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 method around this is using a party member to start a conversation with the character making this task more difficult. Typically the character turns to face the party member they are in a conversation with, thus turning their sight cone away from the mark intended to pickpocketed 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 being  Invisible first. Invisible characters always succeed with  Stealth checks while this condition is active, making it possible to attempt pickpocketing even in a crowded room. However, invisibility drops immediately after a pickpocket attempt is made (unless using  Greater Invisibility, which has an increasing chance to fail, based on use). If quickly going invisible again, or going to camp, the player character can avoid being caught.

Note that Greater Invisibility breaks instantly if the pickpocket attempt fails, without the check normally made to maintain it.

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 become hostile.

To guarantee a minimum Sleight of Hand check of 30, one possible build is:

• A level 11 rogue with  Reliable Talent (guaranteeing a minimum of 10 on the d20 and bypassing critical failures) and
• +8 from  Expertise
• +6 from Dexterity, using any combination of feats,  The Graceful Cloth,  Nimblefinger Gloves,  Auntie Ethel's Hair, or the Mirror of Loss to reach 22 Dexterity
• +4 from the  Unlucky Thief's Gloves and  Smuggler's Ring
• +2d4 from  Guidance and  Shapeshifter's Boon Ring

Granting a minimum roll of 10 + 8 + 6 + 4 + 2 = 30.

Pickpocketing DC

The DC of pickpocketing any item depends on its weight in kilograms, its price, and the target's Perception skill modifier through the following formula:

$\text{DC}=8+\text{Perception}+\frac{\text{Weight}}{5}+20\cdot \max (0,\min (1,\sqrt{\frac{\text{Price}}{1000}}))$

The result is rounded to the nearest integer, up to a maximum DC of 30.

The table below shows the base DC of pickpocketing gold, not including the target's Perception modifier.

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

Roll target

The number displayed in the Pickpocketing UI is not the DC of the check, but the number that must be rolled on the D20 to pass the check. This number may not include all bonuses and can therefore be misleading.

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 Sleight of Hand Checks
Hedge Wanderer Armour	Uncommon	+ Dexterity, +1 to All Dexterity Checks
Hide Armour +1	Uncommon	+1 to All Dexterity 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
Resonance Stone	Rare	Advantage on All Dexterity Checks
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 the next Skill Check
•  Bend Luck: Ability Check Bonus - grants a +1d4 bonus on all Skill Checks
•  Bend Luck: Ability Check Penalty - grants a +1d4 penalty on all Skill Checks
•  Bolstering Magic: Boon - grants a +1d4 bonus on all Skill Checks
•  Cat's Grace - grants Advantage on all Dexterity Checks
•  Cosmic Omen: Ability Check - grants a +1d6 bonus on all Skill 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