Reinventing the Greyhawk Thief

[tdenmark]

Apr 21, 2021 6:52:42 GMT -6 @doublejig2 said:

Thieves and the loot!

I don't get it?

[ratikranger]

I did a Target20 thief at some point and I have an unfinished 2d6 thief lying around somewhere. I would guess there are about as many thief variants as there are DMs?

[tombowings]

Apr 26, 2021 10:13:48 GMT -6 ratikranger said:

I did a Target20 thief at some point and I have an unfinished 2d6 thief lying around somewhere. I would guess there are about as many thief variants as there are DMs?

I wouldn't be surprised if there were more variants than referees at this point.

[Deleted]

I had a thief variant, but someone stole it.

[tdenmark]

Nov 20, 2020 10:20:06 GMT -6 flailsnail75 said:

I don’t know if someone has mentioned this yet because honestly I don’t have time to read the entire thread right now, but Lamentations of the Flame Princess has a really great D6 based thieving skills mechanic.

Please describe it and explain what's so great about it.

[flailsnail75]

Basically, you have your normal thief skills (open locks, find traps etc..) all starting at 1 on a D6 at first level. You get, I believe 4 points to distribute at 1st level and two additional points per level, to distribute as you like (don’t quote me on the 4 and 2, it might be a little higher but you get the idea).
So for example you start out with 2 in 6 in a few if your skills and you raise some of them each time you level up.
When a score maxes out at 6, you’ll roll two D6 each time you attempt that skill and only fail if you roll double sixes.
This is the part where everyone tells me how bad this system sucks, but I love it and feel that it flows great with OD&D.

[tdenmark]

Aug 19, 2021 18:30:58 GMT -6 flailsnail75 said:

This is the part where everyone tells me how bad this system sucks, but I love it and feel that it flows great with OD&D.

That is generally not what happens here. Often times we'll take an idea and run with it to see where it goes.

Getting points to distribute each level is an idea worth trying. It lets the player customize what kind of thief they want.

[jeffb]

Aug 19, 2021 18:30:58 GMT -6 flailsnail75 said:

Basically, you have your normal thief skills (open locks, find traps etc..) all starting at 1 on a D6 at first level. You get, I believe 4 points to distribute at 1st level and two additional points per level, to distribute as you like (don’t quote me on the 4 and 2, it might be a little higher but you get the idea).
So for example you start out with 2 in 6 in a few if your skills and you raise some of them each time you level up.
When a score maxes out at 6, you’ll roll two D6 each time you attempt that skill and only fail if you roll double sixes.
This is the part where everyone tells me how bad this system sucks, but I love it and feel that it flows great with OD&D.

Sounds like a fun variation to me!

I'm all about fun dice mechanics.

[tedopon]

Here's how I do it in games I run:
d6 Hit Die

They pick two skills at first level, then get the rest one per level and choose their priority.
Climb
Locks
Perception
Read Languages
Sleight of Hand
Stealth
Traps

In most situations, I don't make them roll for the skills, they just succeed. If they are under some form of pressure, like being actively observed, in a time crunch etc, the skill roll is 2d6 + Level/3 (minimum 1, caps at +3) 2-6 (even though they get the +1 automatically, snake eyes is snake eyes) they fail and bad things happen (they're noticed, the trap springs etc), 7 or 8 I make a call whether it was pass/fail but a failure has no bad side effects, 9-12 is a success. Boxcars and they get to add some hero flair to whatever is happening.

Backstab at 1st level x2, level 4 x3, level 7 x4, level 10 x5

I allow them to read scrolls as soon as they get Read Language, so a 1st level Thief could use scrolls if they chose that skill.

This works fine and I honestly still would call the Thief underpowered compared to the other three base classes.

[captainjapan]

xerxez said, in another thread:

If it was, say, a thief picking a lock, any moderately low numbers might indicate success while a perfect roll might result in the thief being able to instantly open any lock of that nature in the rest of the palace. High numbers might result in a failure to pick the lock, very high numbers could result in the lock pick being broken, or a critical fail might result in a guard passing by, etc. Not D&D, not by any means..but fun and it lead to alot of creative story telling by players and GM alike.

In xerxes' conception, the thief skills have critical hits/fumbles that have carry-over consequences for the whole adventure. 

On another note, I wonder what a Chainmail themed thief might look like. The Chainmail wizard, for example, turns invisible and casts fireballs at will. If the thief can climb castle walls without checking, could he also assassinate Hero-type commanders in a flank attack without a check. The thief should be fragile but lethal in their sneakiness. I think the original thief did double damage backstabs for every four experience levels.

I only have npc thieves in my games; and they're fairly high level, so this might not work for every one. Still, food for thought.

[tdenmark]

Nov 12, 2020 20:50:54 GMT -6 Zenopus said:

(are traps even still a big threat at that level?)

Yes. If the DM is worth his salt.

[Zenopus]

Sept 11, 2021 19:58:59 GMT -6 tdenmark said:

Nov 12, 2020 20:50:54 GMT -6 Zenopus said:

(are traps even still a big threat at that level?)

Yes. If the DM is worth his salt.

I'll reply next year.

[waysoftheearth]

Aug 31, 2021 19:28:58 GMT -6 tedopon said:

Boxcars and they get to add some hero flair to whatever is happening.

It's funny that I've never seen "boxcars" for double six until it has just recently popped up in two or three topics on these boards within a week or so. In my gaming group, double six was always "spider eyes"