The Robgoblin

Plenty of people who play D&D 5e like to use that game's Sleight of Hand skill to determine whether a character can pick a lock. It's a popular house rule, advocated by at least one popular website and implemented in Baldur's Gate 3. It's also wrong. To see why, let's examine the rules. From the SRD , lest Hasbro's highly trained attack lawyers take umbrage: Sleight of Hand.  Whenever you attempt an act of legerdemain or manual trickery, such as planting something on someone else or concealing an object on your person, make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The GM might also call for a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to determine whether you can lift a coin purse off another person or slip something out of another person's pocket. You know what that doesn't mention? Picking locks. Where is that mentioned? Under Tools : Thieves' Tools. This set of tools includes a small file, a set of lock picks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a s...

Back in January, Prismatic Wasteland posted the New Year's Resolution Mechanic  challenge. I thought of a potentially interesting resolution mechanic, so I posted it in a comment. Another user suggested I start a blog... and I wasn't sure. Then, in their acceptance speech for the Bloggies, sachagoat  gave some advice about starting a blog. It's not that hard. The RPG blogosphere is full of cool people who probably won't bite (unless you ask, or have a really bad reaction roll). So, eventually, here I am. I'll write about RPGs, based largely on what I think is cool and interesting. Which will mostly be mediaeval fantasy, and adjacent genres, with a slight old-school perspective on things. Also some board games. And maybe some other things. But probably gaming-related. Because I have been schooled in the ancient lore , here is that interesting resolution mechanic: You have an ability. The ability gives you some marbles. I don't know how many. Maybe you get the sa...