Lockpick

Lockpick is a stealth skill that governs your ability to pick locks using metal picks and tension bars. Lockpick also allows you to craft thief's tools, which contain these items and are necessary to pick locks. Like repair kits and alchemy kits, thief's tools have charges based on their quality, and attempting to pick a lock will use up one of these charges. Your ability to successfully pick a lock is dependent on both your lockpick skill level as well as the quality of the thief's tools you are using. The quality of the lock you are attempting to pick sets both the challenge of the picking and trains the skill if it is sufficiently high quality.

Lockpicking is silent if you are hidden and an observer has not spotted you with search, but if you're being observed (eg, they succeeded a search skill on you), they will see what you are up to. Failing a lockpicking attempt on a door will announce audibly on the other side of the door that someone is fiddling with the lock on the other side, so if anyone is listening, expect a confrontation. Doorman NPCs will react to this announcement and take appropriate steps to secure the entranceway or alert their owners.

Lockpicking is governed by agility (primary) and intelligence (secondary).