Revised Thief for OSE
Inspired by this post on using Thief Skills as a saving throw if the Thief fails the normal skill roll also allowed to every other class, here's my take on the Thief with point-buy and a tweaked skill list.
The Thief starts with one point on every Thief skill, and five points to allocate at character creation, with no more than two points being invested into a single skill:
| Climb Sheer Surfaces | Read Languages | Hear Noise | Hide in Shadows | Move Silently | Open Locks | Pick Pockets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
At every new level, the Thief will receive five more points to allocate between her skills, following the same restriction of no more than two points being invested into a single skill at a time.
No skill may ever be raised above the value of 18.
Skill Checks
Characters of any class are allowed to attempt "Thief" skillchecks using the standard X-in-6 D6 roll, with a unmodified chance of success of 1-in-6.
On a failure, the Thief may get a second attempt by rolling under her relevant Thief Skill on a D20. On a success, the task is accomplished.
The Thief may user her Thief Skill values to attempt tasks impossible to other characters (climbing sheer surfaces, hiding in shadows, etc...), by rolling under the relevant skill only, with no D6 skill check.
On Climbing Sheer Surfaces
Any player with some experience on the B/X thief will notice that the starting value for the Climb Sheer Surfaces skill is way lower, even when converted to a % chance (87% on the B/X Thief vs up to 15% on this variant Thief). This is to:
- Reinforce the use of climbing gear that would add a bonus to the straight D6 roll (benefitting the Thief exponentially more - even bumping the success chances of the climbing check to a 2-in-6 makes a 1st level Thief with a Climb Sheer Surfaces skill of 1 ~20% more likely to succeeed!).
- Reinforce the point that a Climbing check should only be called for in adverse conditions. Scaling reasonable surfaces with gear and time at hand should require no rolls, even for non-Thieves.
I was also never really fond of the "multiple climbing checks for higher walls" rule. Scaling a wall at this scale is, in my opinion, an obstacle best tackled with creative roleplaying or something like Challenge HP.
On Find/Remove Treasure Traps
Another thing is the absence of the Find or Remove Treasure Traps and the addition of Read Languages as a skill. I believe in rewarding creative player skill expression when it comes to traps, and it's easier on me and the players to achieve that at the table when there's no "button" for doing that on the Thief's character sheet. To fill the gap, I made the Read Languages 4th level feature of the B/X Thief into a skill that can be improved with experience, instead of a fixed 80% chance.
Thieve's Cant
As for the now vacant 4th level feature of the Thief, I'm porting the Thieve's Cant from later editions and many other games. The one in 5e (I know, I know...) is actually pretty good and system-agnostic:
During your rogue training you learned thieves’ cant, a secret mix of dialect, jargon, and code that allows you to hide messages in seemingly normal conversation. Only another creature that knows thieves’ cant understands such messages. It takes four times longer to convey such a message than it does to speak the same idea plainly.
In addition, you understand a set of secret signs and symbols used to convey short, simple messages, such as whether an area is dangerous or the territory of a thieves’ guild, whether loot is nearby, or whether the people in an area are easy marks or will provide a safe house for thieves on the run.*
* Taken from the 5e PHB, all rights reserved by Hasbro™ and Wizards of The Coast™
The Math
Using the following table, you can check the odds of succeeding at a skill check for every combination of X-in-6 odds and Thief Skill level. On the first row are the unmodified chances of succeeding on the standard D6 skill row with no Thief Skills, and in the 0-in-6 column are the odds of succeeding using ONLY the Thief Skills (when standard skill rolls are not allowed).
| Skill | 0 in 6 | 1 in 6 | 2 in 6 | 3 in 6 | 4 in 6 | 5 in 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.00% | 16.67% | 33.33% | 50.00% | 66.67% | 83.33% |
| 1 | 5.00% | 20.84% | 36.35% | 52.48% | 67.70% | 84.16% |
| 2 | 10.00% | 25.00% | 39.70% | 54.98% | 69.40% | 85.00% |
| 3 | 15.00% | 29.17% | 43.05% | 57.48% | 71.10% | 85.83% |
| 4 | 20.00% | 33.34% | 46.40% | 59.98% | 72.80% | 86.66% |
| 5 | 25.00% | 37.50% | 49.75% | 62.49% | 74.50% | 87.50% |
| 6 | 30.00% | 41.67% | 53.10% | 64.99% | 76.20% | 88.33% |
| 7 | 35.00% | 45.84% | 56.45% | 67.49% | 77.90% | 89.16% |
| 8 | 40.00% | 50.00% | 59.80% | 69.99% | 79.60% | 90.00% |
| 9 | 45.00% | 54.17% | 63.15% | 72.49% | 81.30% | 90.83% |
| 10 | 50.00% | 58.34% | 66.50% | 74.99% | 83.00% | 91.67% |
| 11 | 55.00% | 62.50% | 69.85% | 77.49% | 84.70% | 92.50% |
| 12 | 60.00% | 66.67% | 73.20% | 79.99% | 86.40% | 93.33% |
| 13 | 65.00% | 70.83% | 76.55% | 82.49% | 88.10% | 94.17% |
| 14 | 70.00% | 75.00% | 79.90% | 84.99% | 89.80% | 95.00% |
| 15 | 75.00% | 79.17% | 83.25% | 87.50% | 91.50% | 95.83% |
| 16 | 80.00% | 83.33% | 86.60% | 90.00% | 93.20% | 96.67% |
| 17 | 85.00% | 87.50% | 89.95% | 92.50% | 94.90% | 97.50% |
| 18 | 90.00% | 91.67% | 93.30% | 95.00% | 96.60% | 98.33% |
| 19 | 95.00% | 95.83% | 96.65% | 97.50% | 98.30% | 99.17% |
| 20 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
If you like how this Thief sounds, check out my Bard class that uses the same rules!