[RPG] Does the bard’s Jack of All Trades feature make them proficient with thieves’ tools

bardclass-featurednd-5eequipmentproficiency

The PHB and basic rules describe the bard's Jack of All Trades feature as follows:

[…] you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn’t already include your proficiency bonus.

It also says that:

trying to open a lock requires proficiency with thieves’ tools

Assuming that Jack of All Trades does not give you proficiency in any skill that you are not proficient in, does it mean a bard actually can NOT pick a lock?

Best Answer

Yes, it means exactly that. The requirement to use Thieves' Tools to pick locks is proficiency in using the tools, which Jack of all trades does not confer. The bonus only confers a numeric bonus to ability rolls that don't include the bard's proficiency bonus, nothing else.

That being said, the rules on whether the Thieves' tools proficiency is actually mandatory to pick locks are a bit conflicting. See Do you have to have thieves' tools in order to pick a lock? - I won't repeat things said there, it's up to you how you decide to interpret them.

However, the question in the title remains unchanged: Does Jack of All Trades make you proficient with thieves’ tools? Whether or not the proficiency is needed to pick a lock, the answer to that is no.