I really like BFRPG. It's my favorite retroclone, these days. One of my pet peeves is Thief Skills, though. I addressed this in my supplement a bit, but I've been thinking about this subject more.
I believe 1st level thieves should have maybe 30% in every skill (and the standard 80% in Climb Walls). This wouldn't be a huge boost, but they'd at least be near a 1 in 6 chance of actually performing their job function. Increases for the next few levels would be around 5%, then scale it back.
Also, I think all of the other classes should be able to Hide, Move Silently, and Climb Walls. Give them a flat 10% chance to do so, with penalties for heavy armor. It would make more sense to me, at least. Don't let them do thinks like Pick Pockets, though. Keep the actual "thiefly" skills class-specific.
Showing posts with label thief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thief. Show all posts
Monday, February 11, 2013
Friday, May 4, 2012
Solo D&D: Thieves are awesome
Just a thought I had. Maybe ten years ago, I was running a D&D campaign for a friend of mine. At that time, it was just us. He ran a thief. We had a blast.
He planned out missions and even recruited a few NPC hirelings, that he used as look-outs. The game involved some heists and a few murders for hire. Politics started featuring later on, as well.
It was kind of like a Shadowrun game, but without guns or cybernetics. I had set the campaign in the kingdom of Mieres in the Birthright setting. The PC was not blooded, which worked out well. Mieres was the kingdom on the southwest corner of the map on the other continent, and was famed for thieves.
In any case, if you are running a game for only one player, I think thieves are a really good fit.
He planned out missions and even recruited a few NPC hirelings, that he used as look-outs. The game involved some heists and a few murders for hire. Politics started featuring later on, as well.
It was kind of like a Shadowrun game, but without guns or cybernetics. I had set the campaign in the kingdom of Mieres in the Birthright setting. The PC was not blooded, which worked out well. Mieres was the kingdom on the southwest corner of the map on the other continent, and was famed for thieves.
In any case, if you are running a game for only one player, I think thieves are a really good fit.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thief Skills (Pick Pocket in particular)
Looking over the starting percentages for thief skills, I always think Pick Pocket is way too low. It was often the first skill young thieves would learn. I think it should start around 50%, especially when you take in the percentage loss caused by higher level targets. Having it start around 30% means that the majority of cutpurses would be caught on their first day, which is just silly. Unless you like a city with a bunch of missing their right hand.
I also think some of the other skills start too high, especially climb walls. Most thieves weren't second story men. Open Locks, Climb Walls, and Find Traps should all start low and only really start increasing once the Thief gets to mid level. Not sure how I'd address this in game, unless I port in a version of the 2e thief skills table (which I love, and I'm glad it's in the BFRPG Appendix).
I also think some of the other skills start too high, especially climb walls. Most thieves weren't second story men. Open Locks, Climb Walls, and Find Traps should all start low and only really start increasing once the Thief gets to mid level. Not sure how I'd address this in game, unless I port in a version of the 2e thief skills table (which I love, and I'm glad it's in the BFRPG Appendix).
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