i have come across two locked doors in my travels and can not seem
to open them everytime i try to do something lick pick locks
or knock it says "the mechanism that operates the door is protected
agaisnt simple locks and warded by some spells" or something like

Then you need a key.
Or its part of a quest....where are the doors?

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one is the merchant league in bg
and the other is a secret door in a house
on the island for the balduran ship quest.

Okay, Spoiler again:
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The one in BG can only be opened by that hunter bloke that you meet in the cloakwood forest (the one who has a fight with the druids).

The one on the Island is quest related, it'll open up when you progress in the storyline http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/no...iles/smile.gif ask and i'll spoil you here though.

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Anytime you get this message (and you'll get it as soon as the barracks in Nashkel if you try to pick one of the chests,) it means that there is a quest related to the chest/door/etc or that it simply can never be opened. Aside from that advice, Jerome already answered the question, and I don't want to give hints about future ones you may run into unless you ask for them.