D&D 5E Calibration of single character skill checks

[clearstream]

Of course, "in principle" does not mean "in practice", which is where I think I've been getting hung up. If a player declares their PC will continue to Hide after assessing the environment, the DM needs to adjudicate accordingly - enemies could start actively searching, the terrain could change from one area to the next increasing the chance of making noise, cover could be compromised, etc. "Stealth rides", IMO, really means that the player doesn't have to roll again to maintain their hidden state as long as no other conditions in the environment have changed that threaten that state.

I've used it in practice fairly frequently. Notably where the party chose to have a scout travelling ahead of them during overland movement in the tunnels of Underdark, and later on in the jungles of Chult. In such places, Skulkers and Wood elves readily find conditions suitable to hide in. On occasions one check would stand for a good part of a march: perhaps a couple of hours.

There is a question in my mind about corner-cases where a hidden observer spots said scout and chooses to stay hidden? In OOTA the party is pursued for the first half of the campaign so that is a situation that can arise more than once. I chose to let the scout's check continue to stand, although one could have argued that as their stealth was broken - for that observer - it should have ended. Stealth is an interesting case because one check ends up setting a DC for multiple possible observers.

I see such cases as relevant to the OP, because reflecting on them can yield insights into how to calibrate DCs. Perspectives to view that from.

 

[ECMO3]

I can confirm that @ECMO3's reading of the rule in the first sentence is correct, having checked the PHB since my last post. The PHB puts picking a lock in the activities explicitly not included under Sleight of Hand, though, so IMO proficiency with that skill wouldn't apply (though as usual, DM's table, DM's rule).

The remark about changing the DC based on using a different tool is I think where we diverge, and I think it has to do with how we are seeing the situation play out in the fiction. IMO, if you are trying to pick the lock, that is a single task or undertaking, with the same DC for that lock no matter what method you use to pick the lock. The difference between using specialised tools versus a knife or a hair pin would be the difference between getting to add your proficiency bonus or not, just as other circumstances extrinsic to the lock itself but that bear upon your attempt (whether relating to the approach you take or not) might cause you to make the check with advantage or disadvantage.

From your text, it strikes me that you view the different approaches to picking the lock to be different tasks, thus justifying the different DCs. Is that a fair reading?

I think it depends on the kind of lock.

But the approach is absolutely based on the type of lock. I said slight of hand with the stereotypical tumber based lock. If you have a puzzle lock or something like that it would not be a SOH, maybe investigation or maybe it is a straight ability check. Regardless though if you have thieves tools and have proficiency you get the proficiency bonus regardless of the type of lock.

 

[ECMO3]

Okay, you are writing a module. Where do you put the DCs?

I don't think you consider the characters. Make it easy or hard or extremely difficult based on what fits the design.