D&D 5E - Why is there a Forgery Kit?
I love the tools, kits, instruments, etc in 5th edition. Most of them make sense, and they are one of the best ways to add 'civilian' flavor to your character. A couple of them frustrate me.Today I want to talk about the forgery kit.
The activity of forgery is quite important, especially in games with political intrigue. I do not want to rule it out.
What I would rather do is eliminate the forgery kit and instead empower Calligrapher's Supplies and maybe Painter's Tools to do forgery. Looking at the tools section of Xanathar's there's a little overlap between the two, but it only goes one way.
A Calligrapher can forge a signature (DC 20). That's the same level of difficulty as a forger being able to duplicate a wax seal.
Even the list of components is nearly the same. The Forgery Kit having silver and gold leaf (which the Calligraphy Supplies should also have) and supplies for sealing wax and seals. This is the only set of tools that has the sealing wax.
My change would be simple. Calligraphers should have sealing wax and be able to do everything that those who have Forgery Kits do.
This helps the narratives built from the use of tools, and broadens some PC creation by allowing one more tool for a handful of backgrounds.
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