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Ability Requirement: Dexterity 9, Observation 9
Prime Requisite: Dexterity
Races Allowed: All
Thief characters in the Dungeons and Dragons game come in all
sizes and shapes, ready to live off the fat of the land by the
easiest means possible. In some ways they are the epitome of roguishness.
The profession of thief is not honorable, yet it is not entirely
dishonorable, either. Many famous folk heroes have been more than
a little larcenous — Reynard the Fox, Robin Goodfellow, and Ali
Baba are but a few. At his best, the thief is a romantic hero
fired by noble purpose but a little wanting in strength of character.
Such a person may truly strive for good but continually run afoul
of temptation.
The thief's prime requisite is Dexterity; a character must have
a minimum score of 9 to qualify for the class. The thief character
must also have an Observation score of at least 9; a thief who
fails to carefully observe the world around him, and especially
the people in that world, will soon find himself in the dank confines
of the city dungeons. While high numbers in other scores (particularly
Intelligence) are desirable, they are not necessary. The thief
can have any alignment except Lawful Good. Many are at least partially
Neutral.
A thief with a Dexterity score of 16 or more gains a 10% bonus
to the experience points he earns. There is no additional bonus
for having a high Observation score.
Thieves have a limited selection of weapons. Most of their time
is spent practicing thieving skills. The allowed weapons are club,
dagger, dart, hand crossbow, knife, lasso, short bow, sling, broad
sword, long sword, short sword, and staff. A thief can wear leather,
studded leather, padded leather, or elven chain armor. When wearing
any allowed armor other than leather, the thief's abilities are
penalized (see Table 3.29).
At first level, a thief character can choose any eight of the
18 available thief skills: back protection, bribe official, climb
walls, detect illusion, detect magic, detect noise, dig tunnel,
escape bonds, find/remove traps, find/remove large traps, hide
in shadows, move silently, open locks, pick pockets, read languages,
set traps, set large traps and underworld contacts. The thief
gains an additional skill (at its base level) every three experience
levels.
To determine the initial value of each skill, start with the base
scores listed on Table 3.26. To these base scores, add (or subtract) any appropriate modifiers
for race, ability score, and armor worn (given on Tables 3.27, 3.28 and 3.29, respectively).
The scores arrived at in the preceding paragraph do not reflect
the effort a thief has spent honing his skills. To simulate this
extra training, all thieves at 1st level receive 60 discretionary
percentage points that they can add to their base scores. No more
than 30 points can be assigned to any single skill. Other than
this restriction, the player can distribute the points however
he wants.
Each time the thief rises a level in experience, the player receives
another 30 points to distribute. No more than 15 points per level
can be assigned to a single skill. Some portion of the points
earned must be applied to skills used during the course of the
adventure.
In addition to the base percentages listed above, the character's
race and ability scores may affect the final skill score. A character
may find that, after adjustments, he has a negative score. In
this case, the character must spend points raising his skill percentage
to at least 1% before he can use the skill. (Some races just aren't
very good at certain things!)
Thieves have other abilities not listed on Table 3.26:
Backstab: Thieves are weak in toe-to-toe hacking matches, but they are masters
of the knife in the back. When attacking someone by surprise and
from behind, a thief can improve his chance to successfully hit
(+4 modifier for rear attack and negate the target's shield and
Dexterity bonuses) and greatly increase the amount of damage his
blow causes.
To use this ability, the thief must be behind his victim and the
victim must be unaware that the thief intends to attack him. If
an enemy sees the thief, hears him approach from a blind side,
or is warned by another, he is not caught unaware, and the backstab
is handled like a normal attack (although bonuses for a rear attack
still apply). Opponents in battle will often notice a thief trying
to maneuver behind them — the first rule of fighting is to never
turn your back on an enemy! However, someone who isn't expecting
to be attacked (a friend or ally, perhaps) can be caught unaware
even if he knows the thief is behind him.
The multiplier given in Table 3.37 applies to the amount of damage
before modifiers for Strength are added. The weapon's standard
damage plus any magical bonuses are multiplied by the value given
in Table 3.37. Then Strength bonuses are added.
|
Thief's Level
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Damage Multiplier
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1-4
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x 2
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5-8
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x 3
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9-12
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x 4
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13+
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x 5
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Backstabbing does have limitations. First, the damage multiplier
applies only to the first attack made by the thief, even if multiple
attacks are possible. Once a blow is struck, the initial surprise
effect is lost. Second, the thief cannot use it on every creature.
The victim must be generally humanoid in form. Part of the skill
comes from knowing just where to strike. A thief could backstab
an ogre, but he wouldn't be able to do the same to a beholder.
The victim must also have a definable back (which leaves out most
slimes, jellies, oozes, and the like). Finally, the thief has
to be able to reach a significant target area. To backstab a giant,
the thief would have to be standing on a ledge or window balcony.
Backstabbing him in the ankle just isn't going to be as effective.
An example of a backstabbing attack: The ogre marches down the hallway, peering into the gloom ahead.
He fails to notice the shadowy form of Ragnar the thief hidden
in an alcove. Slipping into the hallway, Ragnar creeps up behind
the monster. As he sets himself to strike a mortal blow, his foot
scrapes across the stone. The hairy ears of the ogre perk up.
The beast whirls around, ruining Ragnar's chance for a backstab
and what remains of his day. If Ragnar had made a successful roll
to move silently, he could have attacked the ogre with a +4 bonus
on his chance to hit and inflicted five times his normal damage
(since he is 15th level).
Thieves' Cant: Thieves' cant is a special form of communication known by all
thieves and their associates. It is not a distinct language; it
consists of slang words and implied meanings that can be worked
into any language. The vocabulary of thieves' cant limits its
use to discussing things that interest thieves: stolen loot, easy
marks, breaking and entering, mugging, confidence games, and the
like. It is not a language, however. Two thieves cannot communicate
via thieves' cant unless they know a common language. The cant
is useful, however, for identifying fellow cads and bounders by
slipping a few tidbits of lingo into a normal conversation.
The concept of thieves' cant is historical (the cant probably
is still used today in one form or another), although in the Dungeons
and Dragons the historic bases of the thieves' slang should be
used only as a guide for invention of fantasy terminology. A few
hours of research at a large library should turn up actual examples
of old thieves' cant for those who want to learn more about the
subject.
Use scrolls: At 10th level, a thief gains limited ability to use magical wizard
and priest scrolls. However, a thief's understanding of magical
writings is far from complete. The thief has a 25% chance to read
the scroll incorrectly and reverse the spell's effect. This sort
of malfunction is almost always detrimental to the thief and his
party. It could be as simple as accidentally casting the reverse
of the given spell or as complex as a foul-up on a fireball scroll, causing the ball of flame to be centered on the thief
instead of its intended target. The exact effect is up to the
DM (this is the sort of thing DMs enjoy, so expect the unexpected).
The Thief's Den: Thieves do not build castles or fortresses in the usual sense.
Instead, they favor small, fortified dwellings, especially if
the true purpose of the buildings can easily be disguised. A thief
might, for example, construct a well-protected den in a large
city behind the facade of a seedy tavern or old warehouse. Naturally,
the true nature of the place will be a closely guarded secret!
Thieves almost always build their strongholds in or near cities,
since that is where they ply their trades most lucratively.
This, of course, assumes that the thief is interested in operating
a band of thieves out of his stronghold. Not all thieves have
larceny in their hearts, however. If a character devoted his life
to those aspects of thieving that focus on scouting, stealth,
and the intricacies of locks and traps, he could build an entirely
different sort of stronghold — one filled with the unusual and
intriguing objects he has collected during his adventurous life.
Like any thief's home, it should blend in with its surroundings;
after all, a scout never advertises his whereabouts. It might
be a formidable maze of rooms, secret passages, sliding panels,
and mysterious paraphernalia from across the world.
Followers: Once a thief reaches 10th level, his reputation is such that he
can attract followers — either a gang of scoundrels and scalawags
or a group of scouts eager to learn from a reputed master. The
thief attracts 4d6 of these fellows. They are generally loyal
to him, but a wise thief is always suspicious of his comrades.
Table 3.38 can be used to determine the type and level of followers,
these followers may vary at the DM's discretion depending on where
the thief establishes his den.
Thieves tend to be very jealous of their territory. If more than
one thief starts a gang in the same area, the result is usually
a war. The feud continues until one side or the other is totally
eliminated or forced to move its operation elsewhere.
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d00 Roll
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Follower
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Level Range
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01-03
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Dwarf fighter/thief
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1-4
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04-08
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Dwarf thief
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1-6
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09-13
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Elf thief
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1-6
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14-15
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Elf thief/fighter/mage
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1-3
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16-18
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Elf thief/mage
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1-4
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19-24
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Gnome thief
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1-6
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25-27
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Gnome thief/fighter
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1-4
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28-30
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Gnome thief/illusionist
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1-4
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31-35
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Half-elf thief
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1-6
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36-38
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Half-elf thief/fighter
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1-4
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39-41
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Half-elf thief/fighter/mage
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1-3
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42-46
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Halfling thief
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1-8
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47-50
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Halfling thief/fighter
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1-6
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51-98
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Human thief
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1-8
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99
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Human dual-class thief/?
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1-8/1-4
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00
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Other (DM selection)
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—
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Thief Illusionists: All thieves gain the ability to cast spells from the illusion/phantasm
school when they attain 21st- level. They are essentially wizards
with the usual requirements for spellbooks and memorization. However,
thief illusionists have no weapon or armor restrictions. They
are not specialist mages, so they do not gain the specialist advantages.
Further, they are not subject to the minimum Dexterity of 16 required
for specialist illusionists.
All spellcasting rules that apply to wizards also apply to thieves.
They use components, memorize new spells out of their own spell
books, and so on.
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Level
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Max. Spell
Level
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Max. Spells
Memorized at
Each Level
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Spell
Points
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21
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2nd
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3
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15
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22
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3rd
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4
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45
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23
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4th
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5
|
70
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24
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4th
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5
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90
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25
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5th
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6
|
125
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26
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5th
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6
|
180
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27
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6th
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6
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255
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|
28
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6th
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6
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310
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29
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7th
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7
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410
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30
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7th
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7
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510
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