(Re-posted from the same discussion on RPG.net)
I’ve been using the ‘If you do it during a Turn it succeeds, if you do it during a Round you test’ concept for a while and I think it works great. I also allow attribute bonuses to affect the rolls, so even under duress, a thief is a valuable member of the party.
One of the other ideas you mentioned was also mentioned by someone else recently (I don’t remember who): the idea that all adventurers are by nature, rogues of one sort or another. I think there is something in that and I’m tempted to give everyone thieves skills, but have them roll when using it during a Turn, and denying the ability during a Round, sort of a step below the thief. In fact, I have a game tonight and I’ll see how that works. This would be, in my mind, part of the skill pack that comes with the Adventuring Proficiency in ACKS, but doesn’t go up with level for anyone but thieves.
Here are a few additional thoughts I have one the subject. Tell me your opinion:
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Give everyone the backstab ability as well, after all if they can sneak up on it they should get some bonus, but allow the thief to auto-kill creatures of less than their HD if the creature fails a Save vs. Death.
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As the Adventuring Proficiency now assumes thief skills, allow characters to take Adventuring multiple times, giving them a +3 bonus to Thieves skills every time they take it. Now you can have your Conan or Fafhrd fighter character.
(POST 2)
I think those are some pretty cool ideas. I might be more generous though and allow characters to advance as half their level in thief abilities.I like your round/turn approach, I think that’s a nice divide. How would it work for move silently?
I tried out the ‘everyone is a little roguish’ last night and it worked a treat. That half level thief thing is a good idea, but I like having the development of thief’s skills being a conscious decision of advancement through proficiencies, basically giving up one thing to get another, instead of being automatic.
As far as the round/turn approach, that is a rough rule of thumb that revolves around the idea of time pressure, i.e. if you’ve only got 10 seconds to accomplish something, you’re probably being rushed. That being said, last night the thief character was searching a room in a guards tower that the bailiff had temporarily cleared in order to give her time to search for a murder weapon. She had more than a round, about a turn actually, but I determined that the time pressure of knowing the guards would return eventually and the fact that she had to search without obviously tossing the place and giving the investigation away to the saboteur, made it a situation in which a roll was necessary.
I haven’t seen the ‘everyone backstab/thief auto-kill’ rule in action yet, but considering the fact that the conditions for achieving either are not always assured, I think it should work out fine. Last night saw an ambush by giant black widows for instance, and the whole thing was over in a couple of rounds, so making a hide and then a sneak roll in that situation (given the low numbers for thief skills in that regard, even with attribute bonuses), versus two crossbow shots to kill the buggers quickly was a critical decision, especially against poisonous creatures. She chose the latter, thankfully, and the extra two bolts meant only one character and one henchman died from poison that encounter…