Kits and Thief Types

Each type of thief described in this chapter is defined by means of a kit. A kit is made up of the following elements, following the style of the warrior kits in the AD&D® 2nd Edition Complete Fighter's Manual:

Description: The kit explains the thief type, describing the typical appearance, manner, cultural background, and use of the character in a campaign. It also lists any requirements necessary for a character to take the kit.

Role: Many of these thief types arise in particular social contexts. A Fence, for instance, exists because other thieves need to market stolen goods. The kit will therefore describe the role of the Fence in his society, and may suggest how he might function in relation to the rest of the fantasy adventure campaign.

Under "Role" you will also find notes on the personalities or backgrounds typical for thieves of this kit. This reflects our earlier discussion of "role-playing thieves," where we examined setting, social background and motivations, and presented a few thief archetypes.

Secondary Skills: If you have chosen to use the Secondary Skills rules from AD&D® 2nd Edition (see Player's Handbook, p. 53), then your kit may require your thief to take a specific skill, or choose from a limited range of choices. You might not be able to choose or roll randomly from among all the secondary skills listed in the Player's Handbook.

Weapon Proficiencies: If you're using the weapon proficiency rules from AD&D® 2nd Edition, then your kit could require your thief to take specific weapon proficiencies. Or, he might have to choose one from a limited range; the Bandit, for instance, is required to take one bludgeoning weapon.

Some kits (Assassins, for example) are permitted a wider range of weapons than normal thieves. This, too, is noted under weapon proficiencies.

Unlike nonweapon proficiencies, below, weapon proficiencies required for a thief kit are NOT bonuses unless otherwise specified. They must be taken to fill the weapon proficiency slots normally given to a first level thief.

Nonweapon Proficiencies: If you have chosen to use the nonweapon proficiency rules from AD&D® 2nd Edition, then you will find useful the information in each kit on what proficiencies are required or recommended for that sort of thief. The Bounty Hunter, for instance, is required to take the tracking proficiency; and a number of other proficiencies related to wilderness survival and tracking down people are recommended.

Note that required proficiencies are bonuses, given in addition to the nonweapon proficiency choices that you may make as usual. Sometimes a bonus proficiency will come from a group other than the General or Thief groups, but (since it is a bonus anyway) it doesn't matter how many extra slots it would otherwise be required to occupy.

When a proficiency is only recommended in a thief kit, it is not given automatically to the character. If the character decides to take a recommended nonweapon proficiency, it is chosen to fill one of the thief's open slots. Beginning thieves should have no more than one nonweapon proficiency that is not among those recommended or required for their kit.

So let us suppose we have a bounty hunter named Baltrin. As a first level thief, Baltrin starts with three nonweapon proficiency slots. In addition, for choosing the Bounty Hunter kit, he gets Tracking as a bonus proficiency. Two of his three nonweapon proficiency slots must be spent on proficiencies that are recommended for his kit; he chooses alertness and riding (land-based). His final slot may be filled with any one-slot proficiency that he desires. The player chooses carpentry, deciding that Baltrin came from a family of carpenters.

A number of new nonweapon proficiencies are mentioned in these kits. See Chapter 2, "Proficiencies," for a complete listing of thief nonweapon proficiencies and complete descriptions of those which are new.

It is not recommended that you use both secondary skills and nonweapon proficiencies. We strongly recommend that you use the nonweapon proficiency rules if you are going to use these new guidelines for thief types; they give the thieves much more color and definition, and make for a more interesting and versatile campaign.

Skill Progression: This section of each thief kit suggests which of the traditional thieves' skills (picking pockets, etc.) are most valuable to that sort of thief. It is recommended that characters rise fastest in those skills, since they are the ones that are likely to get the most practice. These are meant as suggestions—the choice of how to allot skill improvements ought to remain in the hands of the player.

Equipment: Some thief types tend to make use of certain forms of equipment, either from preference or need; or they may be limited in what equipment they can carry. We will note such situations. A Beggar, for instance, can't beg very well if he's dressed in resplendent finery, with gilded armor and bejeweled weapons.

These equipment listings aren't really restrictions. Rather, they reflect what time and trial have proven to be most advantageous for a thief of this or that variety. If the character is fulfilling his role, the equipment will make sense; and the DM is encouraged to assist in pointing out the value of the suggested equipment when a character experiments with other things.

Special Benefits: Most thief types have some special benefits that the others don't. These may be straightforward special abilities. Often, however, they reflect the thief's relationship to his society; they may be defined as special reaction bonuses, special privileges in certain cultures or regions, and so forth. A Fence, for instance, gets better reactions from other thieves (especially if they want him as a business partner), and also has less trouble than other characters in finding thieves willing to hire out their skills.

Special Hindrances: Similarly, each thief type has certain disadvantages which hinder him, such as the reaction penalties of Beggars.

Races: In the previous chapter we discussed nonhuman thieves in general. Each kit was written with the human character in mind. In a sense, demihuman thieves of each race are a kit unto themselves, because of their nonhuman heritage. However, it is certainly possible for demihumans to take one of these kits (pending the Dungeon Master's approval, of course). Before putting too much effort into a non-human character, be sure to approve the race/kit mix with your DM. He might not appreciate dwarf pirates, for instance.

Under the heading "Races", we note in each kit special considerations for nonhuman thieves: races recommended (or the opposite) for that kit, and any special modifications that might apply if a nonhuman character is used.

An Important Note

In the following sections, several thief kits include reaction bonuses and penalties as part of their special benefits and special hindrances. A word of caution needs to accompany them.

In the AD&D® game, when a character is very charismatic, he gets what is called a "reaction adjustment." (See the Player's Handbook, p. 18.) When the character has a high Charisma and receives a bonus, it's expressed as a plus; +2, for instance. When he has a low Charisma and receives a penalty, it's expressed as a minus; -3, for example.

However, when you roll the 2d10 for encounter reactions (see the Dungeon Master's Guide, p. 103), don't add the bonus (+) or subtract the penalty (-) from the die roll. Do it the other way around. If the character has a Charisma of 16, and thus gets a +5 reaction adjustment, you subtract that number from the 2d10 roll. (Otherwise the NPCs would be reacting even more badly because the character was charismatic!)

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