tempestuousknave

joined 1 year ago
sorted by: new top controversial old
Paizo Blog: Player Core Preview: The Wizard, Remastered in c/[email protected]
Is picking a lock harder than it should be? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the good input everybody.

(at least) 2 things I was missing: Replacement picks being 3SP/negligible bulk, and critical successes.

I think Merwyn has an excellent point about the rolls being excessive when there's no time constraints, but I could see how the rolling could build tension when the rogue is trying to break into a dockside warehouse and the paladin is trying to distract the nightwatchman.

The gaminess of pick tracking is not fun, but I'd just say to buy a hundred, and instead of measuring them in qty measure them in the extra round lost fishing a replacement from your pack.

Is picking a lock harder than it should be? in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's a pretty realistic expectation for a mediocre locksmith in the real world faced with the average door lock. It's a bit slow for the fantasy expert lock picking thief who's invested their ability and skill increases to excel at a mundane and achievable task. But time spent is the smaller issue.

And it's 3 gp a thieves tool set, but the bigger issue is bulk. God forbid you've a dozen doors with good locks in a dungeon, that's 4 bulk worth of picks to get through--pretty much the thiefs whole inventory--and a 50 percent chance of ultimate failure (not to mention 240d20). Pretty rough on the class fantasy. If nothing else I'd change the names of the locks to pad the thief ego: poor becomes average, average good, good master and master legendary. I don't want my player stymied by an average door because he only brought one backup toolkit.

11
Is picking a lock harder than it should be? (2e.aonprd.com)
 

A level 5 rogue will quite probably have a thievery dc of 13, if they invest in it and max dex. The average lock has a dc of 25 and requires 4 successes. It takes a roll of 12 or better to have a single success, and will average about 9 rolls to rack up those 4 successes. With 9 rolls wherein you crit fail on a 2 or lower, the likelihood of breaking a pick is ~61%.

Should a level 5 rogue take a minute to open the average lock, and more likely than not break a pick in the process?

And let's look at a good Lock: DC 30, requiring 5 successes. The level 5 rogue will only succeed on a 17, meaning it will take on average 20 attempts to get those 5 successes. On one attempt in a thousand our Lvl 5 rogue will open this lock before breaking a pick, and will typically break 3 in the process.

Am I missing something?

I could write for WotC in c/[email protected]
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

In Icewind Dale it was a Loris. No other text was changed.

1
Shadowbladelock (ttrpg.network)
 

Warlock wielding shadow blade. Obviously there are stronger things to concentrate on, but do your worst within parameters.