Crowbar[]
This is a simple all-purpose tool which can be used for forcing windows open, levering open chests with locks which refuse to be picked, and for similar purposes. At the DM's option, use of a crowbar adds +10 to any bend bars roll the thief has to make when trying to force open some portal. A crowbar is usually a metal rod 3 to 4 feet in length, with one end slightly crooked and often with a snake-tongue division in it. The DM may allow a thief to use a crowbar as a weapon, although a weapon proficiency slot would have to be used to avoid a non-proficiency penalty in its usage. Damage is d6+1 versus S/M creatures, d6 versus large opponents if the thief has proficiency. Otherwise, it inflicts damage as a club.
Glass Cutter[]
This very simple instrument is usually a small diamond set into a suitable handle, or even one set into a ring. The diamond must be cut to a fine point, and if used in a ring a hinged top should be used to protect the gem. Such a tool will cut through glass fairly quickly. Attempting an entry through a window is always superior in principle to attempting to force a door, since windows cannot be as physically tough as doors and are less likely to be locked; but if they are locked, a glass cutter is highly useful.
The efficiency of this item is considerably increased if used together with Tar Paper (see below).
Housebreaker's Harness[]
This is a vital piece of equipment for the serious cat-burglar or housebreaker. Known in thieves' cant as a "spider," it is made of linked leather straps, one around each thigh, one running around the waist, and one over each shoulder. The straps link together to form a tight harness, which can be worn over clothing or leather armor. Attached to the harness are up to eight or so more straps, of varying lengths up to 2 feet. At the ends of these straps are small metal rings, upon which many different devices can be affixed; tools can be hung, climbing daggers fixed, and suchlike. The principal uses of the harness are as follows:
(i) If the thief is climbing a wall using a rope, the rope can be run through one or more of the rings of the harness removing any chance of falling from letting go of the rope.
(ii) Once the thief has reached the point where he hopes to effect a break-in, two of the straps can be fixed to either side of him (usually with climbing daggers, or perhaps with wedges in a window frame, etc). This provides the thief with a firm base and allows him the free use of his hands to open a lock, cut glass, check for traps, and for similar actions.
Imaginative thieves will be able to think up many other uses for this handy and versatile piece of equipment.
Keymaking Set[]
This expensive item allows a thief to make duplicates of keys he holds in his possession or from impressions of keys made using a wax pad (available as a separate item; see below). The keymaking set is a number of molds, files, small blades, metal-working instruments and the like. It also uses a small oil-burning apparatus for softening and molding metal, so its use is usually restricted to a safe, secure lair where the thief will not be disturbed. Duplicating a key takes 1d4 hours, depending on the size and intricacy of the original. A skeleton key (see below) cannot be duplicated with a keymaking set.
The keymaking set permits the manufacture of poor-to fair-quality soft-metal replicas of keys, which are rough in appearance and do not resemble the work of a professional. the duplicate key will open the same locks as the original if the thief makes a successful Dexterity test (the DM should roll this in secret). If the thief made his duplicate from a wax pad impression, there is a penalty of +2 to this dice roll. The thief always thinks his duplicate is a successful piece of workmanship, of course. Only when it is actually tried on the appropriate lock(s) will the thief find out for sure.
The keymaking set does not preempt the role of locksmiths or their skill. Professional locksmiths will duplicate keys with a 99% chance of success and have superior tools to the keymaking set described here. Each locksmith's set of tools are individually crafted and modified to suit the locksmith and are too complex for thieves who are not themselves locksmiths to employ.
Limewood Strips[]
These are strips of wood, usually around 4 to 6 inches long and an inch or so high, and very thin. They are also very tough, however, being made of very resilient wood (like limewood, although other, similar woods can be used) and often coated on one or both sides with a very thin coat of toughening varnish. Limewood strips are slipped between a door and its door frame so that the thief can raise a latch on the other side of the door and open it normally (possibly after picking a lock). A normal latch can be opened, but a bar is too strong for a limewood strip to lift.
Sharkskin[]
Sharkskin is made from thick cloth, into which are sewn hundreds of tiny curved and barbed hooks, rather like miniature fishing hooks. These hooks are very sharply curved, and are all sewn with the hooks lying in the same direction. Thus, when stroked in one direction the cloth feels perfectly smooth, but in the other it grips tightly and even tears skin or cloth. Sharkskin is so called, fairly obviously, because it resembles the skin of a shark, which is coated in hooked scales.
Sharkskin can be used as a form of hanging board; a square of the material affixed to a surface with hooks pointing downward can be used to keep tools and such in place. Items can simply be pressed down on the surface of the sharkskin, and they will effectively stick to it. This is most useful for a thief climbing a wall and has utility in other circumstances. Sharkskin-coated gloves can be used to assist in climbing walls, in which case they can be treated as clawed gloves (see above) in all respects.
Skeleton Key[]
These were not considered earlier under the pick locks skill because the DM will almost certainly wish to restrict the availability of these items drastically, if they are allowed in the campaign world at all.
A skeleton key is one which is capable of opening many locks of several different types, in its most versatile form. The very best designs will open virtually any lock, but it is certain that the DM will not want any PC thief acquiring such an item! Rather, four ways of dealing with skeleton keys are suggested here.
First, any individual skeleton key may open locks of up to a certain complexity level. Skeleton keys may be of good, excellent, or superior quality (wretched and poor don't warrant them), and a skeleton key of any particular level of quality can open all locks with a quality the same as, or lower than, that of the skeleton key itself.
Second, a skeleton key can be treated as being equivalent to a thief of a certain level; this can be determined by the DM to suit the level of play in the campaign world. If a purely random determination is required, level 7-14 (6+d8) may be used. The open locks chance can be taken as 20%, plus 5% per thief level.
Third, a skeleton key can be treated as a "master key"—that is, it can open all the locks in some particular area (such as all the non-residential rooms in the east wing of the vampire's castle). In this instance it is really only a glorified substitute for a bunch of keys, although it saves time having just one key to use. A more interesting variant on this theme is to have a skeleton key which can open all the locks commissioned from a particular locksmith (in the last few years, perhaps). If the locksmith was well thought of and often hired, there could be adventures built around just finding out which locations he had built the locks for, let alone going around opening them all!
Fourth, a skeleton key can be rated as a minor magical item, and removed from the realm of mundane equipment, if the DM wishes to restrict the availability of such a key without banishing it from game play. In this case, rating the key as equal in skill to a high-level thief and/or adding major bonuses to pick locks skill for locks up to masterful quality is the best way to use the key.
Finally, note that a skeleton key may open a particular lock, but it does not disarm any trap(s) attached to the lock or portal unless the original key would do so.
Tar Paper[]
This is simply any kind of heavy paper or (more usually) cloth which has been soaked in tar, honey, treacle, or anything suitably sticky. The thief usually uses it by slapping it on a window before breaking the glass in a window-pane. The sticky surface keeps all the fragments together as the glass breaks. Noise is considerably reduced, both from cushioning the impact of a hammer on glass and by preventing broken glass from scattering all over the floor beyond the window. If there is someone within fairly close listening distance, the DM may make a secret move silently roll for the thief when using this stratagem.
Tar paper can also be used with a glass cutter (see above), being affixed to the center of the area of glass to be cut out, so that it can be simply pulled out when the cutter has done its work.
Wax Pad[]
This is a small block of wax usually kept in a rigid container to keep it in one piece—the equivalent of a large snuff-box will do nicely. The thief uses the wax to record an impression of a key he wants to have duplicated later. Obviously, the thief can only do this if he has access to a key, at least for a short time, and if he doesn't wish to take a chance on borrowing the key for a while. From the wax impression, the thief can have a locksmith make a duplicate of the original key, or attempt to make one himself using a keymaking set, if he has one.
With very soft wax, which may need heat-softening on the spot, the thief may even be able to make a wax impression of such items as heavy seals, which may be capable of being duplicated later—but an expert will be needed for this kind of duplication/forgery!