Thievery!

...an idea worth stealing.

"Your Uncle has a job for you, Noblett."

"What kind of job, Cousin?"

"Something a bit different. It seems a group of treasure seekers want the services of a thief."

"Since when do we in The Family use such a crude term as that, Cousin?" 

"It's what the adventurers asked for. A thief, they said."

"And our Uncle thinks this is a good idea?"

"It seems there is an opportunity to open up a new market that could be quite profitable for The Family.. Don't get yourself killed, Nob. These dungeon delvers often don't live long."

The presence of the thief as a player character class has a dramatic effect on The World's First Role-Playing game, from a mechanical perspective and otherwise. In addition to adding a new archetype, inclusion of the class of Thieves as they are presented in Supplement I Greyhawk introduces a number of irregularities (or innovations) to the game as it is described in the original three little brown books. How one views these changes may depend on the campaign goals.

The first new class to be added to the game seems to make a lot more sense for some campaigns than for others and like much of the additional material presented in Supplement I, it takes the game in a different direction. The fact that this direction quickly became more the norm should perhaps surprise no one given that just one person is the principle author of both the Greyhawk campaign and the soon to follow "advanced rules".

The new class of Greyhawk Thieves is open to all LBB player races and unlike the race class level limits in the original volumes, demi-human thieves have no level limits. The unlimited Thief class may be combined with other classes (which all have level limits for non-humans) to form a multi-class non-human character who can now continue to progress as a thief. 

The Thief class introduces the concept of "skills" into the original role-playing game - at least in terms of its thieves' abilities. The thieves abilities are primarily described as a percentile system including abilities that previously had been things any character or members of any class could have attempted, namely move silently, hide in shadows, listen for noise behind closed doors, and climb walls. 

As is often the case with many of the problematic aspects of the original game, the fault may rest mainly with its overly brief rule descriptions, especially when combined with (dare I say it aloud) inferior referee practices. I propose that a careful reading of the exact text and application of some "common sense" can solve some of the problems that seem to present in the case of Thieves (and other ambiguities) when one reads with a less careful eye - and a generous attitude of "I think it means this..." (The job of the referee is often to place hard limits on interpretation of rules so as to not be overly generous to would-be rile manipulators!)

Quoting from the text, Supplement I describes the thief's abilities in a more precise manner than is generally assumed:

Basic abilities are:

– 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

Reading between the lines has been the bane of many a well intentioned  gamer. A close reading of the thieves' abilities reveals several extraordinary feats of legerdemain that seem to have become lost to time. Take for example the ability of "foiling magical closures". A successful roll of the percentile dice can presumably result in our thief opening a magically held door as easily as said thief might open a more mundane mechanical lock. The climb ability states "nearly sheer surfaces" implying this is not an ability to climb your average steep sloped cliff or dangling rope. By extension, a referee could be justified I think in ruling all of the thieves abilities represent something beyond the normal abilities of adventurers of other classes. 

Yes, anyone can attempt to move with stealth, taking care to avoid being too obvious and making too much noise. The thieves ability to sneak about moving silently and hiding in shadows amounts to much more than a fighting man or magic user being really cautious when moving or hiding. To continue this line of argument, the "strike silently from behind" ability of thieves represents something more than stabbing a foe while positioned to their rear. I think this "backstabbing" may involve the victim being unaware of the assailant and the thief having knowledge of just where to place the blade so as to gain maximum effect.

The ability to listen for noise behind closed doors is where my argument for "special abilities beyond the normal" rather breaks down. Thieves of levels 1 and 2 are given the ability to hear noise on a roll of 1-2 on a d6 per Greyhawk. Volume I, Men & Magic states:

When characters come to a door they may “listen” to detect any sound within. Note “Undead” never make any sound. A roll of 1 for humans, and 1 or 2 for Elves, Dwarves, or Halflings will detect sound within if there is any to be heard.

A human thief character effectively has the same ability processed by Elves, Dwarves and Halflings to detect sound beyond a closed door. Perhaps this "special ability" of human thieves is that of being able to listen like an Elf, Dwarf or Halfling? (So I wonder, what about those Halfling thieves and their ability to listen at doors?)

Treating the thieves' abilities as almost supernatural sets the class abilities apart from those abilities that other adventuring classes may employ. Doing so seems to be a more satisfactory referee practice than to rule that sneaking and hiding, and listening at doors are exclusive class abilities only available to thieves. I am left to wonder why interpretation of the nature of thieves abilities seems to be altered in subsequent versions of The World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game? Was it merely a case of changing the text to reflect how the class was being played at the table?

"So, be careful and don't let the delvers send you into danger, Nob. You ain't paid to fight monsters. You're a specialist with a quality of skill which they don't possess. That is why the adventurers want you along. They probably heard rumor of a magically sealed tomb up in the Cairn Hills, or some kind of fancy trap that only a member of The Family can get them past. No, you do your job, Nob, and leave off killing any monsters. Yes, and come back to us alive and with your share of the treasure!"

"I got a question, Cousin. If I get a chance to pocket a few extra valuables - I mean without our employers knowing it - should I keep them?"

"That's a good question, Noblett." (Smiles and pats him on the back)  "I knew you were a clever lad!"