High Experience Levels and Spell Damage Here's one final but very important note about high level magic-users: Any damage-causing spell can produce a maximum of 20 dice of damage (of whatever type is applicable). Therefore, a 16th level magic-user casting a fireball spell can deal out 16d6 points of damage, but a 27th level caster only inflicts the maximum of 20d6 points of damage.
Thief Prime Requisite: Dexterity.
Experience Bonus: 5% for Dexterity 1315, 10% for Dexterity 16-18. Hit Dice: 1d4 per level up to 9th level. Starting with 10th level, +2 hit points per level, and Constitution adjustments no longer apply. Maximum Level: 36. Armor: Leather armor only; shield not permitted. Weapons: Any missile weapon; any onehanded melee weapon.
Special Abilities: At 1st level—Open Locks, Find Traps, Remove Traps, Climb Walls, Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, Pick Pockets, Hear Noise, and Backstab; at 4th level—Read any normal language 80%; at 10th level—cast magic-user spells from scrolls (10% chance of backfire). For the chances of success for these abilities, see "Special Abilities" below.
A thief is a human who specializes in stealth, lockpicking, trap removing, and other such activities. As the name indicates, however, most characters belonging to the thief class do steal. (They rarely steal from their friends or members of their own groups, however. A thief who steals from friends is usually not permitted to adventure with them ever again!) Thieves belong to an organization (sometimes called a Guild). Every town has a building, called the Guild Hall, where thieves may live and eat (for a price, of course). Every thief learns "the Arts" (a thief's unique skills; see "Special Abilities," below) from teachers at the Guild. Thieves are a normal part of life in most campaign worlds because of their unique and useful skills, but they are not usually welcome in the better pans of towns. The thief's job is to use his special abilities where needed. A thief's skills can be very useful, and they can be used over and over. For example, a magic-user may use a spell to open a lock, but the spell only works once; a thief may try to open locks whenever desired. Consequently, thieves are found in most groups of adventurers. Most thieves have high Dexterity scores. Since this can improve their ability to use missile weapons, most thieves use one or more types of missiles. The thief will also find it useful to have a sword or dagger in situations where he can't avoid close combat. Thieves may advance to 36th level.
Class Details Prime Requisite: A thief's prime requisite is Dexterity. If a thief has a Dexterity score of 13-
15, he gains a 5% bonus to experience points earned in every adventure; if his Dexterity is 1618, the bonus is 10%. Hit Dice: Roll a 4-sided die (1d4) to determine a thief's hit points. A thief starts with 1d4 (1-4) hit points (plus Constitution bonus, if any) and gains 1d4 more hit points (plus bonus) with each level of experience. Two additional hit points are gained for each level after 9th level. Armor: A thief may only wear leather armor, and may not use a shield. Weapons: A thief may use any missile weapon, and any other weapon usable with one hand (two-handed weapons are prohibited).
Special Abilities Thieves have numerous special abilities. They receive some of them at 1st experience level, when they begin play, and receive others as they gain experience levels. At 1st experience level, thieves know the following skills: Open Locks, Find and Remove Traps, Climb Walls, Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, Pick Pockets, and Hear Noise. They also learn the skill of Backstabbing. The Thief Special Abilities Table shows the development of many of the thief's special abilities. The column on the left is the thief's experience level; cross-reference his level with the skill he is trying to use. For instance, a 6th level thief using his Climb Walls skill has a 92% chance. Each number on the table above is the percentage chance that the thief is successful in using that special ability. Tell the Dungeon Master
whenever you want your thief to use a special
ability; at the DM's discretion, either the player or the DM will roll percentile dice (d%). If the result is equal to or less than the percentage given, the thief's attempt is successful.
Descriptions of the Special Abilities Open Locks (OL): With successful use of this special ability, and with professional lockpicks (often called "thieves' tools"), the thief may open locks. The character may try to use this skill only once per lock. The thief may not try again with that particular lock until he gains another level of experience. Without lockpicks, he may not use this ability. Find Traps (FT): With successful use of this special ability, the thief may examine a room or an object and determine whether it is rigged with traps. He may check only once per trap, and failure prevents the character from finding any trap in or on the object searched. (Since the DM actually does the rolling, the player doesn't know how many traps he's rolling to find.) If the thief finds a trap, he may use his Remove Traps ability to remove or deactivate it. Remove Traps (RT): With successful use of this special ability, the thief may remove or deactivate a trap. He may not roll this ability against a trap unless the trap has been found. The thief may try his ability only once per trap; failure to remove a trap triggers the trap. Climb Walls (CW): With successful use of this special ability, the thief can climb steep surfaces, such as sheer cliffs, walls, and so forth. The chances for success are good, but if failed, the