Design Notes
Our rolls for stats gave us a 13, 14, 9, 15, 14, and 15. Aside from that low Wisdom, it is a solid stat line, but to make this thief, I dropped Strength by 4 points to raise Dexterity by 2 resulting in 9, 14, 9, 17, 14, and 15. There is some background information from the Darokin Gazetteer, but no additional special rules beyond what we covered from the Rules Cyclopedia in the overview. There is a special Merchant Class, similar to the Minrothad Merchant-Prince Class, but Sharvon hasn’t available himself of it yet – maybe once he learns the mysteries of Darokin’s certified letters of credit.
Coming from Darokin, and with good Intelligence and Charisma, I decided to lean into the Darokinian reputation as diplomats and design Sharvon around that idea rather than just a classic cutpurse thief. Specifically, I took the skills of Deception and Persuasion to go with the Knowledge of Overland Trading Routes and Quick Draw skills to begin. He did start to pick up Detect Deception, but he isn’t very good with it.
For his weapon specializations, he started with Short Sword and Light Crossbow, and has really focused on that crossbow since they need as much missile weapon support as possible raising it to Expert. Linguistically, I gave him a smattering of languages to reflect Darokin’s central overland trading experience after the Darokinian, Chaotic Alignment Tongue and Thyatian by adding Atruaghin and Ylari.
Optional D &D Rules Notes
As a Thief, Sharvon only started with 2 Weapon Specializations and has raised his crossbow to Expert which is where it starts to get much more difficult to advance.
Weapon Specializations
- Light Crossbow – Expert
Sharvon now does 1d6+4 with the Light Crossbow enjoying an additional +4 versus opponents using a hand-held weapon but only +2 against opponents using a missile weapon or monstrous features like claws. The first two missile or monsterous weapon attacks against him are made while he receives a -2 bonus to his Armor Class and he can stun opponents at Short Range. Short Range, by the by, is now out to 75 feet with his level of skill.
Thief Abilities
The Thief Abilities are not directly tied to any attributes in Basic. Instead, there is a chart with the level of the thief and the percentage chance of success. This is one place where many tables have made house rules to provide greater chances of success such as using existing skill descriptions and chances to replace the book’s chance of success.
- Open Locks – 45%
- Find Traps – 40%
- Remove Traps – 38%
- Climb Walls – 93%
- Move Silently – 48%
- Hide in Shadows – 35%
- Pick Pockets – 50%
- Hear Noise – 58%
Using the optional rules for General Skills, we could replace this list with a list of General Skills that come with the class, as well as several that wouldn’t be available to non-Thief’s. This would dramatically increase a Thief’s efficacy because the Dex of 17 would give us an 85% chance of success for any dexterity based skills.
Additionally, Sharvon has an 80% chance to be able to read any non-magical language and the backstab ability. If able to strike completely unaware, the backstab ability confers a +4 to hit and automatically does double damage.
Character Notes
Growing up in Darokin can be an exciting time! Darokin is the power on the rise, or was before the warm that had found a way to truly thrive. You see, the civilized areas of Darokin are very civilized as the rich merchants gladly pay for the services needed to keep them up while the wilderness is …. Very wild. For a talented young boy like Sharvon, trying to find a way into the graces of a Merchant House and finding a fortune to be welcomed into the ruling class was quickly life’s goal. Skiff only comes with skiff.
Apprenticed to a trading company, Sharvon began to learn the ways of Darokin traders which include not only maps and navigations, but some of the hints from the Darokin Diplomatic Corps – the greatest negotiators in the Known World. One problem arose for Sharvon, his boss hated him. It is hard to get ahead and earn a fortune when you are constantly given the jobs nobody wants with almost no chance for advancement. There aren’t nobles in Darokin, really, only the wealthy, and without a chance to strike it rich, Sharvon was trapped and his dreams stymied.
About this time is when he met Bors, a cleric who acted more than a little differently than the other clerics he had met. As a cleric of Korotiku, Bors encouraged Sharvon to show the flaws in his boss’s plans and overall stuffiness. Unsurprisingly, Sharvon was fired and told never to return to that Trading Company. That moment, though, helped him see where he could really make this life his own. He and Bors began travelling together, offering their services in an itinerant manner to towns and individual caravans.
About this time, they came upon Allyn trying to manage an overland route for trading success. Can you imagine that?! A Minrothad sailor trying to take a caravan through Darokin! Nevermind the Ork, Dwarf, and Sindhi magic-user with him. Those flashy and ostentatious ornamentation of the Minrothad Isles just don’t go over well to understated Darokinians, even the Elite of the Republic. Well, Sharvon knew he could make some coin by helping and thought it would be a fun to poke at the eyes of the trading companies who kept him on the outside. Gold is gold after all, and this was a way to get more of it.
He has found himself enjoying the company of the crew of the Callie’s Song, if not the actual sailing. He and Allyn make a truly fearsome pair as merchants between their knowledges of the trade, ports, bargaining, and desire to make more wealth. The one danger, as always, is that neither is good at looking before they leap. Sometimes this can get them into trouble, like with the Master of Hule and Hatim’s de facto exile but there is hope to be had and gold to be earned yet! Sharvon has begun to consider petitioning to join the Merchant’s Guild and see if he and Allyn can reach an arrangement to split profits and perhaps begin a true trading powerhouse coupling the seaworthy trading of the Minrothad Guilds with Darokin’s superb caravanning abilities.
Callie’s Song Overview Here.
Fillable Sheet from Left Rachael Strange Sock available at Pandius.com
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12/05/17
Guard-a-manger
Iona Stone
J Samuel Diehl
Zendead