Additional Abilities for Thieves and their Ilk

Additional abilities for Burglars, Thieves, Rogues, Assassins, Thugs, and Waghalters.

Skim off the Top

Members of the underworld can't keep their hands off loot.  Characters of the burglar class automatically get %1 per level of coin and non-precious stones loot collected by the party before any shares or divisions are calculated.  This represents their penchant for being the first with their hands in the sack, lifting of small amounts of coins during sorting, and intentional miscalculations during the actual division of shares ("one for you, two for me").

Burglars gain experience points for any of the above skimming activities as they would for any other treasure.

Hidden knife

When searched or apprehended a burglar can keep a small knife secreted on their person, unless completely disrobed or magical means of detection are used.

No honor among thieves

Burglars are paranoid. By secreting treasures away in remote or hidden locations known to no others, they can gain the benefit of experience points without a return to civilization. This can be a chest buried underground or even a sack in an old dead tree, but it must be a secret known only to the burglar. If the treasure is stolen, any experience points garnered are immediately lost.

An old character background

The day of the graveyard battle. I (Dewglass) came to Eastgate after years of tutelage under the Omnithrox of Aphasia.  My master told me that if I were to retrieve three of the Ioun stones, he could show me how to create a philter that would grant me immortality. Of course, I have already discovered (through auguries to Tiamat), that the Omnithrox's heartblood *is* the secret ingredient, but the Ioun stones will get me a more private audience.  I'll still need to find an enchanted dagger to remove all of his hearts.  An airship from the Lakbunish Protectorate was reported missing in this area a century ago, so Eastgate is a good place to start.

Dwarvish Fungal Ale

Item: Dwarvish Fungal Ale

This special dwarvish brew is both invigorating and intoxicating. The fungal additives that add a special taste can restore vigor to the drinker but also increase the effects of the alcohol in the beverage. A single serving will restore 0-3 HP (d4-1). Depending on the drinker's physiology, multiple services can induce drunkenness to the point of delirium:

Dwarves: Two servings in 8 hours, drunkenness. Three servings in 24 hours, incapicitation.

Elves: Two servings in 24 hours, drunkenness. Three servings in 12 hours, incapicitation.

Other races: Two servings in 12 hours, drunkenness. Three servings in 24 hours, incapicitation.

Saving Throws: An End to the Madness

As better explained by The Man in the Funny Hat, the AD&D saving throw system may be quirky and the categories poorly explained, it is not without logic. It does the opposite of the 3rd Edition D&D system, which while elegant in organization loses something in the change-over. Should not a Magic-User, Mage, or Wizard be more resistant to magic than others? How do your reflexes help you dodge out of the center of a 30' diameter ball of flame? Still there must be something simpler than the big chart. And why are paralyzation and poison lumped together?

Much like Dave Arneson and Swords & Wizardry, I have become a fan of the single saving throw progression. People have charted the AD&D saves and there's a pattern to them that roughly goes from 15 to 7. Some classes are better, some are worse. When someone pointed out that the Rod/Staves/Wands saves for all classes is 1 better than their spells saves, it clicked. We might as well remove the column from the chart and convert it to a bonus. Why not do that with all of the saves?

Let's start at 15 for everyone at 1st level, and drop by one each level until the target is 5. I suppose there's math to make this work as an ascending bonus, but let's get the math right first. Next up, modifiers:

• Poison: Dwarves get a bonus, perhaps based on Constitution like in AD&D. For now let's make it +3.
• Death Magic: This includes negative energy attacks. Clerics get +3 due to their link with the higher and lower planes.
• Petrification, Polymorph: This is pretty much the same for everyone in AD&D, so no class bonus. Perhaps Constitution as a tip of the hat to System Shock checks.
• Rod, Staff, Wand: We'll say all magical items effects give you +1 to the save. Maybe we note this with some of the items (Wand of Fireballs), but not others (a bonus to saves versus the Staff of the Magi - I think not!)
• Breath Weapons: Breath Weapons are nasty. In AD&D, this is the hardest save at 1st level and the hardest at 17+ for most classes. We'll include this as necessary on the specific monster. Is a hell hound attack as hard to avoid as an ancient red dragon?
• Spells: +3 for Magic-Users, +3 for Dwarves, +2 for Hobbits... err Halflings.

Modifiers for Special Cases:

• Charm and Illusion effects: Give the Wisdom attribute bonus (for TSR, I've standardized this like BEX D&D)
• Dodge-able effects: This is a DM's call as to when it applies. Perhaps give Thieves a +2 on save for dodge-able effects (lightning bolts, wands, etc). Perhaps give everyone their Dexterity Adjustment. Like the Defensive Adjustment in AD&D, this works better when it's not applied across the board.

What else should be included?