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<blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 2297053" data-attributes="member: 151"><p>I think there's a few differences, however, in game-play terms between the DC 5 climb and the DC 20 lock. First, the climb is a potentially lethal skill to fail at, depending on the situation. It's in everyone's interest to set the threshold lower on that basis alone. Furthermore, you can't take 20 on a climb that could kill you, while it's usually much easier, preferred in fact, to take 20 on picking a lock. Failing a climb check has potentially fatal and certainly negative circumstances...failing to pick a lock merely means you try again (unless there's a trap...but that's search and disable device). Plus, climbing is much more likely to happen in combat than picking a lock, relatively speaking, where even taking 10 isn't an option. Add in situational modifiers and armor check penalties and you can start to see why the base DC is set lower. There are fewer modifiers to the skill check of picking a lock, while there are a host for climbing.</p><p></p><p>In other words, a rogue with no ranks in pick lock, but with masterwork picks, Skill Focus or the Nimble Fingers feat and undisturbed time will easily take 20 to unlock a DC 25 lock at first level (assuming a DEX of 14-16, depending). Add in Four ranks, and a DC 30 is not impossible. That means that a rogue or bard with any inclination should be able to pick an average lock with little trouble. A character optimized to the task (Dex 16, nimble fingers, skill focus, masterwork tools) can take 20 to meet a DC 34 at first level. </p><p></p><p>Looking at the base DC doesn't tell the whole story, IMHO.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="WizarDru, post: 2297053, member: 151"] I think there's a few differences, however, in game-play terms between the DC 5 climb and the DC 20 lock. First, the climb is a potentially lethal skill to fail at, depending on the situation. It's in everyone's interest to set the threshold lower on that basis alone. Furthermore, you can't take 20 on a climb that could kill you, while it's usually much easier, preferred in fact, to take 20 on picking a lock. Failing a climb check has potentially fatal and certainly negative circumstances...failing to pick a lock merely means you try again (unless there's a trap...but that's search and disable device). Plus, climbing is much more likely to happen in combat than picking a lock, relatively speaking, where even taking 10 isn't an option. Add in situational modifiers and armor check penalties and you can start to see why the base DC is set lower. There are fewer modifiers to the skill check of picking a lock, while there are a host for climbing. In other words, a rogue with no ranks in pick lock, but with masterwork picks, Skill Focus or the Nimble Fingers feat and undisturbed time will easily take 20 to unlock a DC 25 lock at first level (assuming a DEX of 14-16, depending). Add in Four ranks, and a DC 30 is not impossible. That means that a rogue or bard with any inclination should be able to pick an average lock with little trouble. A character optimized to the task (Dex 16, nimble fingers, skill focus, masterwork tools) can take 20 to meet a DC 34 at first level. Looking at the base DC doesn't tell the whole story, IMHO. [/QUOTE]
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