Criminals of Crowfield

If you went to the days before D&D and asked someone to name the “thievish” characters of fantasy literature, they would say Cugel the Clever (1965) and the Gray Mouser (1968). A particularly well read person might mention Lord Dunsany’s Mr. Nuth (1912). Some might have been tempted to mention Bilbo Baggins (1937), but they would be wrong; Bilbo only pretended to be a burglar.

Cudgel and the Mouser have something in common: they’re both magic-users. Whether or not Mr. Nuth used magic is up for interpretation. Lord Dunsany writes that “To those outside the magic circle of business, his name is scarcely known,” so it certainly seems plausible.

It seems odd to me, then, that D&D thieves are not magic users. So in my world, they are! This isn’t a hard leap to make. When you look at a thief’s core abilities, it becomes apparent most of these abilities already exist as spells.

Core abilities

The thief class is first introduced in 1975’s Greyhawk supplement. In that volume they’re given the following basic abilities:

• open locks by picking or foiling magical closures
• remove small trap devices (such as poisoned needles)
• listen for noise behind closed doors
• move with great stealth
• filch items and pick pockets
• hide in shadows
• strike silently from behind
• climb nearly sheer surfaces, upwards or downwards

(As an interesting sidenote, compare that to this passage from Lord Dunsany’s The Book of Wonder written in 1912: [Mr. Nuth’s apprentice] came first to cross bare boards, covered with little obstacles in the dark, without making any sound, and then to go silently up creaky stairs, and then to open doors, and lastly to climb.)

Now let me compare those abilities with the spells that existed at the time:

Ability	Matching Spell	Notes
Open locks	Knock	Knock is a second level magic-user spell
Remove traps	None
Hide in Shadows	Invisibility	Invisibility is a second level magic-user spell; this ability seems slighty more limited (needs shadows)
Listen	Clairaudience	Clairaudience is a third level magic-user spell
Move Silently	Silence, 15' radius	Silence is a second level cleric spell. This would be a slightly more limited version.
Pick pockets	None (Telekinesis)	Magic users have a fifth level spell called Telekinesis that lets them move things at a distance. I would maybe make a very limited variant of that spell as a new first level thief spell for picking pockets.
Read languages	Read Languages	This is a first level magic-user spell, but thieves don’t gain this ability until third level, so I would just make it a higher level spell for them.
Read magic	Read Magic	Like above, this is a first level magic-user spell, but thieves traditionally don’t get this ability until tenth level.
Strike silently from behind	None	There’s no spell for this one. I would need to make a new spell. The name is obvious: “Backstab.” The thief casts it on his weapon, then the weapon does double/triple/quadruple damage depending on the level.
Climb walls	Levitation	Levitation is a second level magic-user spell. The thief version would be a first level variation that makes the thief neutrally buoyant. He can “float” but can’t move without pushing or pulling himself along a surface.
Find Traps	Find Traps	In the 1975 rules, thieves had an ability to remove traps but not one to find traps. That wasn’t added until 1978 with AD&D’s Players Handbook. However, in 1974, before the thief existed, there was a second level cleric spell called Find Traps.
Ventriloquism	Ventriloquism	In 1981’s D&D Expert Rulebook, editor David Cook suggested that thieves get additional abilities after 14th level. “Thieves will therefore gain new abilities…” he said. “These will include the ability to climb overhangs, upside down,ventriloquism, powers of distraction, and the ability to mimic voices.” These were supposed to be detailed in a supplement called D&D Companion. That supplement was never published (though the name was reused for Frank Mentzer’s series of rules). Ventriloquism is a first level magic user spell, maybe I would make it a second or third level thief spell? (Waiting to level 15 seems high)
Mimic Voices	None	See Ventriloquism, above. This would need to be a new spell. Maybe third or fourth level?

Using Abilities

Gary Gygax did not invent the thief class. That was done by a player whose DM told Gygax about it. In the original player’s version of the thief, each of the abilities could be used a certain number of times per day depending on level. Gygax changed that to each ability having a percentage chance of working.

I originally developed the Crowfield spell-casting system with thief casters in mind, so I would use that system of rolling a spell-check for them.

However, thief spells were developed to be used silently. They never have material or verbal components. They always require complex finger/hand gestures. Thieves use their Dexterity modifier when making spell checks.

Summary

What we end up with is a class that has some cleric spells (Find Traps, Silence), some magic-user spells (Clairaudience, Invisibility, Knock, Levitation, etc.), and a few unique spells (Backstab, Pick Pockets). It’s almost as if the first thief was raised by a cleric and a magic-user!.

They have the magic-users hit dice. Their armor ability is between the cleric and magic-user. Their weapons use is closer to the fighter.

Their spellbook is more limited, but they get spells at first level that other classes don’t get until later.

What do you think? Is it worth developing? If so, should I modify the Crowfield Codex to include this version of the thief on equal footing with the cleric and magic user? Or should it just be an appendix?