Tools

Many trades and crafts require special tools or sets of tools needed to do things like pick a lock, paint a portrait, or brew a potion.

Any character can use a tool kit, but many characters also gain proficiency with specific tools. When you are proficient, you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks made with them.

Tool use is not tied to any single ability score and your Narrator may decide your work may require any sort of ability check. For example, you may be asked to make a Dexterity check with your glassblower’s tools while making a delicate glass chalice, but you may be asked to make a Charisma check for creating an artistic glass sculpture. 

Masterwork Tools. When using tools of masterwork quality, if you are proficient you gain an expertise die on checks made with them.

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Trade Tools

These are the tools of specific trades and primarily used for gainful employment, but they can also be utilized where appropriate to the situation—using cartographer’s tools to accurately map a dungeon, or calming a savage beast using the melodious notes of a lyre. Trade tools are divided into artisan’s tools, gaming sets, and musical instruments.  

Artisan's Tools. These tools allow you to turn a specific type of raw material into generic trade goods using your time, effort, and skill. The type of tool determines the materials and amount of time needed. After spending the needed time and materials, you make a profession check with those tools which determines the value of the resulting generic trade goods (on a result of 15 or lower the materials used are wasted).

Gaming Sets. These items can be played to simply pass the time or to gain money through gambling. Gambling can potentially earn or lose money, depending on the amount you wager and the outcome of your check. You can also attempt to cheat opponents by making a Sleight of Hand check opposed by the highest Perception check among observers, turning your opponents hostile on a failure, or gaining advantage on a success. Not all opponents can cover all wagers, and most refuse to wager for more than a quarter of their net worth. For each hour spent gambling, make a check using your tool set and consult Table: Gambling Outcomes (though in most situations, there’s only so much money to be won, and usually a few sore losers when the house is cleaned out).

Musical Instrument. Examples of some common types of musical instruments are on Table: Musical Instruments but any instrument can be played for coin. Doing so requires a public space with at least 10 people, or an official gig at an establishment with a musical venue like a tavern or club. In either case make a check using your instrument for each hour you spend performing and consult Table: Performance Outcomes to determine the amount of gold you receive, though you may receive more or less than that at specific musical venues at the Narrator’s discretion. Bards can also use musical instruments as a spellcasting focus. Each type of musical instrument requires a separate proficiency.

 

Table: Artisan’s Tools and Profession Checks

Tool Kit	Cost	Weight	Material	Time	DC 15 Value	DC 20 Value	DC 25+ Value
Alchemist's supplies	50 gp	8 lbs.	10 gp of alchemical ingredients	8 hours	15 gp	20 gp	30 gp
Brewer's supplies	20 gp	9 lbs.	5 cp of malt, hops, and yeast	8 hours  (2 week delay)	2 gp	5 gp	20 gp
Calligrapher's supplies	10 gp	5 lbs.	15 gp of ink and paper	1 month  (8 hours per day)	45 gp	90 gp	300 gp
Carpenter's tools	8 gp	6 lbs.	1 sp of lumber	8 hours	1 gp	2 gp	10 gp
Cartographer's tools	15 gp	6 lbs.	12 gp of ink and paper	1 week  (8 hours per day)	20 gp	75 gp	200 gp
Cobbler's tools	5 gp	5 lbs.	1 cp of leather and nails	2 hours	5 cp	5 sp	5 gp
Cook's utensils	1 gp	8 lbs.	5 cp of food	1 hour	1 sp	1 gp	5 gp
Glassblower's tools	30 gp	5 lbs.	2 cp of sand	1 hour	1 sp	5 sp	10 gp
Jeweler's tools	25 gp	2 lbs.	25 gp in jewels and precious metals	8 hours	35 gp	75 gp	150 gp
Leatherworker's tools	5 gp	5 lbs.	2 cp of leather	3 days  (8 hours per day)	2 gp	5 gp	15 gp
Mason's tools	10 gp	8 lbs.	1 sp of stone	1 week (8 hours per day)	10 gp	30 gp	50 gp
Painter's supplies	10 gp	5 lbs.	5 gp of paint	1 week (8 hours per day)	10 gp	50 gp	200 gp
Potter's tools	10 gp	3 lbs.	1 cp of clay	1 hour	5 cp	1 sp	2 gp
Tinker's tools	50 gp	10 lbs.	10 gp of mechanical parts	1 week  (8 hours per day)	15 gp	90 gp	150 gp
Weaver's tools	1 gp	5 lbs.	1 gp of wool	2 weeks (8 hours per day)	20 gp	50 gp	100 gp
Woodcarver's tools	1 gp	5 lbs.	5 cp of lumber	1 hour	5 sp	1 gp	5 gp

 

Table: Gambling Outcomes

Gambling Check	Results
1	Lose wager + 50%
2–14	Lose wager
15–19	Break even
20–24	Earn twice your wager
25+	Earn three times your wager

 

Table: Gaming Sets

Item	Cost	Weight
Dice set	1 sp	—
Board game set	1 gp	1/2 lb.
Playing card set	5 sp	—

 

Table: Performance Outcomes

Performance Check	Results
1–5	Banned from venue
6–14	1d4 cp
15–19	1d4 sp
20–24	1d4 gp
25+	3d4 gp

 

Table: Musical Instruments

Item	Cost	Weight
Bagpipes	30 gp	6 lbs.
Drum	6 gp	3 lbs.
Dulcimer	25 gp	10 lbs.
Flute	2 gp	1 lb.
Lute	35 gp	2 lbs.
Lyre	30 gp	2 lbs.
Harp	35 gp	25 lbs.
Horn	3 gp	2 lbs.
Pan flute	12 gp	2 lbs.
Shawm	2 gp	1 lb.
Trombone	15 gp	4 lbs.
Viol	30 gp	1 lb.
Violin	25 gp	1 lb.

 

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Miscellaneous Tools

The following tools allow you to perform specific actions or have very specific uses, such as using thieves’ tools to carefully disable a trap mechanism or a forgery kit to make a false invitation to a noble’s gala.

Disguise Kit. This pouch of props, costuming, and cosmetics lets you change your physical appearance. A creature observing you after you make a disguise kit check must make a Perception check (DC equal to the result of your disguise kit check) in order to see through your disguise.

Forgery Kit. This small box contains a wide variety of papers, inks, and sealing waxes needed to create convincing forgeries of specific documents. A creature examining a false document made using a forgery kit must make an Investigation check (DC equal to the result of your forgery kit check) in order to realize it is a fake.

Herbalism Kit. This kit contains the tools needed to carefully harvest and process rare herbs into remedies. You can attempt to harvest rare herbs from areas with abundant flora by spending an hour searching and making an herbalism kit check. You randomly obtain one of the following medicinals on a result of 16–22: adderwort roots, dried yewclaw bark, fairy cap, ironwood acorn, pressed spiderbulb, sycamore petal poultice. On a result of 23–27 you instead obtain one rare herb, and on a result of 28 or higher you obtain 2 rare herbs. With 1 minute of preparation a rare herb can be quickly processed into a basic healing potion , 2 rare herbs can be made into an antitoxin, or 3 rare herbs can be made into a greater healing potion . 

Navigator's Tools. These precision instruments allow you to relate your position to the position of the stars. So long as you are on the Material Plane and can freely observe the stars, once per night you can make a navigator’s tools check. On a result of 15–19 you learn one of the following pieces of information, or two pieces of information on a result of 20 or higher:

• The approximate time of year.
• Your approximate distance from the equator (assuming the world has a known axis).
• Your approximate distance from the place you last made this check.
• Your current distance from a major landmark and the approximate amount of time it will take to reach it.

Poisoner's Kit. Everything necessary for carefully harvesting and processing natural poisons and venoms can be found in this kit. You can attempt to harvest poisons from areas with abundant flora by spending an hour searching and making a poisoner’s kit check. On a result of 1–14 you accidentally poison yourself and suffer the effects of a basic poison. On a result of 15–19 you obtain a vial’s worth of basic poison. On a result of 20–24 you obtain a vial’s worth of advanced poison, and on a result of 25 or higher you obtain a vial’s worth of potent poison.

Alternatively, with 10 minutes of work you can use a poisoner’s kit to harvest poison from the fresh corpse of a creature that naturally contained poisons. Make a poisoner’s kit check against a DC equal to the DC of the creature’s poison (if the creature’s poison has no saving throw, use 8 + the creature’s CR). On a failed check you suffer the effects of the creature’s poison, and on a success you harvest a vial’s worth of poison. You can use the creature’s poison to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to 3 pieces of ammunition as an action. The poison retains its potency for 1 minute or until you hit with the weapon or ammunition. Weapons or ammunition you coat in a creature’s poison inflict the same effects as shown in the creature’s statistics. Once you harvest the poison of a creature, that corpse cannot be harvested from again.

Sewing Kit. This kit of threads, thimbles, buttons, and scissors is primarily used to mend clothing. With 1 hour of work you can use a sewing kit to mend clothing and some suits of armor. The DC of a sewing kit check is determined by the material being worked.

Smith’s Tools. These hammers and clamps are a poor replacement for a full forge but can be instrumental for repairing metal items. With 1 hour of work you can use smith’s tools to mend many weapons and armors. The DC of a smith’s tools check is determined by the material being worked.

Thieves' Tools. This set of often sharp and slender metal instruments are needed to crack locks and carefully spy into mechanisms. You can use an action to open a lock by making a thieves’ tools check against a DC determined by the quality of the lock being picked.

Table: Miscellaneous Tools

Item	Cost	Weight
Disguise kit	25 gp	3 lbs.
Forgery kit	15 gp	5 lbs.
Herbalism kit	5 gp	3 lbs.
Navigator's tools	25 gp	2 lbs.
Poisoner's kit	50 gp	2 lbs.
Sewing kit	2 gp	1 lb.
Smith's tools	20 gp	8 lbs.
Thieves' tools	25 gp	1 lb.