Fencing

This is an often-overlooked aspect of the thieves' guild. A PC thief may steal all kinds of things which he hasn't any idea about, so far as their price goes. He didn't find the hidden safe in the merchant's house, so out he comes with a bag containing a jade statuette of a cat (actually imitation jade so it's mostly worthless), a crystal vase (exceptional elfin work, worth a fair sum), a crude wooden idol (an antique, and thus worth far more than the thief thinks), and more . . . Indeed, in the absence of any special nonweapon proficiencies (such as Gem-cutting and the like) the thief may often have little idea how much nonmonetary treasures he has stolen are worth. Even with the Appraising proficiency, the thief's estimates may often be wrong, and a fair proportion of items too unusual or singular for the thief to be sure anyway. This is one area where the fence can help the thief.

A resourceful thieves' guild will have members who can accurately value different sorts of items, and will also have contacts with certain specialists who aren't actually thieves but who also aren't terribly ethical either. They can handle real rarities. The Fence thief kit gives a basic design option for fences, and the blueprint profile section (later in this chapter) also details a highly experienced and versatile fence who can be used straight off the page (as it were) or developed by the DM for use in his campaign.

A special case is that of magical treasure. A simple detect magic spell from a mage-thief specialist in the guild, working with the fence, can tell a thief that the nice gold signet ring he filched from the drunk fighter is a magic item, worth far, far more than its value as gold. The same NPC can tell the thief (from an identify spell) that the ring is a ring of protection +2, worth thousands. This only needs a 1st-level magic-user with the fence, but it's a priceless service for the thief!

The other role for the fence, obviously, is that the thief gets "hot" property off his hands quickly. It will probably be out of town very fast, to be sold in some distant location where its illicit nature will not be suspected. Obviously, fences never pay more than a fraction of the market price for goods; but a fraction may still be a fair sum, and the thief runs no risk of being apprehended.

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