Thief-centered Campaign?

Ravenswing · December 04, 2014, 12:25:00 AM

Yep, certainly. Heck, my start as a gamewriter was working for Gamelords' Thieves' Guild series, back in the day.

And +1 to Tenbones, of course. The most frequently asked question I've fielded about the Thieves' Guild books is "Do you have to play a thief in order to play in the scenarios?" Of course not. You just have to play a character interested in stealing stuff. Your skill set doesn't matter worth a damn, except in so far as it's applicable to the job.

tenbones · December 04, 2014, 03:02:01 PM

Quote from: apparition13;802087Just a quick note, while RPGs (and fantasy novels) use guilds, the gang is more historically accurate, with one city containing several gangs, each of which would have control of a home neighborhood (in essence guilds would be neighborhood sized rather than city sized, with some larger and some smaller).

So rather than a city having A thieves guild, it would have several thieves guildS (gangs), which makes it easier for PCs to start a new one.

This is absolutely spot on. That's why as I envisioned it I'd create this fantasy-ideal, then break it.

That way you could see the innards and possibilities of such a campaign setting at various tiers and different permutations of each tier. But yeah - you start with individuals>gang>gangs>guild>Political Party/Ruling Class/Religion (heh kidding. Sort of.)

LordVreeg · December 04, 2014, 03:05:20 PM

Many popular playable factions are ties to the underworld without actually being part of the Thieve's Guild in Celtricia.
The Green Flame is a good example...

Guildschool Faction:

Area:Igbar
Name:The Green Flame
Affiliation with Larger: The Eye of Igbar is the parent guild. The Eye members are treated as seniors members. They all carry a small silver flask.

Membership style: Hidden membership. When pressed, members say they are part of the Alternative school of magic. They are allied with that group

% of starting membership: 40% Attrib bonus: IN (12/2) CD (10/.5)
Mission: To Support the Eye of Igbar and provide magical and alchemical backing for them.

Size: 28
History: The Green flame is currently the alchemic branch of the Eye, the local branch of the Thieve's guild centered in far-away Stenron. They Green Flame was actually an independent group of alchemists some 40 years before, squashed by Maf's Dark Brotherhood, and then reincarnated nine years ago by the Eye. They are partially thieves, but skilled makers, able to create poisons and potions and decent scrolls, as well as some minor magical item enchantments. They cannot teach all the spell types well, but have a decent assortment. The do well in Artificer, Fire and Water spell points.

Current leader: Hoorian Hagr Ventan, Male Gnomic, very old

Current situation: Not known. Friends with the alternative school, and some friends in the Steel Libram, but most of their direction comes from Varkonovitch Von Zap, the Current searing Eye of Igbar. They work to support the Eye and to provide the Eye with advantages

And this is just one example.

JongWK · December 05, 2014, 10:39:08 AM

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a guild member."

Phillip · December 07, 2014, 10:22:50 PM

With D&D, we played a fair bit of the Thieves Guild series, and used Thieves World as well.

I GMed some C&S that turned out to be all thieves and bravoes, no chivalry at all.

Phillip · December 07, 2014, 10:27:54 PM

Quote from: jibbajibba;802116Does inspire me to create a board game though. Imagine medieval city laid out like arkham horror. Players get a character card they draw mission cards to complete jobs for the guild and collect cards for equipment tricks and stunts etc. Give all the characters stats for stealth, parkour, combat and maybe a sprinkle of magic, fill the streets with guards and a deadline to gather as much loot as possible. Arkham assassin's creed on a board.... I would play the shit out of that......

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1571/sanctuary

Phillip · December 07, 2014, 10:35:15 PM

I noticed Gary Gygax's The Canting Crew a few years ago, but only glanced through it.

jibbajibba · December 07, 2014, 11:58:50 PM

Quote from: Phillip;803044http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1571/sanctuary

Yeah like that but better

I designed the rules on rooftop movement cycling into work and worked the map out in the shower.
I think it will be great.

Phillip · December 08, 2014, 12:10:53 AM

Quote from: jibbajibba;803062Yeah like that but better
I designed the rules on rooftop movement cycling into work and worked the map out in the shower.
I think it will be great.

Go man go! Not exactly a crowded field from what I can tell.

Bren · December 08, 2014, 09:16:41 AM

Quote from: jibbajibba;803062...and worked the map out in the shower.

Using water proof markers?

The Butcher · December 08, 2014, 11:40:40 AM

Quote from: JongWK;802392"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a guild member."

This is totally how I've played several Thieves' Guilds over my GMing career. :hatsoff:

RPGPundit · December 13, 2014, 02:30:52 AM

some good inspirational material in this thread!