THIEVING SKILLS The scope of the Rogue classes is considerably expanded by the addition of new thief skills, for a total of 14, rather than the original 8. The initial thieving abilities gained by the character depend upon the type of thief or bard kit selected, with the thief having up to 10 of these abilities at first level and the bard beginning with up to 5. In addition, a thief character (but not a bard) can add one additional thieving ability at 3rd level, another at 6th level, and so on until all abilities have been gained. On any roll to use a thieving skill, a roll of 96-00 indicates failure in the attempt. However, a thief skill can be improved to greater than 95 if desired, with the additional skill being useful to offset penalties that may accrue from certain usages of the skill in question (e.g., using Climb Walls under very adverse conditions, Opening Locks without good quality tools, etc.). The abilities are as follows, with details of the new thieving abilities and expanded, specific explanations of existing thieving abilities: Appraisal: This ability enables the thief to accurately divine information about a potentially valuable item. If the skill roll is made, the thief learns both the true value of the item being examined and how much he or she can expect to sell it for in any given situation (e.g., a fence in a large city, a small- town jeweler, an international art dealer), including whether or not the item can be sold at all in such a situation. Whether the thief is actually able to get this value for the item is a matter to be determined by other means, but at least he or she will be aware of the fair market value of the item. If the skill roll is failed, the thief mis-estimates the item's value at 25% to 500% (1d20 x 25 percent) of its actual worth. In addition to determining the market value for an item, the Appraisal skill allows the thief to gain other information about an item. If the thief's skill roll to determine the value of the item was successful, he or she can attempt a skill roll to determine one of the following bits of information, learning one bit of information for each successful roll: age of item, what race created it, where it was made, and who crafted it. He or she can roll as many times as desired, until all information has been gained or until he or she fails a skill roll when examining the item. In either of these cases, the thief can gain no more information on the item thereafter. Each time the thief desires to make an Appraisal skill roll, he or she must examine an item close-up (within 3') for 1d10 rounds, though physically handling the item is not necessary. Bribe Official: A thief uses this skill to sway the reactions of NPCs with small gifts of coin or merchandise. Success depends on the thief's skill, the NPC's initial reaction, and the amount of the bribe offered. The Bribe Official skill subsumes all aspects of the fine art of graft. If a thief can talk to an NPC for 1d6 rounds, a successful skill roll will allow the character to determine whether or not that character might be susceptible to a bribe and will reveal any reaction roll modifiers that apply to the situation (since the success of bribery is based on a reaction roll, as described below). A successful roll will also determine if an NPC who is willing to listen to the bribery attempt plans to renege on the deal, turn the character over the authorities, or otherwise double-cross the thief. If the roll indicates that the NPC cannot be bribed at the current time, the thief need go no further with the attempt, which will never be recognized as a bribery attempt by any character who does not possess this skill or the Bribery non-weapon proficiency. However, if the roll indicates that the NPC is willing to listen (or if a failed roll indicates that the thief cannot tell), the bribery attempt may proceed. When a bribe might be necessary, the NPC's reaction should be rolled in secret, with the DM noting the exact reaction and number rolled. If a friendly reaction is obtained, the thief has managed to state a convincing case of his or her need with some fast talking and quick wits and the NPC will probably do what the player wishes without any bribe being necessary at all. If the reaction is not friendly, however, the thief may offer a bribe to change the subject's reaction. The base amount of the bribe required will be as follows: NPC Station Bribe Peasant or Slave 1d4 cp Craftsman or Soldier 3d8 cp Merchant or Officer 5d10 br Noble or General 5d10 sc This base bribe should be rolled by the DM and then multiplied by the difference between the NPC's reaction roll and the highest number that would net a positive reaction for the NPC (e.g., if the roll was 15 and 7 is the highest number to receive a friendly reaction, then the bribe amount rolled would have to be multiplied by 8 (15 - 7 = 8)). A successful skill roll by the thief will reveal an NPC's exact reaction roll number and general station (if such is not obvious), indicating the correct amount necessary to offer for a bribe for the service or request the thief is making. The thief must then decide how much he or she is going to offer and make another skill roll. If the skill roll fails, the NPC decides not to take the bribe, although the character may increase the offer and attempt a new roll. If the roll is ever a natural 96 to 100, the NPC angrily rejects the bribe and immediately shifts to a hostile reaction. Bribes may be made with gems and jewelry if the NPC could reasonably be expected to be able to appreciate their worth (i.e., a peasant or woodworker would likely prefer coins to jewels). Material goods can also be used as bribes, but generally only if they are something intrinsically useful to the NPC (e.g., a fine quality sword for a soldier, a fine horse or set of mules for a caravan merchant). A bribed NPC will usually perform reasonable services appropriate to his or her station, though most bribes are meant more for the NPC to look the other way than for him or her to actually undertake an action. Unusually corrupt NPCs may take a bribe and later betray the thief, as might a canny lawful NPC, feigning to take the bribe and then setting up the thief to be apprehended by the authorities. Climb Walls: A thief with this ability is highly skilled at scaling sheer surfaces, and can do so without requiring rope, pitons, or other climbing gear, even on smooth or very smooth surfaces, although such items can be used to improve the thief's chances of success. Other than the thief's superior skill and ability to "free climb," climbing by a thief follows the same general climbing rules as for any other character. Detect Illusion: Thieves are alert to all sorts of incoming data, and this combined with their naturally suspicious nature makes them somewhat more skilled than others at detecting an illusion. This skill is not automatic; the thief must spend an entire round of uninterrupted observation of the supposed illusion. After this round of study is complete, the thief may substitute a roll against his or her Detect Illusion skill for the normally allowed saving throw vs. spells. In the event of failure, the thief can still spend an additional round of observation and then attempt a normal saving throw to disbelieve the illusion. If the skill roll and the saving throw both fail, then the thief believes the illusion to be real. If either succeeds, the thief knows the illusion for what it is. Because at least a round of study is required to use this skill, sudden-onset illusions may not be detectable by the thief. Detect Magic: A skilled thief learns to sense the faint magical properties of an object--the faint glow or vibrations peculiar to enchantment. If allowed to examine and touch an object uninterrupted for a full turn, a thief can check to see if he or she detects magic. The DM should make all of the die rolls for this skill. If the result is less than or equal to the thief's skill level, the thief accurately determines whether or not an object is enchanged. he does not learn the level or nature of the enchantment, but only that one exists. If the roll fails, the thief gains no information, unless the roll is higher than 70 plus the thief's level, in which case the thief comes in the incorrect conclusion (i.e., believing a nonmagical item to be enchanted and vice versa). At the DM's discretion, items that are too large for the thief to physically handle (e.g., an entire room, a large statue) may be beyond the scope of this ability. Detect Noise: In order to use this ability most effectively, any headgear must be removed. An attempt to listen requires a successful roll under the thief's percentage by the DM. Failure indicates that the thief hears nothing. Success indicates that the thief has noted the noise and can now attempt to gain more information about the source of the noise. On each successive round, thief can attempt a roll against his or her Detect Noise skill, with success allowing the thief to pick up one of the following bits of information: number of creatures making noise, race, nature of beings (e.g., birds, rodents, lizards), exact direction, exact distance, bits of conversation, and any movement (including direction of movement). The thief can keep rolling each round until he or she fails a roll, at which point no further information can be gained unless the thief can considerably improve his or her listening situation (e.g., silently moving nearer to the speakers, opening a window slightly). Escape Bonds: Through contortion and raw skill, a thief can learn to free him- or herself from even the most difficlt bonds, from tied rope or leather bonds to manacles, chains, straitjackets, or any restrianing device. Even a magical restraint, such as a rope of entanglement, can be escaped from, although the thief's skill roll is halved when attempting to escape from such devices. The thief must make a successful escape roll against every individual item binding him or her. Hence, a thief bound with manacles on both wrists and both ankles must make four checks to escape from all bonds. A thief may make a maximum of two escape attempts from any single bond. Two failures indicates that the thief cannot escape from that particular bond. Locked items may be picked by a thief if he or she is able to get one free hand and possesses the Open Locks skill. Other than that, an Open Locks roll is not needed to escape from locked bonds. Normally, an escape attempt takes five rounds per roll. The thief can hurry his or her attempts by accepting a cumulative -5% penalty per round omitted (e.g., making an escape attempt in a single round omits four rounds, and would therefore incur a -20% penalty), with a minimum of one round per attempt. Find/Remove Traps: This skill allows the thief to search an object or area for traps or for secret doors or compartments. In either case, searching requires 1d10 rounds of careful examination (including physical contact with the item or area being searched), after which time a successful skill roll will reveal any mechanical traps or hidden spaces. The thief learns the general principle of the trap (e.g., it launches a spring loaded missile or opens a spring-loaded door) but not its exact nature (e.g., a spear launched from a spring tube or a trap door in the ceiling dropping green slime onto anyone triggering the trap). Magical traps and secret spaces can be detected with a -30% penalty. A given area or object can be successfully searched only once by a thief, with any further searches simply giving the same result as before, unless the thief's Find/Remove Traps skill has been improved in between attempts. If a secret compartment or door is found, a skill roll against Open Locks must be made in order to open it. If a trap is found, the thief can attempt to disarm it using this skill, again with a -30% penalty for magical traps. Note that certain magical traps (e.g., Glyph of Warding, Symbol, Explosive Runes) cannot be disarmed without destroying the item that they are warding or the use of a Dispel Magic or similar spell. The disarming attempt requires 1d10 rounds of uninterrupted work. A failed roll indicates that the thief is unable to disarm it, and another attempt cannot be made until the thief's Find/Remove Traps skill is improved. Failure to disarm the trap does not automatically set it off unless the thief's skill roll is 96-00, in which case he or she suffers the full effects of the trap. Forge Document: The thief uses this skill to mimic the handwriting of any creature or to recreate a common form or document. In addition, a thief with an appropriate non-weapon proficiency (e.g., Artistic Ability (painting), Numismatics) could use this skill to attempt a forgery of works of art or coinage, with the a -10% penalty to the thief's chance of success for recreating a document. A thef attempting to forge should have an example of the original to work from. Without an example, the thief suffers an immediate -20% penalty on every skill roll. Having a wide variety of examples, however, grants a +5% bonus to the thief's skill roll. Every time the forgery is examined, the thief must make a skill roll. How thoroughly a given examiner inspects the documents is based on his or her reaction to the thief: Friendly: Gives the only the slightest glance. +15% bonus. Indifferent: Gives the item a cursory glance. +5% bonus. Cautious: Takes time to look over the item. No modifier. Suspicious: Scrutinizes the item carefully. -10% penalty. Hostile: Questions everything, possibly even calling a genuine item a forgery. -20% penalty. The observer's reaction should be determined as per the Dungeon Master's Guide (Chapter 11: Table 59: Encounter Reactions). An observer looking at a forgery without the thief present should still roll his or her reaction, as if confronted with an indifferent PC. Special situations abound with this skill. The observer might know for certain that the forged article is highly irregular or could not possibly be real, or could simply be extremely cautious or suspicious because of events totally unrelated to the PC (e.g., a riot happening not far away). A discovered forgery may or may not point back to the original forger, but it certainly reflects poorly on the bearer of the forgery. Hide in Shadows: A thief can try to disappear into shadows or any other type of concealment (e.g., bushes, curtains, etc.) at any time, so long as he or she is not under direct observation when the attempt is made. While hiding in shadows, a thief normally cannot move from his or her position, although small bodilymovements are possible (e.g., drawing a weapon, uncorking a potion bottle). The thief can attempt to move at 1/3 of his or her normal speed, but this requires a new Hide in Shadows roll to be made each round at a -25% penalty, with successive successful checks allowing the thief to flit nearly invisibly from shadow to shadow. Naturally, the thief can only hide where concealment is available, and so could not cross a large, open field or courtyard unless there was intermittent cover for the thief to use. The DM should roll to determine the success of this skill, as the thief always believes a hiding attempt is successful. Move Silently: A thief can try to move silently at any time simply by declaring that he or she is doing so. While moving silently, the thief's movement rate is normally 1/3 normal. However, the thief can move at 2/3 normal speed by accepting a -25% penalty to his or her skill roll, and at full normal speed by accepting a -50% penalty. Successful silent movement allows the thief to apply a -4 modifier to the surprise roll of a creature who cannot see the thief. The DM should roll to determine the success of this skill, as the thief is always confident of his or her stealth. Open Locks: By spending 1d10 rounds of uninterrupted activity, a thief who possesses a set of lockpicks and tools can attempt to pick a key lock, finesse a combination lock, solve a puzzle lock (e.g., with sliding panels, hidden releases, or concealed keyholes), or determine how to open a secret door by making a successful Open Locks roll. If the thief does not have a set of lockpicks, other items can be improvised for use in their stead, though these will carry a penalty to the thief's skill of -5% to -60%, depending on how suitable the item is for the task (e.g., a bent piece of wire or hair pin may carry only a -5% or -10% penalty, while a twig or shard of glass might carry a penalty -50% or more), although attempting to pick a lock with an improvised tool will require double the normal amount of time. If a thief fails his or her Open Locks roll, then the lock is beyond his or her skills until such time as his or her Open Locks skill level is improved by advancing in level. Pick Pockets: This ability is useful for a wide variety of feats of sleight-of- hand, as listed below, with a successful roll indicating success in the activity without notice from other creatures: Adjust Items: Making subtle adjustments to the placement of items without being noticed (e.g., moving a piece on a gameboard). Exchange: Remove an object and replace it with another without notice (e.g., dropping coins into a pile but removing more coins than were dropped, switching a potion bottle in an alchemist's shop with a bottle of water). Lift/Drop: Removing a small item from (or place a small item into) another creature's pocket, girdle, pack, etc. Palm/Place: Holding the hand naturally and appearing to be empty, while actually holding a small item (any size S weapon, up to 10 coins or gems +2/level, a scroll or potion, etc.). Prestidigitation: This is a general category that enables a character to transfer an item from one hand to another, make the item seem alive, make the item seem to vanish and reappear (possibly behind another creature's ear), etc. Slit: Cutting through straps or making holes in bags, garments, pouches, etc. Strip/Garb: Removing any accessible item from (or placing onto) a sleeping creature without waking him or her. Undo/Redo: Untie, unstring, unclasp, etc., an item without being noticed, or re-tie the same. Each attempt to use any individual Pick Pockets feat requires a success roll, and any creature who is carefully observing the thief or who is the victim of the thief's Pick Pockets attempt has a chance to detect the attempt. If the thief's Pick Pockets roll is equal to or greater than 100 minus the three times the victim or observer's level plus the thief's level (e.g., a 15th level thief attempting to pick the pocket of 9th level character would be detected on a roll of 88 or higher; 100 - 27 (9 x 3 = 27) + 15 = 88), then the attempt has been detected, whether successful or not. Regardless of the levels of the thief and the victim or observer, a roll of 00 always indicates detection. Read Languages: This skill represents a linguistic skill that enables the thief to digest and decipher enough bits and pieces of a given sample of a language to make some sense out of a given document. The roll must be made each time a thief attempts to read any given sample of a language which he or she does not understand (i.e., has not taken as a non-weapon proficiency). Note that this roll must be made individually for each document, even if several successive documents are all in the same unknown language. The thief's skill percentage represents not only his or her chance to be able to decipher the document, but also what percentage of what is contained in the document is intelligible to the thief. Hence, a thief with a 50% skill level in Read Languages would have a 50% chance to understand 50% of a given document. Failure on the skill roll indicates that the document is beyond the thief's skill until such time as he or she improves his or her Read Languages skill level. ***DISCLAIMER*** As with all postings by me of classes or races, it should be noted that portions of the information contained herein were inspired by or derived from information in published works of TSR, Inc., and may contain references to those works, quotations or passages of text (especially in the area of 'Character Description', where applicable sections from TSR works were often carried over more or less intact into my campaign world), or particular powers or abilities invented by TSR staff writers. No relationship with TSR, Inc., is to be implied by this use, nor is any attempt being made to solicit profit or remuneration of any kind. I have read the TSR Online Policy document, and have tried to accommodate the stipulations contained therein. In instances where I have lifted an essentially complete class or race without significant alteration, I have not included these in my postings but instead have inserted a reference to the appropriate D&D sourcebook for those curious in including it in their campaign. Only variations that include a significant component of original work, alteration, or reformulation (including the compositing elements from various TSR sources into new combinations) of have been included in this set of postings. Jason Eric Nelson < tjaden@u.washington.edu >