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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6367904" data-attributes="member: 2067">Also, a little quirk in 5e that seems to have some interesting effects like this:Skills are things inherent to your character that you cannot usually be deprived of. If you are tied up naked in a jail cell, you can still try an Insight check or a Perform check.Tool proficiencies are in things that require some item to perform. They "give you the ability to do things you otherwise couldn't." Proficiency in thieves' tools or in land vehicles, for instance, doesn't do you any good when you are tied up naked in a jail cell. But if you have the right tool...then you're good.This makes tool proficiencies slightly less valuable than skill proficiencies, because you may not always have access to them. So a character can acquire a tool proficiency with downtime, but can't do the same thing with a skill proficiency. Tool checks also might use different ability scores, while skill checks are fairly locked-in. A DM might call for you to use Dex with your thieves' tools, or they might call for you to use INT (for analyzing the mechanism) or WIS (for feeling the subtle changes in pressure and tactile sensation), or even CHA (like, if it's a magical trap!). For me personally, the whole process would be INT: Investigation for finding a trap, and mechanical knowledge to disable it with thieves' tools. But other DMs might kick it some other way.You'll still be better with thieves' tools as a thief than anyone else. But now, no one HAS to play a thief if no one wants to -- any locks or traps in the game can still be bypassed by any character with proficiency in thieves' tools.</blockquote>

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