Lockpick carving

Note: This system has not been converted to the new crafting mechanics.

Lockpick Carving is a Thief-only ability in which keyblanks are carved into lockpicks using a knife.

Syntax

• CARVE My keyblank with my knife

(and after the first carve and for successive carves):

• Carve my lockpick with my knife

Skill factors

• Lockpick Repair is taught by the Crossing guild leader at 12th, as well as Lockpick Carving.
• There are three main factors that go into lockpick carving: Locksmithing skill, Agility, Discipline, and the higher of Mechanical Lore skill or Engineering skill. Note disc and agility seem equally weighted as swapping the stats in test results in roughly the same odds.
• Locksmithing skill and Agility factor into the quality level of the lockpick and Mechanical Lore skill factors into whether the lockpick snaps while it is being carved.
• Anything that boosts Lockpicking skill or Agility will result in a higher chance for a higher quality lockpick. There are many abilities, bonuses, and spells that effect these two factors and therefore a locksmith could potentially carve much higher than their natural ability.
  • Thief Urban Bonus
  • Thief Confidence
  • Thief Khri Focus
  • Thief Khri Safe
  • Thief Khri Sight
  • Thief Khri Hasten
  • Thief Khri Muse
  • Bard Drums of the Snake
  • Bard Whispers of the Muse
  • Moon Mage Locksmithing Prediction
  • Moon Mage Machinist's Touch

Lockpick properties

Material properties

Keyblank materials can be classified on a scale of very soft to very hard. The properties change as the materials move from one end of the scale to the other.

• Soft materials will be easier to carve to a higher quality, though they cannot ever reach the top quality of Grandmaster's.
• Soft materials will snap more frequently in the carving process.
• Soft materials will bend and break more quickly when being used as a lockpick.

Common materials

• Ivory: Very Soft material
• Bronze: Moderately Soft material
• Copper: Moderately Hard material
• Iron: Hard material (includes "soft iron lockpick" sold in Shard)

Rare materials

• Soapstone: Very Soft Material
• Mother-of-Pearl: Soft Material
• Ironwood: Soft Material
• Silver-hued: Moderately Soft Material
• Gold-hued: Moderately Hard Material
• Platinum-hued: Hard Material
• Steel: Very Hard Material

Lockpick qualities

Quality	Approx Min locksmithing Skill	Additional notes
Crude	84*	84 locks, 35 engineering, 23 agility
Rough	107*	97+10 locks, 55+10 engineering, 26+5 agility, 1 carve, average confidence, urban
Stout	107	97+10 locks, 55+10 engineering, 26+5 agility, 4 carves, average confidence, urban (3/29/22 128 Locksmith, 45 engineering, Agility : 22 +2, 4 carves, 1/5 confidence, urban)
Common	124	112+12 locks, 75+10 engineering, 30+6 agility, average confidence, urban
Slim	157	121+36 locks, 84+25 engineering, 33+7 agility, average confidence, urban
Quality	175	135+40 locks, 99+29 engineering, 34+7 agility, average confidence, urban
High Quality	184	142+42 locks, 106+31 engineering, 34+7 agility, average confidence, urban
Superior	201	155+46 locks, 119+33 engineering, 39 +13 agility, average confidence, urban
Professional	234*	180+54 locks, 142 + 39 engineering, 42+9 agility, average confidence, urban
Master's	240	186+55, 148+42 engineering, 44+15 agility, average confidence, urban. Consistently creating them from soft-iron keyblanks or forged tin around 220+66 locks, 47+16 agility, and 180+52 engineering.
Grandmaster's	340 +self buffs	215+27 Engineering, 90+18 agility, 49+8 discipline, 340+70 locksmithing, "rather confident" confidence = 4 grandmasters out of 29 attempts (soft iron)

Pre 3.0 = Carved and initialed a GM iron lockpick at 286 ranks, 42 Agi, in a city with Stylish Thief bonus, using Khri Focus/Secure.

5-13-2020 Updated table with numbers on a new thief following the mech lore retirement. All tests involved carving 10 keyblanks and picking the best one from the result. Soft iron keyblanks across the board.

Carving in bought ivory or forged silver keyblanks appears to be as much as 3 steps higher in lockpick quality than soft iron. ie: carving superior ivory lockpick with the same ranks as a slim iron lockpick.

Soft iron Lockpicks started rarely breaking around 130 engineering, virtually never break around 160.

* This number is likely too high.

1-31-2024 carving full name on a grand master's pick with 481 + 96 locks, 88+17 agi, and 80+15 disc. With these skills I see 17% GM and 83% masters, some masters on the first carve.

Initialing and signing lockpicks

Only Grandmaster's lockpicks can be initialed or signed with the carver's full name. To do this simply attempt one more carve after the lockpick is completed. Ability to carve either initials or name is based on the same skills as the initial carving of the lockpick. If you have a lesser ability you will carve only initials, and if you have greater ability you may carve your full name. If you wait too long you will not be able to make the attempt.

Also see

Lockpick fixing

Notes

Varsyth picks up an ivory keyblank from his desk and begins to whittle away at it with deft strokes. Before long, an exquisitely carved lockpick is held between several claws.
"Of course, anyone can do this, although we're the best. I'm sure you've seen this happen before, however?" With a twitch of his claws, the ivory keyblank bends slightly out of shape. "Don't throw it away just yet, some damage can be fixed."
With careful efforts, Varsyth unbends the lockpick until it looks good as new, then places it back down on his desk with a smile.
[You have learned the mastery of LOCKPICK CARVING and REPAIR.]