I love #DungeonWorld, but I’ve decided I don’t like the RAW Thief class much. The poison-related moves are so central the Thief seems to play more like I recollect 1e Assassins playing than old-school Thieves. This conclusion comes after playing a Thief in one session and GMing Thieves (by different players) in two more.
Maybe a tweaked Thief will be my first effort at a new(ish) class.
Go for it, Jim, will love to see what you come up with.
For what it’s worth, the Thief in my game is a con man, and he loves the poisoning stuff. He mixes goldenroot into a keg of ale and shares it around to promote…good will, let’s say.
Hey Patrick Henry Downs , does this sound familiar?
Yes, this sentiment echoes how I feel playing a Thief. I’ve actually crossed out the word Thief on my character sheet and written in the word Assassin. Most of the moves are poison related and you have to actively either choose to take poison moves or “do other stuff” which amounts to a lot of combat and trap specializations. Nothing for sneaking, hiding, or, you know, stealing. The Thief in 1st edition AD&D could specialize as an acrobat or as an assassin, they were called sub-classes since this was before people thought of kits or skill sets or feats or any of that fun stuff. Point being: the assassin sub-class specialized in, drum roll, poisons, and the DW Thief has no options to get moves that enhance acrobatic abilities, hiding in shadows, sneaking in broad daylight, plucking things from under peoples’ noses, or getting away with picking a lock while being looked. Which are all thiefly things you can do in Skyrim, a video game. :-/
Although, I will add this as an aside: If you want to get more mileage out of picking pockets, show your GM this video
Supernatural pickpocketing skills!! Awesome to watch! – by Apollo Robbins
See https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxI2vfsw1haqQUhsdXZQZUVmZnM/edit?hl=en&forcehl=1 by Justin Schmid above, he just posted it to Google Tavern. It looks good!
Oh wow. It’s four of five Leverage RPG rolls!
Leverage was definitely part of my inspiration for those four thief subtypes. I originally tried creating a Pick Pocket as well, but it wasn’t strong enough on its own and I wound up merging its talents back into some of the original four. I guess a Hacker would be like a magician, but if you pick up from them, I’m running them in a very low magic setting.
Hacker would be a counterfeiter of some type, with “counterfeiter” read very broadly.
Justin Schmid This is great!
what more moves support do you guys need for sneaking/acrobatics etc. ? What are you missing?
Tim Franzke Currently there is nothing for sneaking or acrobatics, so that’s what’s missing?
Tumble: when you use your acrobatic grace and talents to evade harm or prevent a fall, roll+DEX. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend your hold 1-for-1 to:
-land on your feet
-reduce the damage die type from a fall (d12 becomes d10, d10 becomes d8, etc.)
-tumble past enemies who have blocked your path
-perform a bounding leap off the ground and reposition yourself either behind an opponent or on top of a nearby object
Sneak: you can make a Defy Danger check with +DEX to hide in shadows or move quietly.
Throw Voice: when you are hiding and about to be discovered, roll+DEX. On a 10+, anybody who can hear it turns their attention away from your location and seeks out the noise away from where you are hiding. On a 7-9, choose 1:
-they momentarily pause to listen more carefully but do not change their route or search pattern
-they change their route or search pattern momentarily but will soon close in on your position
and that’s just stuff I came up with off the top of my head.
Sneak is bascialy Defy Danger with DEX, no need to tax an extra move for that.
Throw Voice could also be done with Defy Danger using CHA (i’d say).
I mean of course you can do that, you are the Thief.
Not according to the “rules as written”: this is the criticism.
Tim Franzke This doesn’t work for me for a few reasons:
1. A Thief’s Sneak should be more interesting than a random non-Thief’s Sneak. The Ranger doesn’t make do with Volley but gets Called Shot. The Bard can often use Bardic Lore or Port in s Storm instead of Spout Lore, and those two moves feel different than the vanilla move. The Fighter could roll Defy Danger +Dex to bend bars or lift gates, but instead he rolls Bend Bars, Lift Gates. Etc. A Thief’s Sneak should have interesting options for using Holds that make it cooler than just rolling Defy Danger +Dex and that tempt the Thief into outrageous risks.
2. The Poison Moves has gots to go. So something else needs to go in their place. (Alternatively, cross out Thief and write Assassin, then go make a Thief playbook.)
These are my reasons and I own them etc. Except that they’re not just my reasons – apparently at least some other people share my sentiments.