D&D General Are lockpicking tools legal in your fantasy world?

[Bacon Bits]

IRL I own three sets, but no thieves use lockpicks anymore.

Yeah. Last I knew thieves tended to carry portable angle grinders, portable drills, and those electric or hand operated hydraulic bolt cutters. Or they just go for the stuff that doesn't have locks. Lock picking takes awhile to get good at. Why be a thief if you've got to invest that much into something?

 

[TheSword]

Looks like a guy I used to play D&D with.

He’s the archetypal D&D character to be honest.

A human raised amongst dwarves - presumably so he could get the heavy armour proficiency

 

[tetrasodium]

Most professions keep their tools and practices secret, and this would include locksmiths and thieves. Because of this, the average law enforcer wouldn't recognize them anyway. A large city with an active guild might have laws against them, but even then only veterans would likely be able to recognize them.

There are a lot of legitimate uses for security tools but security is one industry that is extremely vocal about tools and practices simply because it's a huge area and most security is anything but such as the munitions proof lock bodies that used to secure a lot of very dangerous things the military kept secure thst hsd to be discontinued and replaced with less secure padlocks not capable of withstanding explosives to the same degree because the old locks were damaging the storage units due to their weight...

Luckily for GMs it makes for an incredibly useful set of tools to add to your GM toolbox if you know even a little and to be honest there are a lot of good reasons to learn how security works in case you ever need to be involved in improving it. I out together a great collection of security related defcon chats with some useful context/summaries for applying them to d&d a while back over here

good & bad security & Using Penetration testing for inspiration of eberron “puzzles” (and locks/security). - The Piazza

 

[tetrasodium]

Yeah. Last I knew thieves tended to carry portable angle grinders, portable drills, and those electric or hand operated hydraulic bolt cutters. Or they just go for the stuff that doesn't have locks. Lock picking takes awhile to get good at. Why be a thief if you've got to invest that much into something?

Lock picking has a larger problem. Even in the case of a near useless lock (like on the front door to most homes), the lock itself is far from the weakest point of attack. I honestly dont know if I have lock picks anymore, but I have standardized fleet keys, stupidly common keys* used to secure everything from file cabinets& expensive toolboxes to keys to locked things with actual good locks, standardized keys to security access control systems, keys to elevators, gasket pullers for open sesame treatment on many many doors(locked or otherwise), and I haven't even gotten to the stuff people dont realize rget have like tin snips & a soda can or any outfit that looks similar to a wide range of uniforms. We cant forget the power of flowers with a card or a bag of Chinese food delivery with special instructions either

*so common most people own or have owned several

 

[TheSword]

Lock picking has a larger problem. Even in the case of a near useless lock (like on the front door to most homes), the lock itself is far from the weakest point of attack. I honestly dont know if I have lock picks anymore, but I have standardized fleet keys, stupidly common keys* used to secure everything from file cabinets& expensive toolboxes to keys to locked things with actual good locks, standardized keys to security access control systems, keys to elevators, gasket pullers for open sesame treatment on many many doors(locked or otherwise), and I haven't even gotten to the stuff people dont realize rget have like tin snips & a soda can or any outfit that looks similar to a wide range of uniforms. We cant forget the power of flowers with a card or a bag of Chinese food delivery with special instructions either

*so common most people own or have owned several

I wish my players played like you think!

 

[Umbran]

Have you ever restricted lockpicking tools in your campaigns?

No. But then, my fantasy worlds don't typically have legal systems with a bazillion shelf-feet of documented laws on the books, either.

 

[jgsugden]

They're illegal in some places, but not even contemplated in others. However, few PCs carry them around.

There are common magic items that allow someone to cast a cantrip by using a charge, they have a maximum of 7 charges, and replenish 1d6+1 every night. The ones that do prestidigitation are common, and can be used to make "trinkets", which I've ruled to include tools found in tool kits. Accordingly, adventurers walk around with one of these items and just summon thieves tools. It only bites them when then they need to pick a lock in a hurry as it takes 3 rounds to start picking the lock (one to cast trinket 1, 1 to cast trinket 2, and the an action to pick the lock).

 

[Umbran]

I wish my players played like you think!

"I wish my players played like people who spend time learning how to be bad to their fellow humans!"

Maybe that isn't the selling point you think it is...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

No. But then, my fantasy worlds don't typically have legal systems with a bazillion shelf-feet of documented laws on the books, either.

Yup likewise.

Most of the D&D settings I've run the number of on-the-books laws is pretty limited, and it's more about paramilitary types like city guard, sheriffs and so on, who have broad powers of arrest within their jurisdictions but where the lack of many clear formal laws both gives them flexibility and makes them more vulnerable to pressure and bribery.

 

[TheSword]

"I wish my players played like people who spend time learning how to be bad to their fellow humans!"

Maybe that isn't the selling point you think it is...

Lol. I wish my players considered methods other than smashing doors down and cracking skulls.

Being bad was never in question...