If you look around on the internet, you can find a neat guide for lock-picking (search for "MIT Guide to Lockpicking"). I've been taught that it's a good idea as a GM to understand everything your characters are doing (I once had a party on a boat, and then I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about nautical activity. To make it worse, one player was in the Navy, so he helped me understand some of the necessary bits about being on a boat.)
From my understanding, the basic ideas of locks are the same from the medieval ages, and have only refined in complexity. So with this knowledge, you could "intensify" the situation by making it a series of quick maneuvers for each tumbler. With each tumbler a specific Maneuver, you can play out the encounter over a specific time. Normally, I wouldn't do this for picking a lock, but if the moment is dramatic, I wouldn't sum it up to one roll.