A bit ago I saw a discussion on twitter where Idle Cartulary and Marcia B were discussing the design differences between the original thief class - which anyone familiar with OSR discourse knows creates limits on other characters that didn't previously exist - and the paladin which largely creates new abilities only that class has. Marcie later posted her own thoughts on the original version of the thief, but I thought I'd weigh in not with thoughts on the thief but my third(!) attempt at a rewrite of it.
Note: unlike the version on my patreon, this is written with OD&D - or FMC or DD or whatever very close retroclone you want to use - in mind. I wanted to make sure the mechanics either added things a thief could do better than another character and that tied into existing mechanics where possible.
Thieves
A player in the Nightwick campaign may wish to play a thief. This character type is open to all races and any race may advance to any level as a thief.
The prime requisite for the thief is DEX. If a character has a 16 DEX or higher they may opt to level as a thief for a given dungeon expedition in the same manner as an elf may switch between fighting man and magic user. Characters who do so retain their abilities from their original class but may not wear armor heavier than leather and still utilize their thief abilities.
Thieves may use any weapon and shield, but may only wear leather armor and no magic sword will ever deign to be used by you unless you also have attained at least the 4th level of fighting man.
Thieves possess a number of special abilities described below.
Hear Noise: Unlike other human characters, or even demihumans, thieves advance in their ability to hear noises as they level.
Hide in Shadows: While the thief will always be surprised if the party is, the referee must check separately to see if monsters are surprised by the presence of the thief even if they are not surprised for the party, for a thief may hide in the shadows cast even by a torch. At level four a thief gains a 3 in 6 chance of surprise and at level 9 they may attempt to slink back into the shadows even if they reveal themselves during combat.
Open Locks: If the referee determines a lock on a chest or door may be picked, a thief may attempt to pick a lock during a combat round by rolling the number indicated on the table below. They may also spend 1d6 exploration turns to automatically open a lock given.*
Move Silently: Thieves whose party would not otherwise be given away by torch light or the clink of armor, may surprise opponents or otherwise move without being detected based on a roll described on the table below. This ability increases as they level.
Sense Traps: Thieves may intuit the existence of traps on a 1-2 on 1d6, much as elves do with secret doors.
Remove Traps: A thief has the same chance to disarm a trap per turn as they do Open Locks per round. No attempt to automatically disarm a trap may be attempted in a time segment shorter than an exploration turn. The referee may determine that a failure to disarm a trap automatically sets it off.
Sneak Attack: A thief attacking an opponent who is unaware of their presence gains a +4 to hit and does additional damage based on the table below.
Read Languages: If a thief is literate as determined by the referee based on their intelligence score, they may read treasure maps and other mysterious scripts without the use of a spell starting at the third level of experience. Once they reach level 9 they may then cast spells from magic user scrolls.
Thief Advancement
*Non-thieves have a 1 in 6 per exploration turn of opening a lock, provided they have the proper tools, but cannot make an attempt to do so within a combat round.
This is slick! I like the way hide in shadows works and the class switching with a high DEX is clever. Does the character loose their thief abilities if/when they switch back to their other class?
ReplyDeleteIf we are using the Elf as a guide, I do not think so; however, I would probably say they cannot perform them while wearing chain or plate armor.
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