Sleight of Hand

Sleight of Hand is a Dexterity-based skill.

The higher a creature's Dexterity score, the more likely they are to succeed on Sleight of Hand ability checks to pick locks, pick pockets, and disarm traps.

“

Wield nimble fingers. Steal stuff.

„

— In-game skill description

Proficiency

Characters who are proficient in Sleight of Hand can add their proficiency bonus when making ability checks.

The following backgrounds grant proficiency in Sleight of Hand:

•  Charlatan
•  Urchin

The following classes can choose to select Sleight of Hand as a proficient skill at Level 1:

•  Bard
•  Rogue
•  Ranger - via the Natural Explorer option Urban Tracker

Uses

• Picking locks (requires Thieves' Tools).
• Disarming Traps (requires Trap Disarm Toolkit).
• Pickpocketing from NPCs.
• Stealing items without being noticed (see also Stealth).

Pickpocketing and stealing tips

Picking pockets and stealing items in crowded areas can be difficult due to characters in the area having overlapping sight cones or moving around. A trick around this is to use a party member to start a conversation with the character who is causing trouble. Typically the character turns to face the party member they are in a conversation with and thus turns their sight cone away from the mark intended to pickpocket or the item to be stolen. This can also be used to hold a character still while attempting to pickpocket them.

Another technique to pickpocket in crowded areas is by using  Invisible first. Invisible character always successfully  Hide, which makes it possible to attempt pickpocketing even in a crowded room. However, Invisibility drops (unless using  Greater Invisibility, which just has a chance to drop). If quickly going invisible again, or going to camp, being caught can be avoided.

An additional technique is firing an Arrow of Darkness near a character, activating turn-based mode,  hiding and then pickpocketing. In some scenarios, it is necessary to pass a Stealth Check, but in most cases, this allows easier pickpocketing in more crowded areas. This can also be achieved with the  Fog Cloud feature of the Cloak of Cunning Brume, but the character to be pickpocketed must not be 'hit' with the fog or they will become hostile.

To build up Sleight of Hand bonuses very high, a level 11 Rogue with  Reliable Talent must get Sleight of Hand bonus to +8 from Expertise, +6 from Dexterity (using The Graceful Cloth, Feats, and / or various Permanent Bonuses to reach 22 Dexterity), and +4 from Unlucky Thief's Gloves and Smuggler's Ring, for a total bonus of +18 displayed in the character sheet. Then +2d4 from  Guidance and Shapeshifter's Boon Ring must be added.

Pickpocketing Gold DC

Amount of Gold	Sleight of Hand DC
1-5	9
6-15	10
16-30	11
31-50	12
51-75	13
76-104	14
105-139	15
140-179	16
180-223	17
224-272	18
273-326	19
327-385	20
386-449	21
450-518	22
519-591	23
592-669	24
670-752	25
753-840	26
841-932	27
933-2499	28
2500-7499	29
7500-12,499	30
12,500-17,499	31*
17,500-22,499	32*
22,500+	33*

*The DC of Pickpocketing NPCs is affected by the NPCs Wisdom Ability score modifier.

Related items

Name	Rarity	Effect
Dark Displacement Gloves	Rare	+1 to Skill Checks
Gloves of Power	Uncommon	+1 to Skill Checks
Gloves of Thievery	Uncommon	Advantage on Skill Checks
Knock Knuckle Gloves	Uncommon	+1 to Skill Checks
Leather Armour +2	Rare	+1 to All Dexterity Checks
Nimblefinger Gloves	Rare	+1 to Skill Checks, +2 Dexterity for Gnomes, +1 Dexterity for Halflings and Dwarves
Shapeshifter's Boon Ring	Uncommon	+1d4 to All Skill Checks
Smuggler's Ring	Uncommon	+2 to Skill checks
The Graceful Cloth	Rare	Advantage on All Dexterity Checks, +2 Dexterity to a maximum of 20
Unlucky Thief's Gloves	Uncommon	+2 to Skill checks
Winkling Gloves	Rare	+1 to Skill Checks

Related spells

•  Astral Knowledge - grants Proficiency in all Skills of a chosen Ability.
•  Bardic Inspiration - grants a +1d6/+1d8/+1d10 bonus on all Skill Checks.
•  Cat's Grace - grants Advantage on all Dexterity Checks.
•  Guidance - grants a +1d4 bonus on all Skill Checks.
•  Hex (Dexterity) - grants Disadvantage on all Dexterity Checks.
•  Knowledge of the Ages: Dexterity - grants Proficiency in all Dexterity Skills.