I pm’d this to the thieves but then realized I should just post it as it helps explain some of my game mechanics.
I will add that while this one ability* seems to suffer in my game. I think I have help make all three thieves much better in combat than D&D normally sees.
- In fairness, the pickpocket skill has largely been rendered useless by the way the adventures play out. I don’t think anyone has really noted this yet though. 5 thieves in two games in the same world and I think there has only been two attempts to pick pockets.