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Thief
| level | XP | Title | HD | THAC0 | D | W | P | B | S | CS | TR | HN | HS | MS | OL | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Apprentice | 1d4 | 19[0] | 13 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 87% | 10% | 2in6 | 10% | 20% | 15% | 20% |
| 2 | 1,200 | Footpad | +1d4 | 19[0] | 13 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 88% | 15% | 2in6 | 15% | 25% | 20% | 25% |
| 3 | 2,400 | Robber | +1d4 | 19[0] | 13 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 89% | 20% | 3in6 | 20% | 30% | 25% | 30% |
| 4 | 4,800 | Burglar | +1d4 | 19[0] | 13 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 90% | 25% | 3in6 | 25% | 35% | 30% | 35% |
| 5 | 9,600 | Cutpurse | +1d4 | 17[+2] | 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 91% | 30% | 3in6 | 30% | 40% | 35% | 40% |
| 6 | 20,000 | Sharper | +1d4 | 17[+2] | 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 92% | 40% | 3in6 | 36% | 45% | 45% | 45% |
| 7 | 40,000 | Pilferer | +1d4 | 17[+2] | 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 93% | 50% | 4in6 | 45% | 55% | 55% | 55% |
| 8 | 80,000 | Master Pilferer | +1d4 | 17[+2] | 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 94% | 60% | 4in6 | 55% | 65% | 65% | 65% |
| 9 | 160,000 | Thief | +1d4 | 14[+5] | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 95% | 70% | 4in6 | 65% | 75% | 75% | 75% |
| 10 | 280,000 | Master Thief | +2 | 14[+5] | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 96% | 80% | 4in6 | 75% | 85% | 85% | 85% |
| 11 | 400,000 | Master Thief, 11th | +2 | 14[+5] | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 97% | 90% | 5in6 | 85% | 95% | 95% | 95% |
| 12 | 520,000 | Master Thief, 12th | +2 | 14[+5] | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 98% | 95% | 5in6 | 90% | 96% | 96% | 105% |
| 13 | 640,000 | Master Thief, 13th | +2 | 12[+7] | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 99% | 97% | 5in6 | 95% | 98% | 97% | 115% |
| 14 | 760,000 | Master Thief, 14th | +2 | 12[+7] | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 99% | 99% | 5in6 | 99% | 99% | 99% | 125% |
Thieves are adventurers who live by their skills of deception and stealth. Their range of unique skills makes them very handy companions in adventures. However, thieves are not always to be trusted.
Adjust ability scores: In step 3 of character creation, thieves may not lower STR.
Back-Stab
When attacking an unaware opponent from behind, a thief receives a +4 bonus to hit and doubles any damage dealt.
Combat
Because of their need for stealth and free movement, thieves cannot wear armour heavier than leather and cannot use shields. They can use any weapon.
Read Languages
A thief of 4th level or higher can read non-magical text in any language (including dead languages and basic codes) with 80% probability. If the roll does not succeed, the thief may not try to read that particular text again until they reach a higher level of experience.
Scroll Use
A thief of 10th level or higher can cast arcane spells from scrolls. There is a 10% chance of error: the spell does not function as expected and creates an unusual or deleterious effect.
Thief Skills
Thieves can use the following skills, with the chance of success shown opposite:
Climb Sheer Surfaces (CS): A roll is required for each 100’ to be climbed. If the roll fails, the thief falls at the halfway point, suffering falling damage.
Find or Remove Traps (TR): A roll is required to find a treasure trap and then another to remove it. This may be attempted only once per trap.
Hear Noise (HN): In a quiet environment (e.g. not in combat), a thief may attempt to listen at a door or to hear the sounds of something (e.g. a wandering monster) approaching.
Hide in Shadows (HS): Requires the thief to be motionless—attacking or moving while hiding is not possible.
Move Silently (MS): A thief may attempt to sneak past enemies unnoticed.
Open Locks (OL): Requires thieves’ tools. A thief can only try this skill once per lock. If the roll fails, the thief may not try the same lock again before gaining an experience level.
Pick Pockets (PP): If the victim is above 5th level, the thief ’s roll is penalised by 5% for every level above 5th. There is always at least a 1% chance of failure. A roll of more than twice the percentage required for success means that the attempted theft is noticed. The referee should determine the reaction of the victim
After Reaching 9th Level
A thief can establish a thief den, attracting 2d6 apprentices of 1st level. These thieves will serve the character with some reliability; however, should any be arrested or killed, the PC will not be able to attract apprentices to replace them. A successful thief might use these followers to start a Thieves’ Guild.
Rolling Skill Checks
All skills except hear noise are rolled on d%, with a result of less than or equal to the listed percentage indicating success. Hear noise is rolled on 1d6. If the roll is within the listed range of numbers, the skill succeeds.
Player Knowledge
The referee should roll for hear noise, hide in shadows, and move silently on the player’s behalf, as the thief does not immediately know if the attempt was successful. If a hide in shadows or move silently roll fails, the referee knows that the thief has been noticed and should determine enemies’ actions appropriately
D6 Thief Skills (Optional)
An Alternative System for Thief Skills
The traditional thief class is probably the most commonly house-ruled character class—so much so that “fixing the thief ” has become something of a time-honoured tradition among rules-tweakers.
Two of the most common complaints about the thief are its percentile-based skills (a mechanic not used by any other rules subsystem) and its fixed, inflexible skill progression (must all thieves focus primarily on climbing to the detriment of all other skills at lower levels?).
This article presents an alternative system for thief skills, designed as an attempt to address these issues, with d6-based skills replacing the percentages and a simple point allocation system adding flexibility.
Thief Skills
Thieves have the following skills: climb sheer surfaces, find or remove treasure traps, hear noise, hide in shadows, move silently, open locks, pick pockets, read languages. These skills function as described in Old-School Essentials, except that skill checks are rolled on a d6, rather than with percentile dice. The chance of success with skills is described under Expertise.
Modified Skills
When using d6-based thief skills, usage of the following skills is modified.
Pick Pockets
The chance of success is reduced by 1-in-6 per three levels of the victim (e.g. a 6th level victim reduces success by 2-in-6). A roll of 6 means that the attempted theft is noticed. The referee determines the reaction of the victim (possibly using the reaction table under Encounters in Old- School Essentials).
Read Languages
Thieves have the ability to read languages from 1st level and may improve their chance of success as with all other skills— see Expertise. (Under the standard rules, thieves gain the ability to read languages at 4th level and never improve their chance of success.)
Expertise
Base chance of success: All skills begin with a 1-in-6 chance of success.
Expertise points: Thieves gain expertise points to improve their chance of success with their skills. Each point allocated to a skill improves the chance of success by 1-in-6. Multiple points may be allocated to a skill, further increasing the chance of success. For example, if 2 points are allocated to a skill, the chance of success is raised to 3-in-6 (from the base 1-in-6 chance of success).
At 1st level: At character creation, a thief has 4 expertise points to allocate.
Gaining levels: A thief gains 2 additional expertise points to allocate.
Maximum chance of success: No skill may be raised above 5-in-6.
