Thievery

Who doesn't like sneaking up on an unsuspecting foe, stabbing them in the back, and leaving them dead, naked, and penniless?

Paladins, probably, but they're uptight anyway.

Mmm. Can't you just taste that Skyrim flavor?

Battle is overrated, and so is direct confrontation. You’re a more direct sort of person; you know what you need and you know how to get it. A quick bit of sneaking, a cut purse or throat, and you’ve got what you need. Thievery is a talent branch designed for stealth, cunning, lock picking, pick pocketing, and more. If you want stealth and cunning, this is the branch for you.

Primary Stats: Dexterity

Bonus to Skill Checks: Appraise, Bluff, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Stealth, Streetwise, Thievery

Basic Abilities

Opening this talent tree grants you the following powers and abilities.

Lock Pick: You have the ability to pick locks. This is one of the abilities that will almost always have a DC. You will get a bonus to all lock pick checks and as you progress in Mastery you will get a better bonus and some locks might become automatic successes. Purchasing thieves’ tools will also increase your bonus to lock pick.

Pickpocket: It’s not always easy, but you can, with a bit of patience, skill, and luck, take small objects from people. It’s always better if the person can’t see you, but as you grow in your skill you’ll be able to do more and more. This is one of the abilities that will almost always have a DC. You will get a bonus to all pickpocket checks and as you progress in Mastery you will get a better bonus and some locks might become automatic successes.

Stealth: You’ve very, very sneaky. You gain bonuses to Stealth, and you will even eventually gain the ability to turn invisible, or to make others invisible. This won’t always have a DC, but there are times that it will.

Mastery: Mastery is a measure of your overall power and ability in a given talent branch. Each rank raises your ability a bit higher, and grants you greater power and access to more abilities further down the line. You must purchase each rank in order. Each rank is explained in detail below.

Rank 1: You’re slightly more difficult to find while you are stealthed. You are slightly more difficult to notice when you’re pickpocketing and you can lift slightly larger objects from people. You’re better at lock picking and, while you might not always be able to disable traps, you will likely see a trap before you try to pick a lock. 10 points.

Rank 2: You’re slightly more difficult to find while you are stealthed. You are slightly more difficult to notice when you’re pickpocketing and you can lift slightly larger objects from people. You’re better at lock picking and, while you might not always be able to disable traps, you will likely see a trap before you try to pick a lock. In addition, you gain a bonus to damage done with back stab and deadly aim. 20 points.

Rank 3: You’re more difficult to find while you are stealthed. You’re more difficult to notice when you’re pickpocketing and you can lift larger objects from people. You’re better at lock picking and can easily pick most basic locks. In addition, you have a chance to vanish from in front of people for a short time. If you’re successful, you can remain stealthed and invisible for a while. You gain a +2 to Dexterity. 30 points.

Rank 4: You’re much more difficult to find while you are stealthed. You’re much more difficult to notice when you’re pickpocketing and you can lift much larger objects from people. You’re much better at lock picking and can easily pick most basic locks and you will almost always notice a trap before you attempt to pick a lock. Most times you will be able to disarm the trap. In addition, you can now back stab using two-handed weapons. 40 points.

Rank 5: You’re much more difficult to find while you are stealthed. You’re much more difficult to notice when you’re pickpocketing and you can lift much larger objects from people. You’re much better at lock picking and can easily pick most basic locks and you will almost always notice a trap before you attempt to pick a lock. In addition, you can make a small group of people more difficult to detect while they are sneaking and your damage from back stab and deadly aim are greatly increased. You gain a +3 bonus to Dexterity. 50 points.

Thievery Branch Abilities

Muffled Movement: You can move and do things without making a sound. You can also make other people and things silent, though this is limited to a small number and for a short time. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 10 points.

Light Fingers: Your ability to pickpocket is greatly increased. You can almost always snag very small objects off most people without them noticing, even if you’re talking to them directly. This is the equivalent of those things you see in movies and on TV where someone “bumps” into someone else and then has their wallet, or where a magician is talking to someone and then has their watch. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Cutpurse: What does it matter who earned the coin? So long as it’s in your hand, it’s yours to spend, right? You are incredibly skilled at taking coins and cutting coin purses. You are almost undetectable when you do it. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Trap Sense: You always know when a lock is trapped, and you can sense where there are other sorts of traps almost anywhere. You will almost always be able to disarm a trap that is tied to a lock, and you’ll have a very good chance of disarming a trap that isn’t. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 20 points.

Disarm: You’re so skilled at pickpocketing and misdirection that you can actually knock a weapon from an enemy’s hand, or, if you’re very lucky, take it directly from them. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 10 points.

Wax Key: You can now make a wax replica key of locks that you pick, so that you can open similar locks later automatically. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 25 points.

Light Foot: You walk very carefully, and you won’t trigger things such as pit traps, or pressure plates that would trigger a trap. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 15 points.

Quick Hands: You’re exceedingly good at being stealthy, pickpocketing and picking locks, so you don’t lose your stealth or invisibility while doing them. This doesn’t mean that you will be successful at picking the lock, but failing won’t break your stealth. Failing a pick pocket will break stealth. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 20 points.

Rice Paper Step: You can run at full speed and it won’t break your stealth or affect being detected. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 25 points.

Vanish: You can simply disappear and turn invisible. You can’t do this terribly often, and there will sometimes be things that can see you, but it is highly effective. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 35 points.  

Shadow Share: You can use all your stealth abilities on other people and groups of people. Requires Mastery Rank 5 and 50 points.