Thieves World

Equipment

Every week new caravans come into the city and ships dock at the seaport. This ensures that there is a constant supply of new people and plenty of new things to buy. For basic equipment I've found that using Arura's Realm Catalog really adds a little extra something. The Bazaar is filled with people selling neither everything, however to get something of value one needs to know who to ask and how to approach them. Things of real value are rarely kept out in the open for fear of theft. So, when a character wants to hunt through the bazaar to find something I require a Gather Information skill check. This represents a few hours of looking around and asking people the right questions. The DC is usually 20+ depending on what I determine the rarity of the item is. Now, just because the character finds the info doesn't mean it's accurate. He could be being set up for a robbery or even worse. I don't suggest using that too often, and I prefer using something like that after the characters have made some enemies.

It is very possible that the characters will score a big hit and get a lot of money. They will want to spend it one better weapon. Finding magical weapons can be done, but only the Wizards guild really has the resources to keep and identify magical items. More on magic later. In the bazaar one can find many different grades of weapons.

Shoddy weapons (detailed in Heroes of High Favor: Half Orcs): These are the common weapons people have because they are cheap. A roll of a natural 1 or even a natural 1-4 depending on just how bad the weapon is, the weapon breaks.

Normal: as the PHB

Masterwork: as the PHB

Carrone steel: Carrone is the best steel on the planet. It offers +1 to attack and +2 damage. The Harness is 12 and has 20 hp per inch of thickness. It's very rare, hard to make (craft of MW part DC 25) and cost +750gp

Enlibar Steel: This is legendary steel that cannot be made anymore, as the secret has been lost. There are still weapons made of it that can be found and purchased. Enlibar Steel has a Hardness of 30, 50 hp per inch of thickness, and weapons need to be made of Enlibar Steel or have and enchantment bonus of +4 or higher to harm the weapon. These weapons cost in the thousands and any weapon made of them get +3 to attack, and +3 Damage.

I also insert special weapons and armor made from special materials. There are some good ones in Magic of Faurun, Spells and Spellcraft, as well as a few other sources I can't recall.

For general equipment I offer the usual stuff, plus shoddy and superior version. Shoddy usually costs about half and gives a -2 circumstance bonus, and the superior items are usually double or more and add +2 or higher circumstance bonus. Basically those are MW items.

Magical items are tough to come by in Sanctuary. I allow Stulwig to be able to produce almost any type of alchemical item (there are some great ones in the Dragon Magazines, Spells and Spellcraft, and many other books) and some potions. These are expensive, and Stulwig knows he can charge high prices because no one else can do what he does. In the Bazaar one can find all sorts of so-called magical item. I do have many trinkets that are one use and do provide a small bonus to a roll. Basically a one use luck charm. As always buyer beware. If one is serious about getting magical items the best people to contact are the Wizards Guild and Enas Yorl. The guild will have a good amount of mage-oriented items like scrolls and wands. They might be able to enchant or get something else, but that will take some role-playing. The guild will charge a good amount of money as well as probably ask for a favor in return. Enas Yorl is another matter entirely. One first has to get in to see him, and then convince him to deal with you. He could ask potential anything from the characters. Always a risk, but always a great role-playing opportunity.

I have all permanent magical items unique. There are no sword+1 or other bland magical items. Relics and Rituals 1 & 2 both have some great weapons with a rich history that can easily be altered to fit here. I also give them all complete descriptions to set them apart from normal items and other magical ones. Magical items are beyond rare, so it's not a lot of extra work to do this.

Now, if a character wants to craft magical items I'd encourage this. It's expensive and will really add richness to the game. Many people would sell their children (literally) to get magical items. So, it's a great way to make a name for your self as well as plenty of enemies.

Place holder for my Charisma essay. I'll also being going back through the above and reposting it all after some heavy revision. Sorry about the bad quality.

About races. . . What about that one guy Niko, wasn't he from some islands elsewhere? Or did he only train there? What about Beysibs? Also will you differentiate between the 3 basic types of Beysib (royal, and the 2 clans)?

PrCs - Harka Bey, that fate type wizard with the star insignia which I forget the name of, Nisi Witch . . .

Dragongirl said:

About races. . . What about that one guy Niko, wasn't he from some islands elsewhere? Or did he only train there? What about Beysibs? Also will you differentiate between the 3 basic types of Beysib (royal, and the 2 clans)?

PrCs - Harka Bey, that fate type wizard with the star insignia which I forget the name of, Nisi Witch . . .

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Nikodemus is from a land that is there but is not. They seem to have a caste or trining that everyone participates in, he is of the warrior persuation of course. Not much is written about the palce or it's poeple, heck I have no idea were on the darn map it is supposed to be.

Beysibs are a race that I'm not sure I'm going to mess with. They come in and conquore Sanctuary and there were a lot of details about them that seemed badly done. It was like they came in and were more powerful then everyone else. They were better fighters, had weapons equal to if not better the Enlibar Steel, and had those posionous snakes.

The Nisibisi Witch will be a prestige class, as they are nasty and evil women. They enjoy sacrificing and other not so nice methods of increasing their power.

Attributes and Skills

Many people have a defiant opinion on stats and what is useful in the average fantasy game. For whatever reason Dexterity is the stat of choice and Charisma is the dump stat. In the city of Sanctuary many stats have different uses then many see.

Strength: Strength is well respected in the city of Sanctuary. Fights are a daily part of the city, and a strong, tough person can easily make a reputation on this. Also, in the narrow alleys and snake like roads there is little room for ranged combat. Most of the fights happen toe to toe unless one side as enough time to set up an ambush.

Dexterity: Being fast and agile is an advantage in Sanctuary. Most people do not wear armor, so they really on dexterity to keep themselves from getting injured. Many times the first strike can end a battle before the opponent has a chance to react.

Constitution: The simple answer for this stat is more hit points will allow you to live longer. However, one area that most other games don’t touch on is disease. Sanctuary is a dirty place with filth and urine thrown out into the streets daily. Yes, there are sewers, but they aren’t everywhere, they aren’t in the best conditions, and people are lazy and don’t always walk to dump their refuse into them. Also, poison is a hobby practiced by many people.

Intelligence: Many smart people realize they need to leave Sanctuary fast. However, the few that stay can take advantage of the rather dim wittedness of the common man. The bonuses in skill points are also very important. Sanctuary is a more skill driven game because of the many chances to use a wide range of skills.

Wisdom: People are attacked and ambushed if they aren’t paying attention. Wisdom is the key stat for both spot and listen. Will saves are also the weakness of many characters, and a good wisdom will help counter this.

Charisma: People with a low charisma are more likely to be attacked. Charisma is force and strength of presence, and many people in sanctuary will prey those that seem weak. Also, people with high charisma will more then likely be able to talk to important people or get better deals at the Bazaar.

Skills are also very important. Most people have jobs or at least daily activities like picking pockets or fencing that all require the use of skills. The ability to not be seen or to be noticing those trying not to be seen can be the difference between life and death. Getting around all the buildings is always important and skills like Balance, Climb, and Jump will help with that. Socializing is very important with bartering in the Bazaar, dealing with One Thumb in the Vulgar Unicorn, or even attempting to gain favor with one of the Mage Guild. I also suggest using the many new uses for old skills that appear in many books. The Quintessential Rogue is very useful for this as all the new uses fit very well with Sanctuary.

Okay, as of now I have five different sections/essays: Races, Classes, Trust, Equipment, skills and abilities.

If anyone happens to find a new race or orghanization that should becoome a prestige class, please post them and I'll add them to the lists. Also, I edited most of the above topics adding more info as well as fixing dumb errors.

Interesting conversion ideas

Interesting Conversion Ideas

Jubal, Niko, ShadowSpawn, Roxane, and Tempus are probably all epic level characters.

The Book of Vile Darkness could come in handy for a Thieves World campaign. In particular, the section on possession would apply to the Nisi witches like Roxane. Bestow Greater Curse and some of the other high level black magic spells, etc. Also, the various costs for spells is very much in keeping with Sanctuary spells. Likewise, the poisons and drugs that are used in Sanctuary.

With regards to the Prestige classes (stepsons, hawkmasks, commandos, etc.), I agree that those are the organizations that would have prestige classes.

I would probably make "Assassin" a core class instead of a prestige class. Assassins are all over the place in Sanctuary.

Rankan would probably be the equivalent of Common, with all characters knowing how to speak it (no matter what race).

I'd be interested to hear how your characters are going to work together. Will they all be a part of the same organization (Stepsons, etc.) or will they just meet in the Vulgar Unicorn? Will they have similar alignments and goals, or be scattered all over the place?

Tom

Re: Interesting conversion ideas

Endur said:

Interesting Conversion Ideas

Jubal, Niko, ShadowSpawn, Roxane, and Tempus are probably all epic level characters.

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Jubal and Niko might not be, but the other three are. I'm not sure if I'm going to do NPC write-ups. They are hard to do since the books give so little concrete information. I do have the Personalities of Sanctuary which has write ups for them in first edition, but so much has changed since then it will be much more difficult to do. However, people seem to want them, so I may cave in on this.

The Book of Vile Darkness could come in handy for a Thieves World campaign. In particular, the section on possession would apply to the Nisi witches like Roxane. Bestow Greater Curse and some of the other high level black magic spells, etc. Also, the various costs for spells is very much in keeping with Sanctuary spells. Likewise, the poisons and drugs that are used in Sanctuary.

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Ya, much of this book will be considered core rules. The demons are the only part that won't be used. The torture devices will be great for Kurd and I'm sure Jubal has a few people with this ability. Diseases are also going to be used because Sanctuary is a filthy place.

With regards to the Prestige classes (stepsons, hawkmasks, commandos, etc.), I agree that those are the organizations that would have prestige classes.

I would probably make "Assassin" a core class instead of a prestige class. Assassins are all over the place in Sanctuary.

Rankan would probably be the equivalent of Common, with all characters knowing how to speak it (no matter what race).

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There are lots of organizations and may will be difficult to make prestige classes, but I'm going to try. Assassin as a core class should be okay. Green Ronin has an Assassin's Handbook that I'm going to look into for that. I also have an Assassin prestige class that removes the magical abilities of the DMG Assassin and adds in some more mundane abilities.

I'm using Ilsig as the base language, but most people will speak both. Ilsigs seem to be the most numerous in the city as a whole, yet in the Palace and the Temple district Rankan and Imperial Rankan will be the normal languages.

I'd be interested to hear how your characters are going to work together. Will they all be a part of the same organization (Stepsons, etc.) or will they just meet in the Vulgar Unicorn? Will they have similar alignments and goals, or be scattered all over the place?

Tom

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How the party gets together will depend on what people want to play. Then I'll sit down with all of them and get them al together. The last game I played in had four characters: Ilsig fighter/rogue, Corrone fighter, S’Danzo Sorcerer, and an Ilsig Rogue. Through background development we had the Corrone escaping from Corrone. He bought passage on a pirate ship the Ilsig Fighter thief was a slave on. During the journey they became friends and in Sanctuary the Corrone helped the Ilsig escape into Downwind. Then while the two of them were in the Bazaar they saw the S’Danzo getting beat up by other S'Danzo and the two rescued him. Finally, the Ilsig Rogue was helped out of a incident with the guards. This built trust and made it so they had a reason to stay together. I do a lot with background stories and it really helps to get characters together.

I prefer relatively good or neutral alignments. I do not allow party infighting or stealing from each other, as that does not promote fun around the gaming table. Their goals are usually survive for a while and to get on top of their current situation.

Thanks for the comments and questions; any others please post!!

Different Sections of Sanctuary

The people who live there divide the city of Sanctuary into many different areas. Each section has it’s own feel and it’s own twist on the laws and enforcing them. The different areas are the Maze, the Bazaar, the Street of Red Lanterns, Downwind, Westside, the Processional, the Jewelers Quarters, the Docks, the Palace, the Avenue of Temples, and the outskirts, which includes the few farms and some of the outlining Noble houses.

Downwind: This part of Sanctuary is filled with the poorest of the poor. There are few true buildings here; most are make shift tents and lean-tos. The best none building in Momma Leoni’s, a two story bar, the only true business this side of the White Foal River. While many thieves live here, few people are robbed here as no one has anything to steal. Downwind is not just filled with the outcast and thieves of Sanctuary. There are many families force to live here because they have nowhere else to go. Many commute to the real city to work. Some comb the beach for driftwood and other valuables that may wash up from time to time. There are many gangs who claim different areas of Downwind. They are mostly allowed to do as they please because Jubal, the guards, and other people of power really don’t care what goes on here. Aside from the random crime, the biggest threat to Downwinders are fires. Fires will devastate much of Downwind before it’s contained if it is at all. The temporary houses are very flammable, and while the more stable clay houses don’t burn they do get really hot and trap people in what basically becomes an oven. It’s called Downwind, because this is the way the wind blows from the smelly West Side.

The West Side: This is a section of poor people and certain businesses. This part of town is where all the perfumers, tanners, glue makers and other businesses that produce foul smells. The West Side is trashiest on the western end and around the maze. The area near the Processional is rather nice. This is where Downwinders dream of living one day as it’s usually the next step up for them. The housing is the cheapest in the city proper, but it is all permanent housing and some even have doors and windows. Guards actually do some patrolling here, but crime is still pretty high. Fires are less dangerous here as a more organized effort will be put forth to put the fire out. The most well known place is Stulwig’s Apothecary.

The Bazaar: This is the busiest place in Sanctuary open from sun up till sun down. While many of the S’Danzo live here in the permanent building by the walls, most people come in every morning and set up their tents and booths. All sort of thing can be found here to purchase from foods to jewelry to weapons, to day-to-day equipment to even livestock. There are no set prices on anything as everything is haggled for and prices are determined by who is buying, who is selling, and many other intangible factors. Pickpockets are the biggest threat to one self here, as there are always guards and others watching out for trouble. This is the one place that the truly rich and truly poor come and can be seen together.

Street of Red Lanterns: This place sells what the Bazaar does not. The small section is home to the brothels, moneylenders, pawnshops, and gambling halls. There are also some small merchants who have some of the more interesting things to sell here and there. The street is well patrolled during the day, but the guards don’t come here much in the evening so it’s a great meeting place. Myrtis, owner of the Aphrodisia House is the unofficial mayor of this section, as all the other business owners look to her for advice and also organizing them in times of trouble.

The Processional: This is the middle class district. Most of the buildings are two story and people live on top of their shops. All the buildings here have doors and widows as well as good, solid locks. The guards patrol here frequently, but crime is still a problem. There are many typical shops and stores, inns and taverns in this district.

The Jewelers Quarters: This is the rich side of town. All the buildings are very nice, and the streets are basically clean. This place is heavily patrolled and many of the locals have their own personal guards as well. People who are poorly dressed and loiterers are not allowed in this section of town. This is where the Mage Guild is located as well as many of the most notable businessmen.

Temple District: This is the area where all the temples are and all the priests live. There are always guards around as this small section is easily to patrol with a few people. The riff raff is usually not allowed here, except on Godsday when they can come and beg for alms.

Palace District: The only way here is past many armed guards and they do not let everyone in. On certain days the place is opened to take petitions from the commoners, and on those days there are scores of guards out and about.

Maze: Only the brave, foolish, or skilled enter this place. The only guards that come in do so in numbers greater then six, and still only in the bright light of day. The streets are all small and dark. There are over hangings and tunnels that cast shadows everywhere. Dead bodies are left out in the street and the worst crimes go on in the wide open. This is a place for the thieves and the people they associate with. Every man is for himself here and might makes right is the only law. Hawkmasks frequent this area the most. The Vulgar Unicorn can be found somewhere in here.

The Docks: This is the place for the fishermen. Most of them live in fisherman’s row. They all know each other and are not nice to outsiders. An outsider is anyone not in the fishing business. They are a tight group, and look out for each other. They provide much of the food for the city; so most people leave them alone.

Outskirts: The lands around Sanctuary are either farmland slowly being taken over by the desert or the once great noble houses. The farmland has been over farmed for decades and unless a miracle or highly competent farmer starts taking care of the land it will all be gone. The noble houses are a mixed lot. Some are abandoned and thought to be haunted, others are lived in by actual nobles, and one is Jubal’s estate. It’s best to know who lives in the one you are visiting before going up to the door.

More on races

It seems that there a rea few races lumped together as Sailing Peoples. It list the lands of Coronne, Cleea, and Banmalt as examples of lands overseas. However, according to the map Caronne is on the same land mass, and the only other places not on that contient are The Cold Lands, Scavengers Island (which really need to define as it is very important), Visala Islands, and the Lost Land.

That info is from the Players Guide to Sanctuary(an RPG suppliment) in case people are wondering.