I'm a new DM and I'm helping two members of my party create their first characters. One wants to be a tortle druid.
Their chosen background is Far Traveler but they also want to be proficient with thieves' tools. From what I understand, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything would permit a tool substitution.
I was initially skeptical because tortles have large fingers and long claws; can they pinch objects like a small file or lock picks? I'm now inclined to allow it for two reasons:
- many of the other tools' descriptions sound like they have similarly sized or delicate components; and
- the player pitched the 'Donatello Defence', i.e., Donatello is never shown having any trouble with small tools.
Is there anything else I should consider?
Best Answer
Mechanically, there's nothing stopping them
Remember that Dexterity is the ability which governs how proficient you are with not just agility but also your hands. A tortle with high Dexterity is good at manual dexterity regardless of their hands or claws.
I would suspect that the lockpicks they use perhaps have larger handles than the lockpicks a halfling would use, allowing them to use them more comfortably. However, I have not found any information on race-specific lockpicking kit sizes.