I have various ideas for mundane equipment additions.
The Crowbar. It’s perfect for prying open doors, removing nails, smashing glass, using the sharpened end as a chisel, or even an improvised weapon. Is there one in your adventuring pack?
Cost: 1 point
Ability: Increase Muscle by 1 (to a maximum of 18) for feats of leverage.
Mundane equipment is often a sweet bit of reality or verisimilitude. A long gone barbarian character carried a furry scrap of soften leather. He wrapped different found things in this bit of leather. It was a bit of a shtick for my character, because we were adventuring in a huge city state.
Yes, a crowbar with a bit of game mechanic detail is cool.
Mundane items can also highlight the fantastic, magical, mysterious tropes.
I’m a big fan of mundane equipment as it harkens back to old school D&D. Descriptive play was the thing. We made good use of every tool at our disposal as we explored the dungeon. It was more then just consulting skills and rolling dice. Rather an invitation to be a better player, a better GM and ultimately a more imaginative gamer.
Well said!
Going back to ODD books can help with list creation. Also, the original 1979 DMG by Mr. G. has a bunch of cool tables at the back.
I also use the trinkets from the Player’s Handbook 5e. Something even stupid sounding can help fill out a character concept.
I like mundane items too because to me, I believe it helps PCs think outside the box. Similar to the Cypher system, I would like to experiement with idea that mundane items may give a small edge to PCs without the proper skill.
I.e. PC A has the Muscle skill so they can essentially rip open a chest. But if PC B wants to take a stab at it they will need a crowbar to even attempt a FLAT ROLL.
What do you guys think?