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Pick Smith by Balognadiddler (that's me!) adds a balanced and bug-free recipe for crafting lockpicks at the forge.
Installation:
Install this like any other mod. This mod just adds a recipe. It changes nothing, runs no scripts, starts no quests, and goes anywhere in your load order.
Bugs:
There are no bugs and will be no bugs.
For those who merge their mods: Pick Smith is clean and error free and ready to merge (unlike a certain similar mod).
Commentary (boring and verbose, do not read):
This mod provides a balanced way to craft lockpicks, but what do I mean by balance? Other mods that add lockpick recipes to the game tend to cause problems with smithing by making it possible to create huge quantities of lockpicks from a single iron ingot, making it too easy to level the skill. A simple example will show how this mod is balanced:
Smithing an iron dagger uses 10g worth of materials to produce an item worth 10g. Crafting an iron dagger therefore gives 0% profit and 10g worth of smithing experience (which is tied to the value of items produced).
Smithing iron armor uses 44g worth of materials to produce an item worth 125g, giving 180% profit and 125g worth of experience.
Smithing lockpicks with my recipe uses 7g worth of materials to produce 8g worth of lockpicks, giving 14% profit and 8g worth of smithing experience. I'd say that's the sweet spot for balance and immersion.
To those who complain that the iron ingots we find in Skyrim look large enough to produce several dozen lockpicks, I agree. They do look large enough, but appearances can deceive. Skyrim is a land full of flying lizards, talking cats, and people who can sprint in full plate armor. What appear to be 20lb ingots somehow weigh no more than a couple bottles of ale. I suspect the metal of Skyrim is full of helium, and this has to be boiled off when forging lockpicks or else they would float out of your inventory.
Installation:
Install this like any other mod. This mod just adds a recipe. It changes nothing, runs no scripts, starts no quests, and goes anywhere in your load order.
Bugs:
There are no bugs and will be no bugs.
For those who merge their mods: Pick Smith is clean and error free and ready to merge (unlike a certain similar mod).
Commentary (boring and verbose, do not read):
This mod provides a balanced way to craft lockpicks, but what do I mean by balance? Other mods that add lockpick recipes to the game tend to cause problems with smithing by making it possible to create huge quantities of lockpicks from a single iron ingot, making it too easy to level the skill. A simple example will show how this mod is balanced:
Smithing an iron dagger uses 10g worth of materials to produce an item worth 10g. Crafting an iron dagger therefore gives 0% profit and 10g worth of smithing experience (which is tied to the value of items produced).
Smithing iron armor uses 44g worth of materials to produce an item worth 125g, giving 180% profit and 125g worth of experience.
Smithing lockpicks with my recipe uses 7g worth of materials to produce 8g worth of lockpicks, giving 14% profit and 8g worth of smithing experience. I'd say that's the sweet spot for balance and immersion.
To those who complain that the iron ingots we find in Skyrim look large enough to produce several dozen lockpicks, I agree. They do look large enough, but appearances can deceive. Skyrim is a land full of flying lizards, talking cats, and people who can sprint in full plate armor. What appear to be 20lb ingots somehow weigh no more than a couple bottles of ale. I suspect the metal of Skyrim is full of helium, and this has to be boiled off when forging lockpicks or else they would float out of your inventory.