It’s another week, and this time we’re going to take a look at the Warden and Master progression for the Thief Discipline. As usual, I’m going to highlight some of the new talents. For a take that looks at some of the reasoning behind the choices made, you can see those over at Morgan’s blog.
It’s been said that any player character group worth its salt should have a plan to break out of jail, because at some point they are likely to find themselves in one. That’s part of the thinking behind the optional Warden talent Escape Plan. Finding themselves in prison, or other similar circumstances, the Thief spends some time in meditation to come up with a plan and makes a test against a Difficulty Number determined by the GM. Suggestions are provided on setting the DN, with guidelines like the average Circle of guards, distance needed to reach safety, locks and/or traps that need to be bypassed, that sort of thing. Based on the test result the Thief (and his companions helping him with the plan) gain a bonus to any non-combat tests made during their escape.
Astral Pocket (Circle 10 Discipline talent) is available to a couple of the magician Disciplines, but I didn’t address it in any of those previews. This talent allows the adept to–as the name says–make a pocket in astral space where they can keep things. This can be a handy way for a Thief to stash something they don’t want to have found on them, whether ill-gotten loot or a back-up weapon.
The Thief gets access to Alley Cat Approach as a Master option. I talked about this talent in the Scout preview. I just wanted to mention it because I still think the name is cool.
Snatch Talent allows the Thief to–temporarily–steal another adept’s talent. On its own, it doesn’t do much but deny the target access to a piece of their magic for a couple rounds. But when combined with some of the knacks we have planned… interesting possibilities arise.
Dream Thief goes one step further, allowing the Thief to (temporarily) steal memories. The potential here is limited by your imagination. Make a sentry forget he saw your companions sneak across the bridge. Perhaps reset a negotiation by making one side or the other (or both) forget what they agreed to. In addition to the serious amount of mind-effery, this talent also provides the option to provide penalties to mundane skills by having people forget their training (it explicitly cannot affect talents or spells).
All in all, the Thief is given some interesting new tools to help them achieve their larcenous ends.
Warden Talent Options: Acrobatic Defense, Anticipate Blow, Astral Sight, Echolocation, Escape Plan, Orbiting Spy, Perfect Focus, Resist Taunt, Tiger Spring, Wind Catcher
Ninth Circle
- Shadow Sight: The adept no longer suffers any penalties from darkness. This includes those resulting from magical effect like Ethereal Darkness. In addition, the adept’s Shadowcloak grants them greater insight to the dark. While Shadowcloak is active, the adept gains a +3 bonus to Awareness when darkness penalties would normally apply. This ability does not affect penalties brought about by blindness.
- Karma: The adept may spend a Karma Point on Recovery tests.
- Discipline Talent: Power Mask
Tenth Circle
- Defense: The adept adds +2 to their Social Defense.
- Recovery: The adept gains an additional Recovery test per day.
- Discipline Talent: Astral Pocket
Eleventh Circle
- Defense: The adept adds +1 to their Mystic Defense.
- Karma: The adept may add a Karma Point to a Damage test made against a target suffering a penalty to their Physical Defense.
- Discipline Talent: Chameleon
Twelfth Circle
- Defense: The adept adds +4 to their Physical Defense.
- Initiative: The adept adds +2 to their base Initiative Step.
- Discipline Talent: Beguiling Blade
Master Talent Options: Alley Cat Approach, Critical Hit, Defensive Posture, Disarming Smile, Fluid Movement, Netherwalk, Second Chance, Spirit Strike
Thirteenth Circle
- Shadowmeld: The adept’s Shadowcloak allows for unparalleled stealth. They take 4 Strain and make a Thief Weaving (6) test. If successful they meld with their Shadowcloak for one hour, becoming a two-dimensional silhouette that can easily slip through any cracks light could spill through. Each success on the test grants them a +2 bonus to Physical and Mystic Defense, as well as any action test to escape notice. While in this form they cannot interact with anything physical. Talents that provide their own tools (e.g., Lock Picking) may be used at gamemaster discretion. The adept may end the effect at any time.
- Defense: The adept adds +3 to their Social Defense.
- Karma: The adept increases their Karma +1 Step to a d8.
- Mystic Armor: The adept gains +1 Mystic Armor.
- Discipline Talent: Impossible Hide
Fourteenth Circle
- Defense: The adept adds +5 to their Physical Defense,
- Recovery: The adept gains 2 additional Recovery tests per day.
- Discipline Talent: Snatch Talent
Fifteenth Circle
- Defense: The adept adds +2 to their Mystic Defense.
- Initiative: The adept adds +3 to their base Initiative Step.
- Discipline Talent: Dream Thief