Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Delta" data-source="post: 3424062" data-attributes="member: 40269">I do think there's an intrinsic wierdness to the mechanics of the thief class. Recently been studying OD&amp;D rules -- of course original boxed set had fighter, cleric, wizard; thief only appeared in the first supplement, as kind of a new-mechanics experiment (as I see it). Prior to that, primary class functions were &quot;hit/defend in melee&quot; or &quot;fire off spell resource&quot;. Now you've got this new mechanic where you can try stuff outside of melee, that usually fails, that you're not directly opposed in, an unlimited number of times per day.The &quot;thief stuff&quot; is what fundamentally required the whole Skill system in 3E. I don't think D&amp;D has ever totally digested the difference in mechanics. Sometimes I imagine making all thief abilities auto-functioning (like saving throws or elf vs. secret door), or limited-resource based (like spells). Now I'm troubled with something like a tripwire over the 48th step in a stairwell... I think &quot;geez, to find that thief will need to be in the habit of searching every step through the dungeon, yuck&quot;. Although if you consider the OD&amp;D boxed set it was somewhat more palatable: your only option is to have a cleric turn on &quot;find traps&quot; which automatically works for a number of turns, so they just have to guess about the more dangerous part of the dungeon.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Delta, post: 3424062, member: 40269"] I do think there's an intrinsic wierdness to the mechanics of the thief class. Recently been studying OD&D rules -- of course original boxed set had fighter, cleric, wizard; thief only appeared in the first supplement, as kind of a new-mechanics experiment (as I see it). Prior to that, primary class functions were "hit/defend in melee" or "fire off spell resource". Now you've got this new mechanic where you can try stuff outside of melee, that usually fails, that you're not directly opposed in, an unlimited number of times per day. The "thief stuff" is what fundamentally required the whole Skill system in 3E. I don't think D&D has ever totally digested the difference in mechanics. Sometimes I imagine making all thief abilities auto-functioning (like saving throws or elf vs. secret door), or limited-resource based (like spells). Now I'm troubled with something like a tripwire over the 48th step in a stairwell... I think "geez, to find that thief will need to be in the habit of searching every step through the dungeon, yuck". Although if you consider the OD&D boxed set it was somewhat more palatable: your only option is to have a cleric turn on "find traps" which automatically works for a number of turns, so they just have to guess about the more dangerous part of the dungeon. [/QUOTE]

Verification