A tool helps you to do something you couldn't otherwise do, such as craft or repair an item, forge a document, or pick a lock. Your race, class, background, or feats give you proficiency with certain tools. Proficiency with a tool allows you to add your proficiency bonus to any ability check you make using that tool. Tool use is not tied to a single ability, since proficiency with a tool represents broader knowledge of its use. For example, the DM might ask you to make a Dexterity check to carve a fine detail with your woodcarver's tools, or a Strength check to make something out of particularly hard wood.
List of Tools
Item |
Cost |
Number Available |
Weight |
Artisan's tools |
Alchemist's supplies |
50 gp |
5 |
8 lbs. |
Brewer's supplies |
20 gp |
5 |
9 lbs. |
Calligrapher's supplies |
10 gp |
5 |
5 lbs. |
Carpenter's tools |
8 gp |
5 |
6 lbs. |
Cartographer's tools |
15 gp |
5 |
6 lbs. |
Cobbler's tools |
5 gp |
5 |
5 lbs. |
Cook's utensils |
1 gp |
5 |
8 lbs. |
Glassblower's tools |
30 gp |
3 |
5 lbs. |
Jeweler's tools |
25 gp |
2 |
2 lbs. |
Leatherworker's tools |
5 gp |
5 |
5 lbs. |
Mason's tools |
10 gp |
3 |
8 lbs. |
Painter's tools |
10 gp |
5 |
5 lbs. |
Potter's tools |
10 gp |
4 |
3 lbs. |
Smith's tools |
20 gp |
2 |
8 lbs. |
Tinker's tools |
50 gp |
5 |
10 lbs. |
Weaver's tools |
1 gp |
5 |
5 lbs. |
Woodcarver's tools |
1 gp |
5 |
5 lbs. |
———— |
———— |
———— |
———— |
Disguise kit |
25 gp |
5 |
3 lbs. |
Forgery kit |
15 gp |
4 |
5 lbs. |
Gaming set |
Dice set |
1 sp |
20 |
— |
Dragonchess set |
1 gp |
2 |
1/2 lbs. |
Playing card set |
5 sp |
20 |
— |
Three-Dragon Ante set |
1 gp |
5 |
— |
———— |
———— |
———— |
———— |
Herbalism kit |
5 gp |
5 |
3 lbs. |
Musical instrument |
Bagpipes |
30 gp |
1 |
6 lbs. |
Drum |
6 gp |
5 |
3 lbs. |
Dulcimer |
25 gp |
3 |
10 lbs. |
Flute |
2 gp |
5 |
1 lbs. |
Lute |
35 gp |
3 |
2 lbs. |
Lyre |
30 gp |
3 |
2 lbs. |
Horn |
3 gp |
10 |
2 lbs. |
Pan flute |
12 gp |
4 |
2 lbs. |
Shawm |
2 gp |
3 |
1 lbs. |
Viol |
30 gp |
3 |
1 lbs. |
———— |
———— |
———— |
———— |
Navigator's tools |
25 gp |
3 |
2 lbs. |
Poisoner's kit |
50 gp |
2 |
2 lbs. |
Thieves' tools |
25 gp |
4 |
1 lbs. |
Descriptions
Artisan's Tools
These special tools include the items needed to pursue a craft or trade. Proficiency with a set of artisan's tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make using the tools in your craft. Each type of artisan's tools requires a separate proficiency.
Alchemist's Supplies
Alchemist's supplies enable a character to produce useful concoctions, such as acid or alchemist's fire.
Activity |
DC |
Create a puff of thick smoke |
10 |
Identify a poison |
10 |
Identify a substance |
15 |
Start a fire |
15 |
Neutralize acid |
20 |
Components
Alchemist's supplies include two glass beakers, a metal frame to hold a beaker in place over an open flame, a glass stirring rod, a small mortar and pestle, and a pouch of common alchemical ingredients, including salt, powdered iron, and purified water.
Arcana
Proficiency with alchemist's supplies allows you to unlock more information on Arcana checks involving potions and similar materials.
Investigation
When you inspect an area for clues, proficiency with alchemist's supplies grants additional insight into any chemicals or other substances that might have been used in the area.
Alchemical Crafting
You can use this tool proficiency to create alchemical items. A character can spend money to collect raw materials, which weigh 1 pound for every 50 gp spent. As part of a long rest, you can use alchemist's supplies to make one dose of acid, alchemist's fire, antitoxin, oil, perfume, or soap. Subtract half the value of the created item from the total gp worth of raw materials you are carrying.
Brewer's Supplies
Brewing is the art of producing beer. Not only does beer serve as an alcoholic beverage, but the process of brewing purifies water. Crafting beer takes weeks of fermentation, but only a few hours of work.
Activity |
DC |
Detect poison or impurities in a drink |
10 |
Identify alcohol |
15 |
Ignore effects of alcohol |
20 |
Components
Brewer's supplies include a large glass jug, a quantity of hops, a siphon, and several feet of tubing.
History
Proficiency with brewer's supplies gives you additional insight on Intelligence (History) checks concerning events that involve alcohol as a significant element.
Medicine
This tool proficiency grants additional insight when you treat anyone suffering from alcohol poisoning or when you can use alcohol to dull pain.
Persuasion
A stiff drink can help soften the hardest heart. Your proficiency with brewer's supplies can help you ply someone with drink, giving them just enough alcohol to mellow their mood.
Potable Water
Your knowledge of brewing enables you to purify water that would otherwise be undrinkable. As part of a long rest, you can purify up to 6 gallons of water, or 1 gallon as part of a short rest.
Calligrapher's Supplies
Calligraphy treats writing as a delicate, beautiful art. Calligraphers produce text that is pleasing to the eye, using a style that is difficult to forge. Their supplies also give them some ability to examine scripts and determine if they are legitimate, since a calligrapher's training involves long hours of studying writing and attempting to replicate its style and design.
Activity |
DC |
Identify writer of nonmagical script |
10 |
Determine writer's state of mind |
15 |
Spot forged text |
15 |
Forge a signature |
20 |
Components
Calligrapher's supplies include ink, a dozen sheets of parchment, and three quills.
Arcana
Although calligraphy is of little help in deciphering the content of magical writings, proficiency with these supplies can aid in identifying who wrote a script of a magical nature.
History
This tool proficiency can augment the benefit of successful checks made to analyze or investigate ancient writings, scrolls, or other texts, including runes etched in stone or messages in frescoes or other displays.
Decipher Treasure Map
This tool proficiency grants you expertise in examining maps. You can make an Intelligence check to determine a map's age, whether a map includes any hidden messages, or similar facts.
Carpenter's Tools
Skill at carpentry enables a character to construct wooden structures. A carpenter can build a house, a shack, a wooden cabinet, or similar items.
Activity |
DC |
Build a simple wooden structure |
10 |
Design a complex wooden structure |
15 |
Find a weak point in a wooden wall |
15 |
Pry apart a door |
20 |
Components
Carpenter's tools include a saw, a hammer, nails, a hatchet, a square, a ruler, an adze, a plane, and a chisel.
History
This tool proficiency aids you in identifying the use and the origin of wooden buildings and other large wooden objects.
Investigation
You gain additional insight when inspecting areas within wooden structures, because you know tricks of construction that can conceal areas from discovery.
Perception
You can spot irregularities in wooden walls or floors, making it easier to find trap doors and secret passages.
Stealth
You can quickly assess the weak spots in a wooden floor, making it easier to avoid the places that creak and groan when they're stepped on.
Fortify
With 1 minute of work and raw materials, you can make a door or window harder to force open. Increase the DC needed to open it by 5.
Temporary Shelter
As part of a long rest, you can construct a lean-to or a similar shelter to keep your group dry and in the shade for the duration of the rest. Because it was fashioned quickly from whatever wood was available, the shelter collapses 1d3 days after being assembled.
Cartographer's Tools
Using cartographer's tools, you can create accurate maps to make travel easier for yourself and those who come after you. These maps can range from large-scale depictions of mountain ranges to diagrams that show the layout of a dungeon level.
Activity |
DC |
Determine a map's age and origin |
10 |
Estimate direction and distance to a landmark |
15 |
Discern that a map is fake |
15 |
Fill in a missing part of a map |
20 |
Components
Cartographer's tools consist of a quill, ink, parchment, a pair of compasses, calipers, and a ruler.
Arcana, History, Religion
You can use your knowledge of maps and locations to unearth more detailed information when you use these skills. For instance, you might spot hidden messages in a map, identify when the map was made to determine if geographical features have changed since then, and so forth.
Nature
Your familiarity with physical geography makes it easier for you to answer questions or solve issues relating to the terrain around you.
Survival
Your understanding of geography makes it easier to find paths to civilization, to predict areas where villages or towns might be found, and to avoid becoming lost. You have studied so many maps that common patterns, such as how trade routes evolve and where settlements arise in relation to geographic locations, are familiar to you.
Craft a Map
While traveling, you can draw a map as you go in addition to engaging in other activity.
Cobbler's Tools
Although the cobbler's trade might seem too humble for an adventurer, a good pair of boots will see a character across rugged wilderness and through deadly dungeons.
Activity |
DC |
Determine a shoe's age and origin |
10 |
Find a hidden compartment in a boot heel |
15 |
Components
Cobbler's tools consist of a hammer, an awl, a knife, a shoe stand, a cutter, spare leather, and thread.
Arcana, History
Your knowledge of shoes aids you in identifying the magical properties of enchanted boots or the history of such items.
Investigation
Footwear holds a surprising number of secrets. You can learn where someone has recently visited by examining the wear and the dirt that has accumulated on their shoes. Your experience in repairing shoes makes it easier for you to identify where damage might come from.
Maintain Shoes
As part of a long rest, you can repair your companions' shoes. For the next 24 hours, up to six creatures of your choice who wear shoes you worked on can travel up to 10 hours a day without making saving throws to avoid exhaustion.
Craft Hidden Compartment
With 8 hours of work, you can add a hidden compartment to a pair of shoes. The compartment can hold an object up to 3 inches long and 1 inch wide and deep. You make an Intelligence check using your tool proficiency to determine the Intelligence (Investigation) check DC needed to find the compartment.
Cook's Utensils
Adventuring is a hard life. With a cook along on the journey, your meals will be much better than the typical mix of hardtack and dried fruit.
Activity |
DC |
Create a typical meal |
10 |
Duplicate a meal |
15 |
Spot poison or impurities in food |
15 |
Create a gourmet meal |
15 |
Components
Cook's utensils include a metal pot, knives, forks, a stirring spoon, and a ladle.
History
Your knowledge of cooking techniques allows you to assess the social patterns involved in a culture's eating habits.
Medicine
When administering treatment, you can transform medicine that is bitter or sour into a pleasing concoction.
Survival
When foraging for food, you can make do with ingredients you scavenge that others would be unable to transform into nourishing meals.
Prepare Meals
As part of a short rest, you can prepare a tasty meal that helps your companions regain their strength. You and up to five creatures of your choice regain 1 extra hit point per Hit Die spent during a short rest, provided you have access to your cook's utensils and sufficient food.
Glassblower's Tools
Someone who is proficient with glassblower's tools has not only the ability to shape glass, but also specialized knowledge of the methods used to produce glass objects.
Activity |
DC |
Identify source of glassl |
10 |
Determine what glass object once held |
20 |
Components
The tools include a blowpipe, a small marver, blocks, and tweezers. You need a source of heat to work glass.
Arcana, History
Your knowledge of glassmaking techniques aids you when you examine glass objects, such as potion bottles or glass items found in a treasure hoard. For instance, you can study how a glass potion bottle has been changed by its contents to help determine a potion's effects. (A potion might leave behind a residue, deform the glass, or stain it.)
Investigation
When you study an area, your knowledge can aid you if the clues include broken glass or glass objects.
Identify Weakness
With 1 minute of study, you can identify the weak points in a glass object. Any damage dealt to the object by striking a weak spot is doubled.
Jeweler's Tools
Training with jeweler's tools includes the basic techniques needed to beautify gems. It also gives you expertise in identifying precious stones.
Activity |
DC |
Modify a gem's appearance |
15 |
Determine a gem's history |
20 |
Components
Jeweler's tools consist of a small saw and hammer, files, pliers, and tweezers.
Arcana
Proficiency with jeweler's tools grants you knowledge about the reputed mystical uses of gems. This insight proves handy when you make Arcana checks related to gems or gem-encrusted items.
Investigation
When you inspect jeweled objects, your proficiency with jeweler's tools aids you in picking out clues they might hold.
Identify Gems
You can identify gems and determine their value at a glance.
Leatherworker's Tools
Knowledge of leatherworking extends to lore concerning animal hides and their properties. It also confers knowledge of leather armor and similar goods.
Activity |
DC |
Modify a leather item's appearance |
10 |
Determine a leather item's history |
20 |
Components
Leatherworker's tools include a knife, a small mallet, an edger, a hole punch, thread, and leather scraps.
Arcana
Your expertise in working with leather grants you added insight when you inspect magic items crafted from leather, such as boots and some cloaks.
Investigation
You gain added insight when studying leather items or clues related to them, as you draw on your knowledge of leather to pick out details that others would overlook.
Identify Hides
When looking at a hide or a leather item, you can determine the source of the leather and any special techniques used to treat it. For example, you can spot the difference between leather crafted using dwarven methods and leather crafted using halfling methods.
Mason's Tools
Mason's tools allow you to craft stone structures, including walls and buildings crafted from brick.
Activity |
DC |
Chisel a small hole in a stone wall |
10 |
Find a weak point in a stone wall |
15 |
Components
Mason's tools consist of a trowel, a hammer, a chisel, brushes, and a square.
History
Your expertise aids you in identifying a stone building's date of construction and purpose, along with insight into who might have built it.
Investigation
You gain additional insight when inspecting areas within stone structures.
Perception
You can spot irregularities in stone walls or floors, making it easier to find trap doors and secret passages.
Demolition
Your knowledge of masonry allows you to spot weak points in brick walls. You deal double damage to such structures with your weapon attacks.
Potter's Tools
Potter's tools are used to create a variety of ceramic objects, most typically pots and similar vessels.
Activity |
DC |
Determine what a vessel once held |
10 |
Create a serviceable pot |
15 |
Find a weak point in a ceramic object |
20 |
Components
Potter's tools include potter's needles, ribs, scrapers, a knife, and calipers.
History
Your expertise aids you in identifying ceramic objects, including when they were created and their likely place or culture of origin.
Investigation, Perception
You gain additional insight when inspecting ceramics, uncovering clues others would overlook by spotting minor irregularities.
Reconstruction
By examining pottery shards, you can determine an object's original, intact form and its likely purpose.
Smith's Tools
Smith's tools allow you to work metal, heating it to alter its shape, repair damage, or work raw ingots into useful items.
Activity |
DC |
Sharpen a dull blade |
10 |
Repair a suit of armor |
15 |
Sunder a nonmagical metal object |
15 |
Components
Smith's tools include hammers, tongs, charcoal, rags, and a whetstone.
Arcana and History
Your expertise lends you additional insight when examining metal objects, such as weapons.
Investigation
You can spot clues and make deductions that others might overlook when an investigation involves armor, weapons, or other metalwork.
Repair
With access to your tools and an open flame hot enough to make metal pliable, you can restore 10 hit points to a damaged metal object for each hour of work.
Tinker's Tools
A set of tinker's tools is designed to enable you to repair many mundane objects. Though you can't manufacture much with tinker's tools, you can mend torn clothes, sharpen a worn sword, and patch a tattered suit of chain mail.
Activity |
DC |
Temporarily repair a disabled device |
10 |
Improvise a temporary item using scraps |
20 |
Components
Tinker's tools include a variety of hand tools, thread, needles, a whetstone, scraps of cloth and leather, and a small pot of glue.
History
You can determine the age and origin of objects, even if you have only a few pieces remaining from the original.
Investigation
When you inspect a damaged object, you gain knowledge of how it was damaged and how long ago.
Repair
You can restore 10 hit points to a damaged object for each hour of work. For any object, you need access to the raw materials required to repair it. For metal objects, you need access to an open flame hot enough to make the metal pliable.
Weaver's Tools
Weaver's tools allow you to create cloth and tailor it into articles of clothing.
Activity |
DC |
Repurpose cloth |
10 |
Mend a hole in a piece of cloth |
10 |
Tailor an outfit |
15 |
Components
Weaver's tools include thread, needles, and scraps of cloth. You know how to work a loom, but such equipment is too large to transport.
Arcana, History
Your expertise lends you additional insight when examining cloth objects, including cloaks and robes.
Investigation
Using your knowledge of the process of creating cloth objects, you can spot clues and make deductions that others would overlook when you examine tapestries, upholstery, clothing, and other woven items.
Repair
As part of a short rest, you can repair a single damaged cloth object.
Craft Clothing
Assuming you have access to sufficient cloth and thread, you can create an outfit for a creature as part of a long rest.
Woodcarver's Tools
Woodcarver's tools allow you to craft intricate objects from wood, such as wooden tokens or arrows.
Activity |
DC |
Craft a small wooden figurine |
10 |
Carve an intricate pattern in wood |
15 |
Components
Woodcarver's tools consist of a knife, a gouge, and a small saw.
Arcana, History
Your expertise lends you additional insight when you examine wooden objects, such as figurines or arrows.
Nature
Your knowledge of wooden objects gives you some added insight when you examine trees.
Repair
As part of a short rest, you can repair a single damaged wooden object.
Craft Arrows
As part of a short rest, you can craft up to five arrows. As part of a long rest, you can craft up to twenty. You must have enough wood on hand to produce them.
Disguise Kit
This pouch of cosmetics, hair dye, and small props lets you create disguises that change your physical appearance. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to create a visual disguise.
The perfect tool for anyone who wants to engage in trickery, a disguise kit enables its owner to adopt a false identity.
Activity |
DC |
Cover injuries or distinguishing marks |
10 |
Spot a disguise being used by someone else |
15 |
Copy a humanoid's appearance |
20 |
Components
A disguise kit includes cosmetics, hair dye, small props, and a few pieces of clothing.
Deception
In certain cases, a disguise can improve your ability to weave convincing lies.
Intimidation
The right disguise can make you look more fearsome, whether you want to scare someone away by posing as a plague victim or intimidate a gang of thugs by taking the appearance of a bully.
Performance
A cunning disguise can enhance an audience's enjoyment of a performance, provided the disguise is properly designed to evoke the desired reaction.
Persuasion
Folk tend to trust a person in uniform. If you disguise yourself as an authority figure, your efforts to persuade others are often more effective.
Create Disguise
As part of a long rest, you can create a disguise. It takes you 1 minute to don such a disguise once you have created it. You can carry only one such disguise on you at a time without drawing undue attention, unless you have a bag of holding or a similar method to keep them hidden. Each disguise weighs 1 pound.
At other times, it takes 10 minutes to craft a disguise that involves moderate changes to your appearance, and 30 minutes for one that requires more extensive changes.
Forgery Kit
This small box contains a variety of papers and parchments, pens and inks, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and other supplies necessary to create convincing forgeries of physical documents. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to create a physical forgery of a document.
A forgery kit is designed to duplicate documents and to make it easier to copy a person's seal or signature.
Activity |
DC |
Mimic handwriting |
10 |
Duplicate a wax seal |
15 |
Components
A forgery kit includes several different types of ink, a variety of parchments and papers, several quills, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and small tools to sculpt melted wax to mimic a seal.
Arcana
A forgery kit can be used in conjunction with the Arcana skill to determine if a magic item is real or fake.
Deception
A well-crafted forgery, such as papers proclaiming you to be a noble or a writ that grants you safe passage, can lend credence to a lie.
History
A forgery kit combined with your knowledge of history improves your ability to create fake historical documents or to tell if an old document is authentic.
Investigation
When you examine objects, proficiency with a forgery kit is useful for determining how an object was made and whether it is genuine.
Other Tools
Knowledge of other tools makes your forgeries that much more believable. For example, you could combine proficiency with a forgery kit and proficiency with cartographer's tools to make a fake map.
Quick Fake
As part of a short rest, you can produce a forged document no more than one page in length. As part of a long rest, you can produce a document that is up to four pages long. Your Intelligence check using a forgery kit determines the DC for someone else's Intelligence (Investigation) check to spot the fake.
Herbalism Kit
This kit contains a variety of instruments such as clippers, mortar and pestle, and pouches and vials used by herbalists to create remedies and potions. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to identify or apply herbs. Also, proficiency with this kit is required to create antitoxin and potions of healing.
Proficiency with an herbalism kit allows you to identify plants and safely collect their useful elements.
Activity |
DC |
Find plants |
15 |
Identify poison |
20 |
Components
An herbalism kit includes pouches to store herbs, clippers and leather gloves for collecting plants, a mortar and pestle, and several glass jars.
Arcana
Your knowledge of the nature and uses of herbs can add insight to your magical studies that deal with plants and your attempts to identify potions.
Investigation
When you inspect an area overgrown with plants, your proficiency can help you pick out details and clues that others might miss.
Medicine
Your mastery of herbalism improves your ability to treat illnesses and wounds by augmenting your methods of care with medicinal plants.
Nature and Survival
When you travel in the wild, your skill in herbalism makes it easier to identify plants and spot sources of food that others might overlook.
Identify Plants
You can identify most plants with a quick inspection of their appearance and smell.
Navigator's Tools
This set of instruments is used for navigation at sea. Proficiency with navigator's tools lets you chart a ship's course and follow navigation charts. In addition, these tools allow you to add your proficiency bonus to any ability check you make to avoid getting lost at sea.
Proficiency with navigator's tools helps you determine a true course based on observing the stars. It also grants you insight into charts and maps while developing your sense of direction.
Activity |
DC |
Plot a course |
10 |
Discover your position on a nautical chart |
15 |
Components
Navigator's tools include a sextant, a compass, calipers, a ruler, parchment, ink, and a quill.
Survival
Knowledge of navigator's tools helps you avoid becoming lost and also grants you insight into the most likely location for roads and settlements.
Sighting
By taking careful measurements, you can determine your position on a nautical chart and the time of day.
Poisoner's Kit
A poisoner's kit includes the vials, chemicals, and other equipment necessary for the creation of poisons. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to craft or use poisons. Additionally, the crafting and harvesting poison rules require the use of a poisoner's kit.
A poisoner's kit is a favored resource for thieves, assassins, and others who engage in skulduggery. It allows you to apply poisons and create them from various materials. Your knowledge of poisons also helps you treat them.
Activity |
DC |
Spot a poisoned object |
10 |
Determine the effects of a poison |
20 |
Components
A poisoner's kit includes glass vials, a mortar and pestle, chemicals, and a glass stirring rod.
History
Your training with poisons can help you when you try to recall facts about infamous poisonings.
Investigation, Perception
Your knowledge of poisons has taught you to handle those substances carefully, giving you an edge when you inspect poisoned objects or try to extract clues from events that involve poison.
Medicine
When you treat the victim of a poison, your knowledge grants you added insight into how to provide the best care to your patient.
Nature, Survival
Working with poisons enables you to acquire lore about which plants and animals are poisonous.
Handle Poison
Your proficiency allows you to handle and apply a poison without risk of exposing yourself to its effects.
Thieves' Tools
This set of tools includes a small file, a set of lock picks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a set of narrow-bladed scissors, and a pair of pliers. Proficiency with these tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to disarm traps or open locks.
Perhaps the most common tools used by adventurers, thieves' tools are designed for picking locks and foiling traps. Proficiency with the tools also grants you a general knowledge of traps and locks.
Components
Thieves' tools include a small file, a set of lock picks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a set of narrow-bladed scissors, and a pair of pliers.
History
Your knowledge of traps grants you insight when answering questions about locations that are renowned for their traps.
Investigation and Perception
You gain additional insight when looking for traps, because you have learned a variety of common signs that betray their presence.
Set a Trap
Just as you can disable traps, you can also set them. As part of a short rest, you can create a trap using items you have on hand. The total of your check becomes the DC for someone else's attempt to discover or disable the trap. The trap deals damage appropriate to the materials used in crafting it (such as poison or a weapon) or damage equal to half the total of your check, whichever the DM deems appropriate.
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