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

[Ruin Explorer]

The better question is "Why would a law banning thieves' tools exist? What is its purpose?"

The answer is probably not "to outlaw thieves' tools."

This is so totally spot-on. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Shiroiken]

You mean it takes more than a bobby pin and a bent paperclip to open a lock? TV has been lying to me all these years!

With modern locks, two pins is all you need (one bent). You just use the first pin to hold down the primary, which keeps the tumblers from resetting, and the bent one to push each tumbler up into place. If you overshoot one, you just have to start over again. They sell training locks made with transparent plastic, so you can see what's going on. I have absolutely no idea if any of that information is relevant to older locks, however.

Crazy Russian Hacker

 

[tetrasodium]

This young woman, who I can only assume is a graduate student, produced a condensed history of lock picking you can find on Youtube. I'm not an expert on locks produced from the middle ages through early modern Europe but since when has my lack of expertise prevented me from participating in a thread? Judging from locks I've seen produced in the 17th and 18th centuries, I suspect lock picks used in D&D are going to look a bit different from modern picks. Locks in early modern Europe are going to be rather large by our standards and so would the key. (Yeah, they made smaller locks such as those you might use in a keepsake box.)

The lock pick size is because pin tumbler and other more advanced lock systems like machined pin tumblers & anything with a computer chip/wireless sensor are fairly recent. Prior to that it was mostly warded locks where a metal (or wood) plate/slat would physically stop the key from being able to turn if the key didn't have the right slats for thekey to pass.


Ironically d&d magic like arcane mark*, alarm, and/or magic mouth twisted to turn a lock mechanism makes even today's multifactor advanced locks fairly simple even with an extremely crude key

* or the 5e equivalent spell I forget the name of

 

[nevin]

typically that would be up to the guard, magistrate or whoever is in charge of the city. In the large cities in most countries absolutely not. Though there are some where you have to get caught using them to get in trouble. Some where using them is ok as long as you don't get caught by the owner.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I've never thought about this until yesterday...

We broke a key inside a lock at home, and we were looking around for methods and tools to extract the broken key. I easily found lockpicking tools on sale online for just a few bucks on legit international websites such as the obvious Amazon, but when I looked on our local chain hardware stores websites, none was selling them. It turned out that there are some local legal restrictions for selling and owning them if you're not a professional locksmith.

So I immediately wondered if I should consider setting up some trouble to our party Rogue

Have you ever restricted lockpicking tools in your campaigns?

I can’t speak for your jurisdiction, but in my home town, stuff like that is restricted because of the lobbying of locksmiths, not because of a fear of people using lockpicks and such for felonious purposes.

Just something to keep in mind, especially in the region your PCs are in has strong guilds.

 

[nevin]

I can’t speak for your jurisdiction, but in my home town, stuff like that is restricted because of the lobbying of locksmiths, not because of a fear of people using lockpicks and such for felonious purposes.

Just something to keep in mind, especially in the region your PCs are in has strong guilds.

yeah in midevil times guilds would have people thrown in jail, banished or even killed for practicing in thier business without being a member.

 

[nevin]

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?

Even if you are good at lockpicking it takes time depending on the lock. My father was a locksmith and he used to rant and rave when people in the movie would just whip out their tools and open the lock like they had a key. And there are some locks you just drill out and start over.

 

[Tonguez]

Of course, thasts why we need thieves guilds to supply all the black market supplies

 

[cbwjm]

I haven't really thought about it much but I'd say they aren't illegal. However, if you're running around late at night in dark clothing and get stopped by the watch, if they find them on you then things may not go well for you.

 

[Tonguez]

The better question is "Why would a law banning thieves' tools exist? What is its purpose?"

The answer is probably not "to outlaw thieves' tools."

Real-life parallel: In several jurisdictions, even possession of drug paraphernalia is illegal. Why? To reduce drug use or possession? No. It's to give the police and/or prosecutor more leverage over an arrestee. It is ultimately a vagrancy law.

Historically, vagrancy laws are good for two things: incentivizing people to leave town (such as in sundown towns) or drumming up menial labor. Vagrancy historically was punished with forced labor.

As to your question, you could actually make a really good adventure out of it. Specifically, you could make a fantasy version of "First Blood." The local constable finds thieves' tools on a PC (or some other trumped up charge) and tells them to leave town, maybe even "offering a ride" out of town. If the party refuses, they're arrested and sentenced to forced labor. Have the constable be running the town like his own little fiefdom, squeezing the locals for money, etc.

Medieval Keys tended to look like picks and Medieval Locks were mostly of the ward type, where the key has a specific configuration to fit the wards. Those locks are of course made by hand by Locksmiths who probably know their own designs and know who they sold the key to.

Its likely that the relevant laws would be about protecting the ward and key patterns of Master Locksmiths rather than outlawing lock picks, the Watch would be suspicious if someone was carrying around a set of lock picks to doorsa that they did not have permission to access

I know in modern legal codes while lockpicks are not illegal per se possessing any item for the purpose of commiting a crime is