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Originally Posted by Jeff Wilder  I'm a little confused, as your conclusion doesn't seem to follow from your statements. |
Let me approach this from a different angle.
The premise you use to inform your decision to make disable device and open lock separate skills with the former being Int and the later being Dex is erroneous.
You make lock picking a Dex based activity. In reality, while manual dexterity has some importance, the major component is intellectual. Knowing what type of lock you're picking, how it's constructed, what it's weakness are, etc. This is true whether you are using brute force, manipulation, bumping, or any other technique. Lock picking is far more of an intellectual activity then a dexterity issue.
However, we make the skill Dex based in game.
Lock picking is a specialized form of sabotage, which means it falls under Disable Device. A lock is a device, defeating it without the key or combination and without relying on brute force is disabling it. So lock picking should be part of the Disable Device skill.
Now, by the logic you say that means Disable Device should be Int based, so should the act of opening a lock illicitly. However you left Open Lock as Dex, which is where it belong if only to prevent people asking why it's Int based.
In essence: Combine the two and leave it Dex based.