Tools are pieces of equipment that allow you to complete tasks that you otherwise couldn’t. You can use tool without having ability. However it does let you add your skill bonus to ability checks performed with that tool. In this article we have mentioned what tools are in DnD 5e tools and how you can use them in detail.
What are 5e Tools in DnD?
Tools are equipment pieces that allow you to perform a task you couldn’t do otherwise. Proficiency is not generally necessary to use a tool. But it does allow you to use your proficiency bonus on ability checks made with that tool.
5E offers a wide range of 5e tools including artisan’s tools, disguise kits, forgery kits, game sets, herbalism kits, musical instruments, navigator’s tools, poisoner’s kits, thieves’ tools, and vehicles (land and water).
Unlike other skill ability checks, tools are not bound to a particular ability score. Dexterity could be used to create a wonderfully detailed craft. Whereas Intelligence might be used to sight understand a piece of music for the first time.
What Purposes Do Tools Serve in Gameplay?
Every tool is equal, but some are more similar than others. There are many reasons for seeking tool mastery. And although there is nothing wrong with selecting a tool for the sake of it. There is a wide range in utility between them. Some tool skills will be used frequently in your campaign, while others will be used just rarely.
Special abilities must be performed while adept, whereas tasks with a DC can only be tried when the right tool is available. Options that are too conditional or ineffective will be ignored. Feel free to choose low-rated options. But bear in mind that there may be little difference between simply saying your player used to be a glassblower and really giving them proficiency.
Advantage can be provided when both the use of a gear and the utilization of a skill apply to a test and the character is expert in both. This is especially handy for passive checks when advantage adds 5 to the overall score and disadvantage subtracts 5.
When applicable, remind your DM that your passive checks are greater. XGE gives the example of a character skilled with mason’s tools that succeeds on a Wisdom (Perception) check to discover a secret door in a stone wall.
The character not only notices the location of the door, but the DM rules that the tool proficiency enables the player to an automatic pass on an Intelligence (Investigation) check to figure out how to unlock the door. Spreading out tool proficiencies, like skill proficiencies, is better than doubling up on them. Most, if not all, of these 5e tools lose a lot of potency when two or more people use them.
Types of 5e Tools You Can Use in DnD
Alchemist’s Supplies
Skill in alchemist’s supplies may help you with Arcana or Investigation checks. But it requires potions or other substances, which are somewhat specific. The ability to make alchemical things is the special ability you gain from them. Some options, such as alchemist’s fire, antitoxin, oil, and acid, are highly useful and effective in lower ranks. But their strength quickly fades.
Antitoxin is useful even at higher levels when you are exposed to a lot of poison. However, at higher levels, you can just buy all the antitoxin you need. So creating alchemical things at half the cost loses effectiveness.
Brewer’s Supplies
Brewer’s supplies skill can benefit you with History, Medicine, or Persuasion checks concerning alcohol. These are unlikely to come up very often.
They give you the ability to purify water, both 6 gallons as part of a long rest and 1 gallon as part of a short rest. You can most likely simply purchase extra water in this case. This feature is useful if you are in the desert, but that’s about it.
You can detect poison or contaminants in a drink using DC 10 check. It is doubtful that you will always bring out your resources to check your drink. But if you’re extra cautious, you can.
Calligrapher’s Supplies
Mastery of calligrapher supplies will aid you with Arcana or History tests involving handwriting, scrolls, or other texts. Still, if you’re dungeon diving in ancient ruins. You have a non-zero chance of coming across ancient texts and the like. Therefore it could come up at some point.
The special skill you gain from calligrapher’s materials is the ability to use an Intelligence check to discern the age of a map, whether it contains any hidden messages, and other such data. This works as an option to other widely asked checks to find such items. It is not effective because it is very conditional.
Aside from that, you can make a DC 10 check to detect the author of non-magical script or to detect counterfeit text. And a DC 15 checks to gauge a writer’s mood. Neither is spectacular, but both are very useful in certain situations.
Carpenter’s Tool
Carpenter’s 5e tools will assist you with History, Investigation, Perception, and Stealth tests concerning wooden buildings, which are not an uncommon sort of building (most structures are wood or stone). This tool proficiency is a great selection because it improves trap detection and gives you an edge on Stealth checks in these structures.
Breaking into a residential home with wood flooring can come up a lot in your game, and being able to avoid loud floorboards is a plus. This one provides you with two unique skills. With a moment of work and basic materials, you can harden a door or window, increasing the DC to open it by 5. When combined with an arcane lock, you have a rather solid doorway.
It also enables you to construct a temporary shelter as part of a lengthy rest. Aside from that, you can make a DC 10 check to create a simple wooden building or a DC 15 test to design a complicated one. The XGE traits provided here are rather broad, but use your imagination within the limits your DM has set.
Cooks Utensils
Cooking utensils proficiency will help you with History, Medicine, or Survival tests involving food. But it is not particularly effective. The particular power you gain from them is the able to develop a tasty dinner with your cook’s utensils and enough ingredients. You and up to five other beings recover one extra hit point for every Hit Die spent during a brief rest.
It’s not a lot of hit points, but with up to six creatures getting this advantage, it’s far from useless, and it’ll only grow better as you level up. And, if you’re DM is a fanatic about food spoiling. It’s almost free. A DC 15 check can also detect poison or other contaminants in food. It’s not a great solution, but it’s useful if you suspect poison in your diet at any stage.
Gaming Set
The DMG covers a number of the most popular ones of gaming sets, as well as their prices. There is no overarching tool skill for all gaming sets; instead, each one requires its own proficiency.
Skill in a certain gaming set can benefit you with History, Insight, or Sleight of Hand checks using that gaming set. This really does come up when you’re using your gaming set in a critical scenario. This practically never happens.
They grant you the opportunity to use your skill bonus on checks made while gambling, an idle activity outlined in XGE. You would normally need to employ Insight, Deception, and Intimidation if you did not have proficiency in the proper gaming set.
Conclusion
Tools appeared to be a whim at the debut of 5e tools, but they are far more than a cursory glance through the Player’s Handbook would suggest. We believe that this article will help you select which tool is best for you and has shown you various new methods to use your tool skills to your game.
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