Toolkits as an alternative to skills

There has been so much written regarding skills systems and their place in OSR gameplay already, that I am not going to rehash it here. My position is that I generally don’t like them, but I don’t outright hate them as others do. So I have been thinking about tools instead.

Reading through Gus L.’s excellent house rules document for his Crystal Frontier campaign, among the various neat ideas there was one that really stuck with me, and it was the note on toolkits and their relation to skills:

So it got me thinking about my own campaign and whether or not I want to deal with skills in it - currently the Greylands thief doesn’t even have separate d6 skills, instead just using a single Thievery score similarly to White Box FMAG’s version of it (and I am sure others too).

But what if I simply take the toolkit idea and dispense with the skills concept? I am planning on trying it out and seeing if it works. Plus some of these would allow me to provide players with actions they seem to desire in the game, such as a way to actually identify magical items.

The right tool for the job

Sticking with Gus’s idea above, a toolkit is a single bundled “item” that you can buy or potentially even assemble if given enough time, money and negotiation with the referee. Toolkits can be used by anyone, but certain classes would be better at using certain tools compared to others.

Improvised tools. Lockpicks made out of paperclips.

A toolkit can also have 3 specific items in it defined by the player during the course of play, or alternatively special items found throughout the course of play can be added to a toolkit to improve it in some way. That is definitely the element in Gus’s write up above that I like the most.

Toolkits can allow characters to attempt certain actions, either rolled as an X-in-6 chance or as a number of d6s under a relevant attribute. Especially good toolkits, higher levels or specific circumstances within the game can allow for bonuses to those, either permanent or temporary ones.

Possible toolkits (a non-exhaustive list)

Thieves tools

You know what they do. You need them to do Thief stuff. Thieves can use these with their thievery skill to pick locks, disable delicate traps and so on. Non-Thief classes can attempt to do this with a roll under their Dexterity on a number of d6s, depending on how bullshit I think the attempt is.

Arcane Research toolkit

Used by magicians, elves and other similar classes, to try and discern various arcane secrets. This toolkit can replace spells like Detect Magic, Read Magic, Identify and similar effects.

Trying to detect if something or someone is magical while in the dungeon requires a full uninterrupted turn and an Intelligence check, while trying to identify the properties of a magical item or figure out what kind of spells are on a scroll or spellbook requires an entire downtime action, an Intelligence or Wisdom check and potentially some amount of costly reagents and consumable materials (Let’s say 1d6x10 coins).

Of course, if the magician in question simply has the spells that do those things, then…well they can just use the spell and move on with their lives, but not everyone does.

The toolkit is also required in order to perform broader magical research activities like creating scrolls, copying spells, researching new spells and so on, however that still has the attached sum of materials and reagents involved in those activities as per your favorite B/X Downtime rules.

Shot Making toolkit

Detailed in my previous post on firearms. Allows Fighters and similar military-adjacent classes to create firearms ammunition with a downtime action and a roll either under Intelligence or Dexterity. Non-fighters can also do this, but will likely have to roll more dice for the check.

Alchemical Research toolkit

Similar to the above two, this one is used to manufacture stuff during downtime actions. In this case - potions. Magic-user types can spend downtime actions, money and a roll under Intelligence or Wisdom to try and copy or recreate a potion. Having the potion at hand can help, knowing what the potion actually is supposed to do helps further.

This toolkit is not really portable, instead requiring a dedicated space where it can be set up.

I don’t plan on having super detailed potion making rules, and finding an NPC who can do this would almost always be a better investment in terms of time and potentially money.

As is it says above, this list is not exhaustive - think of any kind of toolkit, mundane or fantastical, and this would cover it too. Want to build and run a printing press? Do wood carving? Metalworking? Dog training? It requires a toolkit. That might be something you can just carry around in your backpack or satchel, it can be something that takes up an entire room or building.