Lockpicks

These are essential for the thief to use this skill at anything like his "natural" ability level. It is these items which are listed in the Player's Handbook as Thieves' Picks, costing 30 gp. They are usually short lengths of rigid wire and flat, narrow plates of iron or steel, especially designed and made for dealing with locks, and there will be a dozen or so to a set. They will be supplied either on a ring (like keys) or in a cloth or leather wallet which unrolls. These items will never be freely available on the open market.

Lockpicks may also be considered as necessary for discovering small traps which are affixed to locks. Without them, the thief cannot use his find traps skill nor his remove traps skill for dealing with such traps. Improvised lockpicks have a -30 penalty to both skill rolls. The kind of traps involved here are small poisoned needles inside drawers or coffers; spring-triggered poison dart traps inside containers; and so on.