A NEW CHARACTER TYPE FOR DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: THE THIEF!
                    by Gary Gygax

[From "The Great Plains Game Players Newsletter" #9 (May 1974, pp
8-9)]

Recently I received a telephone call from Gary Schweitzer who hales
from sunny California. It isn't all that sunny out there, however,
for are many dungeon expeditions regularly being led beneath the
grim pile of the castles which are scattered throughout that
land. Anyway, during the course of our conversation he mentioned
that his group was developing a new class of character -
_thieves_. Gary gave me a few details of how they were considering
this character type, and from these I have constructed tentative
rules for the class. These rules have _not_ be tested and should be
treated accordingly.

_CHARACTERS_:

There are now four (4) main classes of characters.

 Fighting Man
 Magic-Users
 Clerics
 Thieves

_Thieves_: This class is different from any of the others.  Thieves
are generally not meant to fight, although they are able to employ
magic swords and daggers (but none of the other magical weaponry),
and the only armor they can wear is leathern. They have no spells
such as magic-users and clerics are able to employ, but they do have
certain unique abilities:

 Open locks (by picking or even foiling magical closures)
 Removal of small trap devices (such as poisoned needles)
 Climb almost sheer surfaces rapidly, up or down
 Steal items by stealth and/or sleight-of-hand
 Strike silently from behind
 Listen for noise behind a closed door
 Move with stealth
 Hide in shadows

Thieves are always _neutral_. Their prime requisite is _dexterity_.
Men, Dwarves, Elves, or Hobbits may become thieves.

+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Thieves             | Hit  |Open Locks/ | Hear | Move Silently |
|                    | Dice |Remove Traps|Noise |Hide in Shadows|
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Apprentice         0|  1   |  15%/10%   | 1-2  |    20%/10%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Footpad         1200| 1+1  |  20%/15%   | 1-2  |    25%/15%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Robber          2400|  2   |  25%/20%   | 1-3  |    30%/20%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Burglar         4800| 2+1  |  35%/30%   | 1-3  |    35%/25%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Cutpurse        9600|  3   |  40%/35%   | 1-3  |    45%/35%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Sharper        20000| 3+1  |  45%/40%   | 1-3  |    55%/45%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Pilferer       40000|  4   |  55%/50%   | 1-4  |    60%/50%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Master P'r.    60000| 4+1  |  65%/60%   | 1-4  |    65%/55%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Thief          85000|  5   |  75%/70%   | 1-4  |    75%/65%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|Master Thief  115000| 5+1  |  85%/80%   | 1-4  |    85%/75%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|M.T., 2nd     230000|  6   |  95%/90%   | 1-5  |    95%/85%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+
|M.T., 3rd     345000| 6+1  |  100%/95%  | 1-5  |   100%/90%    |
+--------------------+------+------------+------+---------------+

_THE THIEF!_ (continued)

A "Master Thief 4th level" would have seven dice for accumulated
hits, a 100% chance to remove traps, and a 95% chance to remain
undetected when hiding or moving through shadows, gaining these
advantages when 460,000 experience points had been accumulated. At
the 5th level a Master- Thief would have 7 +1 hit dice, _always_
hear noise, and always be able to hide without being seen provided
he wasn't observed prior to hiding, and there were shadows, of
course.  Another 115,000 experience points would be required to go
from 4th to 5th level Master Thief.

_Other Possible Considerations_:

Third level thieves (Robber and above) are able to read languages,
so treasure maps can be understood by them without recourse to a
spell.  Ninth level thieves (Thief and above) are able to understand
magical writings, so if they discover a scroll they are able to
employ any spells thereon, excluding clerical spells.

_Example of a Thief in Action_: Assume that a fifth level thief
(Cutpurse) is a member of an expedition aimed at looting a known
treasure on a dungeon level. After the guardian of the treasure has
been dealt with, the thief goes into the area and examines several
chests in the room.  He notes that two have traps - which he has a
35% chance of successfully removing. He succeeds on the first, and a
vial of poisonous gas is removed; however he cannot open the lock
(the referee rolled above 40%) so it must be forced open -- a very
time-consuming process. Failure to remove a trap, incidentally,
activates it with regard to the thief and any others within its
range. After lucking out on his second chest all around, the party
is heading back when a slight detour takes them past a monster which
immediately goes into persuit of the adventurers. As the party
dasher around a corner to throw off the persuit, the thief remains
in hiding. If the monster fails to notice him (35% chance) he can
then slip into its lair and snatch the loot while it is
elsewhere. This same Cutpurse later sees a man with some item he
desires. His chance of removing the object, be it from the person of
the owner or from his immediate vicinity, is 45%, the same
likelihood as he has of moving with absolute silence. If the thief
strikes silently from behind he will do two dice of damage for every
four levels he as attained, minimum damage of two dice, and hit
probabilities from behind should be increased by 20% (+4 on numbers
shown to hit).

Attack Ability, Alternative Combat System: For purposes of attack
probability only treat Thieves (class) as Clerics, advancing
probabilities in four levels/group.

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