About this mod
An overhaul to how Lockpicking works in Skyrim, taking inspiration from TT/CRPGs. Yes, that means dice rolls.
- Requirements
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Translations
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Auto-Lockpicking replaces Skyrim's Lockpicking mini-game with invisible dice rolls. It's designed as an alternative to playing the mini-game a few hundred more times during a new playthrough, instead of installing a cheat mod that still requires the player to hold down the "turn lock" button a few thousand more times. It's highly configurable to suite any kind of playstyle, personal headcanon about how hard Lockpicking *should* be, or to act as a replacement for a cheat mod that requires the player to hold down the "turn lock" button a few million times.
How does it work?
Dice rolls.
What does that mean?
Skyrim's 5 Lock Levels (Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, and Master) have all been assigned a Difficulty Class, or DC for short.
DC in TT/CRPGs are a number that a player needs to either match or beat in order to do an action, like pick locks. By default, in the mod Novice locks have a DC of 10, Apprentice locks are DC12, Adept locks are DC15, Expert locks are DC18, and Master locks are DC20. The player "rolls" a die with 20 sides when they pick a lock, and the number they get is their roll, so if you're trying to pick an Expert lock, you need to roll an 18 or higher out of a maximum of 20. Master locks with a DC of 20 can only be opened if the player rolls a 20. If you roll lower instead, you failed to pick the lock and will break a lockpick.
In the case of Expert and Master locks, you might notice there's only a 15% and 5% chance respectively of actually rolling those numbers and think that it's unfair. This is where modifiers come in- a modifier is simply a number you add to your roll before checking it against the DC of the lock to make the check easier. By default, you get +1 to every roll for every 20 levels you have in the Lockpicking skill. If you have any enchantments or potions that improve lockpicking, their effects are factored in as well. Additionally, each of the 5 main perks in the Lockpicking perk tree add +1 to all of your rolls if you take them. The Locksmith perk gives you another +1, bringing your potential total bonus to +11, meaning that a Master lock only requires you to roll a 9 or higher. As a bonus, all of these numbers are customizable with the MCM if you think my attempts at balancing these mechanics are garbage.
Other Features
This mod accounts for the effects of the Wax Key and Unbreakable perks if the player has them.
You can opt to show notifications displaying the results of each roll, though a mod like Configurable Notification Messages is recommended for this setting.
You can opt to disable lockpick breaking.
You can opt to disable lockpicking crime reporting.
You can opt to lockpick locks you already have the keys for.
You can opt to play detection events on lockpick successes and failures, to alert nearby enemies for a more challenging stealth experience.
You can set the skill this mod uses to any skill, for mods like Adamant's Hand to Hand addon.
Critical Failures (rolling a 1) cause the player to fall over, disabled by default.
Critical Successes (rolling the maximum) grant bonus XP, enabled by default.
Installation
Use a mod manager, or know how to follow fomod instructions without a mod manager.
It requires SKSE, Address Library for SKSE Plugins, SkyUI, and MCM Helper.
Compatibility
This mod shouldn't directly conflict with any others, it doesn't override any records or assets. Perk overhauls may want to adjust the default values of the settings, and lists of perks that are checked for things like Locksmith, Wax Key, Unbreakable, and the base bonus perks. I've provided an Adamant patch as an example.
SKSE Plugin Source
GitHub
A version of this mod also exists for Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4!