Associated Lockpicking Costs

This house rule is not a wholesale revamp of the lockpicking rules from core Fifth Edition. Rather, it is a codification of the associated costs and a clarification house ruling for how long picking locks takes both in and outside of combat. There are also secondary rules/costs associated with abandoning an attempt during combat encounters.

The House Rule in Detail

A lockpicking check (PHB pp. 154 and 177) may only be attempted once by any character for any given lock. If the attempt fails, the lock has proven to be unpickable by you (i.e. the lock has thwarted your efforts). Thieves’ tools can be improvised, but using improvised tools imparts disadvantage on the check.

If a lockpicking check is successful, roll 1d4 to determine how many rounds it takes to successfully pick the lock (multiply the result by six to determine the number of seconds). This is the required effort roll.

If a lockpicking check fails, roll 2d6+1 for the required effort roll. This represents how many rounds it takes before determining the lock cannot be picked (multiplying by six to determine number of seconds).

Lockpicking During Combat

During combat, once the check and the required effort roll are completed, the attempt is not completed until the required number of rounds have passed. If a successful check takes longer than one round, the character must spend each subsequent round’s action to continue picking the lock. During those turns they may use bonus actions and reactions as normal, but their movement speed is reduced to 0. Bonus actions or reactions that require movement or move the character further than 5′ from the lock count as abandoning the attempt (see below).

Clarifications and Definitions

The difference between the RAW and this house rule is minimal. The mechanics for the lockpicking check do not change other than adding the possibility of improvised thieves’ tools. The core of the modification centers around the required effort roll which merely formalizes the amount of time required for an attempt, as well as establishing a hard cap on one attempt per character per lock.

The other primary distinction is when a lockpicking action is taken during combat.

One Attempt

The intent of limiting the number of checks per character is to avoid the trap of “Oh, I didn’t pick the lock? I’ll try it again.” However, it is possible that certain doors or locks may have multiple locks, which permits one character to give each individual lock a try, perhaps resulting in a slightly less secure door depending on the outcomes of each lock’s check.

It’s worth noting that the Help action can be applied to a lockpicking attempt, granting advantage to the character actually making the roll. Under these rules, however, that assist counts as the Helping character’s (sole) attempt on that lock.

Example

• Mikka, a rogue, is attempting to open a secured door with two locks: a deadbolt (DC 15) and a latch (DC 10). Her bard teammate, Hobbs, also has proficiency in thieves’ tools, and wants to help. Mikka rolls the Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check with advantage for her own thieves’ tools proficiency rolling a total of 17 against the latch. She rolls the required effort die (1d4) and gets a 1: six seconds later, she’s unlatched the simpler of the two locks. She looks at the deadbolt and turns to Hobbs. “Can you hold this tension bar for me?” Hobbs uses the Help action, giving Mikka advantage on her second check. Mikka has +2 DEX and +1 Proficiency bonus. With advantage, she feels pretty confident. Unfortunately, she rolls a 2 (2 + 2 + 1 = 5) and a 10 (10 + 2 + 1 = 13), both failures. She rolls the required effort dice (2d6+1) getting a total of 9. After almost a minute of struggling, she growls in frustration. “Dammit! It won’t budge!” Hobbs throws up his hands, he’s stumped, too. “Maybe we could kick it in?” he offers.

Abandoning an Attempt

Regardless of the result of the check, a character who would spend more than one combat round working on a lock (i.e. the required effort roll is 2 or more) may choose to abandon the attempt after the first round.

Abandoning a Success

Characters who abandon a successful check may return to the lock during a later round (or after combat has completed). They do not need to re-roll the attempt (note that lockpicking checks cannot be attempted more than once for the same lock by the same character) or the required effort roll, but they must spend the full required duration, regardless of how much time was spent on the previous attempt. For example, if a character successfully picks a lock but rolls a 4 on the required effort roll and then spends the current round plus the next two rounds continuing to pick the lock, but is then knocked away from the lock (say, by a Wall of Stone spell pushing them five feet away), they may resume the attempt on the next round. However, they must restart the round count for the required effort.

Abandoning a Failure

Characters who abandon a failed check do so with the following penalties:

• Their thieves’ tools become damaged. Future attempts to pick another lock with the same tools are made with disadvantage. If the tools were improvised, they become irreparably damaged and cannot be used again.
• The lock shows obvious signs of tampering.
• The lock becomes damaged, and cannot be unlocked, even with the key.

HR03 Draft, v0.1