What's in a thieves kit?

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

There was a Dragon article waaaay back in the day that listed a bunch of cool things for a thief. One thing I remember from that was a coin with a filed-down sharp edge. It was used to cut purse strings during pocket picking.

I think they also recommended small vials of acid for those locks that are just too hard to pick.

Man, talk about a flashback. I had a copy of that article stapled to the back of a character sheet back in high school. I don't remember the PCs name, but I did all sorts of stuff that the DM didn't like, all as a result of things mentioned in that article.

 

[Henry]

I, too, have fond memories from that article. A couple of the other things mentioned (I think) was files (for padlocks you couldn't pick), the aforementioned wax and key-blanks, the vial of acid, the sharpened coin, and an "ear-seeker cone."

Anybody remember the good old days of ear-seekers? It was a little listening cone with wire mesh over the bell, to keep ear-seekers from burrowing in when you listened to doors.

 

[Tonguez]

Depends on the thief.

Muggers - sap, stain remover, ties, gloves
Cats - rope, oil, glass cutter, hooks, picks
Paper Man - inks, paper, seals, sands
Con Man - IDs, legal papers

All have different needs and functions

What's a Paper man?

and assuming we're talking DnD do 'your' windows have glass in them?

 

[Hand of Evil]

What's a Paper man?

and assuming we're talking DnD do 'your' windows have glass in them?

A paper man deals in forgery, providing a number of services, such as bill of sales, right to bare arms or cast magic, taxes paid for items, ownership of items, right to explore a site, tickets and passes, passports and such.

Glass is common.

 

[Orm]

Are we talking about the mw thieve´s kit that gives a bonus to open lock and disable device? Then it´s some picks, a saw, a small hammer, pliers, skeleton keys, maybe a crowbar and a small flask of oil and such things. All the things you would need to open a lock or to disable a device. No stain remover, sap, coin with a filed-down sharp edge or inks, paper, seals, sands. That are different skill kits or weapons.

Orm

 

[Pielorinho]

Yep--I'd keep a thieve's kit used for disable device and open locks as something separate from an assassin's kit, a trapmaker's kit, and a paperman's kit (love the term!) Otherwise you'll have people saying their thieve's kit should give them a bonus on forgery checks.

That said, if a player wanted there to be some specific tool in the thieve's kit, I'd be very generous with allowing it to be there. No, there's not going to be wyvern venom in there; but there might be a timbleful of acid. And if the player needs chalk, graphite, thread, wire, pliers, needles, springs, rulers, scales, or anything else that they could justify being used in DD or OL, I'm pretty likely to say, "Sure!" It's just gonna make the game more fun, IMO.

Daniel

 

[The Goblin King]

Anybody remember the good old days of ear-seekers? It was a little listening cone with wire mesh over the bell, to keep ear-seekers from burrowing in when you listened to doors.

Umm. no. I can imagine. That would ruin my day.

 

[FireLance]

Yep--I'd keep a thieve's kit used for disable device and open locks as something separate from an assassin's kit, a trapmaker's kit, and a paperman's kit (love the term!) Otherwise you'll have people saying their thieve's kit should give them a bonus on forgery checks.

You should see how the artificer in my Eberron campaign tries to use thieves' tools to get a bonus on Intimidate checks :

Jean sighed. The bard’s attempt to fast-talk the dolgrim was obviously not working. "Listen up, you," he said menacingly, producing one of his special tools – one that could be used to extract stuck rivets, as well as to bypass certain locks and traps. "Let me describe to you what my friend the warforged is going to do to you with this if you don’t tell us what we want to know."

 

[Piratecat]

An instruction manual in three languages
Decals
Model glue
Plastic end-caps
A balsa-wood thief

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Every good thieve's kit has one of these: http://www.squidi.net/viewcomic.php?date=03-01-07