Pick

From LSWiki

   Command: Pick

   General-Use Command
   Usage: pick lock on <object|direction> with <tool>

Used for picking locks, most typically on doors and chests, though sometimes locks are found on other items, such as books. Doors and similar portals can be targeted by the direction they lead. You will need some sort of tool to use, most preferably a proper lockpick or set of lockpicks. Needles and pins can often serve in a pinch, however, and some particularly crude locks can be picked with devices as large as daggers.

Your lockpicking skill and the dexterity it is based on are, of course, the main factors determining your success, though those with training in locksmithing have a definite added advantage. Also having a significant impact are the keenness of one's perception and the quality of the tools one uses.

If you fail to pick a particular lock, you will need to either wait at least thirty minutes or find some way of significantly improving your chances before trying again. On the other hand, if you are successful, you will have a much easier time repeating the process with the same tools any time within the next two hours. The consequences of failure don't apply during the time the consequences of success are in effect.

Practicing lockpicking will, of course, improve one's abilities at it, though simply picking the same lock over and over is not going to be very educational. The aspiring cracksman would do best to practice on a variety of locks using a variety of tools if he wants to improve his skills.

   Examples: pick lock on chest with lockpick
             pick lock on oak door with wire
             pick lock on north with lockpick set
             pick lock on n with knife

Development Information: The pick command was created by Chaos and is maintained by Lost Souls; the source code was last updated Tue Aug 23 00:30:22 2011.

See Also: lockpicking, locksmithing, open, close, lock, unlock