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.