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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 9681427" data-attributes="member: 6785785">I think that skill at lockpicking also includes how fast and how quietly you can pick a lock... these things are an important component of lockpicking precisely to avoid encountering anyone in the midst of it. Earlier in the thread there was a lot of hullabaloo about repurposing terms. When I think of "quantum" in RPG terms, I tend to think of the quantum ogre problem... where the PCs are faced with two doors and whichever one they open, there will be the ogre. It's the GM presenting the illusion of choice. I don't really see any of that going on in the cook example. Well, no... the existence of the cook is more about the setting, isn't it? The kitchen of an affluent home... that implies a cook. And other servants. The cook's presence is predicated on the failure... which it may very well be. I think treating the instance of lockpicking in total isolation as if it's happening in a white room is overriding the logic of the setting. The logic of the setting would indicate that picking a lock can be heard. That people waiting outside a door at night can be noticed. That people move about of their own volition and may be "in the wrong place at the wrong time". Just casting all those kinds of things aside so that the lockpick roll only tells us if the lock is picked or not... that's casting aside the setting. Yes. Lockpicking quickly so that you are not hunched over a lock suspiciously for long is a key part of the skill. Doing so without leaving obvious damage to the lock indicating it's been compromised is part of the skill. Doing so quietly so as not to draw attention during the attempt is part of the skill. That's my thing, too. When I run 5e, I am mostly improvising... with a general idea based on what's come before and where the players have indicated they want to go. But I largely don't prep maps and keyed locations ahead of time. So something like the lockpick/cook example could very much happen in my 5e game. But not if that roll is made by the player? Yes, that was the point. If you focus so much on trying to make an example non-sensical instead of sensical, then of course it will appear non-sensical. This is why I look at this kind of situation as an opportunity for creative GMing. How do I take this situation and a poor roll and create a new situation that logically follows and is now not good for the characters? To me, that's an interesting challenge as a GM.</blockquote>

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