Things I learned playing a Thief

[Lethosos]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

The Grey Mouser had the right idea...

[Old Man]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

I am reminded of a short story I read* about a group of thieves who make a wager on who can steal the most gold by sundown. There was a burglar, of course, who burgled a noble's house; the pickpocket who spent the whole day plying his trade near the city gates; the heavy who spent the day outside the gates conking travelers on the head; the seductress who, obviously, seduced a noble; and the schemer who won the wager by stealing the other thieves' gold at the meeting place, right before sundown.

 

* In an anthology of short stories set in Talislanta, of all things.

[Jomster]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

If you do manage to steal something from the "treasures the party have just found having slain the mighty dragon" that the rest of the group would looooove, but did so without any of them spotting your dastardly deed... make sure you have an excellent hiding place for it in the event that one of them says "hold on, where's the fabled Orb of Kar that the dragon's supposed to have...?" and then they all turn to you and you return their collective questioning gaze with an undeniably shifty look...

[Curufea]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

See - now I don't understand that concept. Why would a thief ever steal from party members? It's like going to the toilet in the same room that you eat.

A thief steals things from people AND NEVER SEES THOSE PEOPLE EVER AGAIN.

 

If you are going to do illegal activities - surely you want to avoid the consequences?

[Lucius]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

The Grey Mouser had the right idea...

 

Which one?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thought the Mouser had lots of ideas, some more stellar than others....

[Markdoc]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

Which one?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

 

The one from Lanhkmar, of course! Which other Gray Mouser were you thinking of?

 

Mark

[Jomster]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

The one from Lanhkmar, of course! Which other Gray Mouser were you thinking of?

 

Mark

 

Maybe he meant "which idea" rather than "which Gray Mouser"?

[Lucius]

Things I learned playing a Thief

 

I think he knows what I'm asking, he just doesn't want to tell us.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary has ways of making you talk....

[CourtFool]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

See - now I don't understand that concept. Why would a thief ever steal from party members?

 

I never understood it either. The fighter does not regularly beat the fecal matter out of the rest of the part. The wizard does not intentionally toast the party with fireballs. The cleric is just the portable first aid kit that the whatever poor smuck was last to the game got stuck with.

[Twilight]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

A wise thief once said: NEVER soil your own nest. Never rob near the place where you live.

[Lethosos]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

I think he knows what I'm asking' date=' he just doesn't want to tell us.[/quote']

Surely enough people have read the stories to figure it out by yerselves.

 

*takes the palidromary aside and whispers in their ears, away from Lucius*

[Dale A. Ward]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

Which one?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thought the Mouser had lots of ideas, some more stellar than others....

 

I'm fairly certain that he's referring to the idea of partnering with a large, strong, and none-too-bright fighter type... then letting him soak up the majority of the damage in return for a cut of the swag.

 

 

I believe the term we're looking for is "meat shield".

[Markdoc]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

I never understood it either. The fighter does not regularly beat the fecal matter out of the rest of the part. The wizard does not intentionally toast the party with fireballs. The cleric is just the portable first aid kit that the whatever poor smuck was last to the game got stuck with.

 

What? You're saying we've been playing it wrong all these years?

 

No wonder we never made it to one of these "dungeons" they talk about

 

Cheers,Mark

[Lucius]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

I'm fairly certain that he's referring to the idea of partnering with a large, strong, and none-too-bright fighter type... then letting him soak up the majority of the damage in return for a cut of the swag.

 

 

I believe the term we're looking for is "meat shield".

 

I don't think partnering with Fafhrd was the Mouser's ONLY bright idea, but it is one he used for almost his entire career (except when one went off to be an extortionist and strong-arm man, and the other went off to be an acolyte.)

 

I also wouldn't have described Fafhrd as "none-too-bright." Even compared to the Mouser, he was hardly a dumb brute.

 

For that matter, even compared to Fafhrd, the Mouser was hardly a pushover in a fight.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary concludes that both were quite capable of thinking their way out of a trap and fighting their way out of an ambush.

[Lethosos]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

Now you're catching on... The Grey Mouser actually did several things right in his career. The trick is understanding what they are--that's one of the hallmarks of a good rogue.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

You know... I think that you could learn more about being an efffective theif from Fafhrd than from his lil grey buddy.

 

After all... they met when both were terrorizing the underworld... but lets be honest. Who would you suspect first while investigating a crime?

The 7 foot tall redheaded northern barbarian, who's big on bellowing a lot and getting VERY drunk?

OR

The shifty little guy all dressed in grey with the quick snappy wit and the whole hyperkinetic ADD vibe going on? Who keeps playing with little shiney bits and twirling hs dagger around on its point?

[Lethosos]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

Well, that's the drawback of looking like one...

 

And I will admit that Fafhrd learned a thing or two from Mouser. Regardless, the Grey Mouser can be considered the epitome of a rogue. Again, draw your own conclusions.

[assault]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

We should also remember that Conan was a thief.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

Perhaps we can sum it up in a new adage...

 

If you're a traditional thief looking for a partner, you can do worse than a burly barbarian thief. Followed closely by an amoral mage.

 

It worked for The Grey Mouser and Subatai, with Moonglum providing the second runner.

[Curufea]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

A thief is really just someone who steals stuff.

That pretty much covers every kind of adventurer.

[Alibear]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

A thief is really just someone who steals stuff.

That pretty much covers every kind of adventurer.

 

Aye, a fighter runs you through with a sword before he robs you.

[Markdoc]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

Perhaps we can sum it up in a new adage...

 

If you're a traditional thief looking for a partner, you can do worse than a burly barbarian thief. Followed closely by an amoral mage.

 

Strangely enough, in our current d20 game, I AM playing a burly barbarian thief (or as I prefer to call it, a "stealth fighter" )

 

cheers, Mark

[Lucius]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

That I don't HAVE to play a "thief."

 

Just because I want one or more of: Stealth, Climbing, Detect Traps, Disarm Traps, Pick Pockets, Pick Locks, Pick Locks on Pockets, etc. does NOT mean I MUST buy them all; nor that I cannot also have spells, martial arts, or the use of any kind of weapon or armor I care to. And it most certainly does not mean I have to take Kleptomania, or a Watched by the Watch, or anything else that restrains how I play my character or specifically defines me as a "thief."

 

Instead of having to use one of a limited number of character concepts concocted by the game designer, I can come up with any character concept I choose, give it the abilities justified by the concept, and if the Game Operations Director agrees it's reasonable, I'm ready to play.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Installing a security system on a palindromedary

[Alibear]

Re: Things I learned playing a Thief

 

I played a Locksmith in one campaign. He was just a thief without the name, the dagger and the Hunted by the Watch.