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Message: <blockquote data-quote="roguish" data-source="post: 9501064" data-attributes="member: 7046843">Thank you for this very detailed response. I must say I do not agree with that interpretation of the rules. At least this bit is clear:"If you have proficiency with a tool, add your Proficiency Bonus to any ability check you make that uses the tool. If you have proficiency in a skill that's used with that check, you have Advantage on the check too." (PHB p.220)Whether it's a good rule is another matter, but it IS the 2024 rule. The Thief's Fast Hands feature doesn't replace anything, "a skill that's used with that (Tool) check" is a normal way for Tools to work. But I understand why it's so confusing.I am now doubling down on my theory that they had a detailed Skills section (like in the 2014 PHB), and scrapped it, and then did NOT revisit the rest of the book, which was written under the assumption that skill rules are covered elsewhere. Seriously, this explains SO MUCH.Take locks. Picking a lock (another thing you do with Fast Hands) is a Dexterity check with Thieves' Tools according to the Tools section. But it's a Sleight of Hand check with Thieves' Tools if you go to the Glossary (see "Lock"), or to the DMG. If there were a Skills section, it would have an entry on "Sleight of Hand", and explain ALL of this, in one place. (In all probability, it would also say it's a Sleight of Hand check with Thieves' Tools to disarm a trap!) And the fact that Tools only list abilities, and not skills, would simply be the general rule for Tools, applying even in cases when no specific skill is applicable, or several are possible. After all, a skill check IS an ability check. And there would be no contradiction.Now, though? Contradictions abound, haze and confusion, hate and violence on planet Earth. WotC fully dropped the ball on skills.So here's my suggestion on houseruling this: USE THE 2014 SKILLS SECTION. Assume it applies in all cases, except those where the 2024 rules contradict it. It was probably meant to be there, and they either ran out of space or... eh, no point speculating. Tell your friends, tell the newbies. The 2024 skill rules are in the SRD 5.1, published under Creative Commons. I'll be houseruling traps later.(Ironically, I was very underwhelmed by the 2014 Skills section, but like most of 5e, I appreciated how easy it was to fiddle with. If you're a veteran and already have Opinions on what rules are good for your group, you can just implement them, no fuss. The newbies are doomed to wing it forever with no guidelines, but for me? Perfect! The fact that this same section is now, in comparison, a well of useful information is just bonkers.)Also, I see this thread is veering off towards the Great Thief Debate (roll or narrate? ah, the age-old problem!), and I gotta say, I FULLY support creative gameplay, and not locking a problem's solutions to the roll of the dice and specific items or features the players might or might not have. Very much including traps.BUT, this is a class system, where characters are ostensibly trained and specialised in their fields, and to some degree it's still a game of simulation, even if there's little emphasis on that in comparison with, say, 3rd Edition. So accommodating for both at the same time is viable, and IMO desirable.P.S. Do you know how a trip wire really works? Depending on how it's attached, cutting it may disarm the mechanism, or it may trigger it. That's why you should need expertise and tools. If anyone wants to narrate that, and be a creative player, methinks they should first look up how stuff actually works. (And the DM should be an expert on how stuff actually works.) But it's not obligatory! There's another wonderful approach: here's a nice d20, here's a nice character sheet with numbers that represent talent and training the character possesses but the player might not, roll the dice and come what may. Quintessential Dungeons & Dragons. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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