How does thieving work?
Some systems teach you the fundamentals of real-life lock picking, and you have to really pick the locks you encounter. Some use more abstract representations, such as a twisting wire connected to a battery and a light. Your “pick” is a metal loop, which you must slip from one end of the wire to the other without touching it and completing the circuit (more experience allows you more errors or larger loops). One group uses only combination locks, and thieves are given sets of combinations which might work — if you have the combination to a lock, you can open it. In most systems, traps have a mechanical trigger which you must really disarm. In some cases, the actual disarming is a simple as flicking a switch, but it may be tough to get at that switch. Picking pockets and burgling rooms is also generally done for real — most systems have a convention along the lines of “real life personal items under the bed are off limits.” Some systems use index cards which allow you to simply demand
