unless it can't find a lock to unlock.
Then, if the spell didn't find a locked lock, it does a small cone effect and see's if it can now detect a lock. First locked lock it finds gets unlocked, others are ignored.
If it can't find a lock then, it switched to a very narrow but somewhat tall rectangular prism that extends to the floor and roof, up to the spell's range. This would be a final check to try and find any doors, and the idea is that it is a failsafe for the player aiming at the top of a door. Again, first locked lock it finds gets unlocked, others are ignored. It could also be helpful if a mod adds a door leading out of a tunnel/corridor/room, with the "sweet spot" not target-able from within the tunnel. Most likely to occur with a mod using an door taller than the entryway, or sunken into the ground.
I recently started a one-handed + alteration build and was looking for ways to immersively increase my alteration skill. Remembering my Oblivion days I regretted not having an open-lock spell in Skyrim so I searched the Nexus to see if I could find one. The most popular open lock spells didn't convince me, since they use pop-up windows and/or clutter your spell book with 5 different open-lock spells (one per lock tier). When I was almost ready to give up on the idea of having an immersive open-lock spell on Skyrim I found this little gem. This mod is just what I wanted! it opens locked chests without any pop-ups, the chests glow when being opened as they did in Oblivion and, last but not least, a single open-lock spell is enough to cover all your needs because it grows stronger as your alteration skill increases. Bravo Sir! And thank you very much for making and sharing this mod with us!
Thanks for sharing your mod with everyone and making Skyrim a better game!
I've been more into playing Skyrim rather than modding it lately. I'll get back to modding it eventually, and when I do I have a "To do" list here and that is certainly on it.