Treasure lures many adventurers, but thieves most of all. Low-lives, burglars, footpads, bandits, cut-purses, skulks, robbers, highwaymen – these are all common names for those who follow the path of the thief. They are agile infiltrators and cunning specialists who use wits, skill, and subterfuge to best their enemies and extract wealth from the coffers of the rich and the tombs of the dead.
Of all adventuring classes, thieves are the most adept at exploring the dungeon and avoiding the traps and hazards that guard the treasure. Because they are so stealthy, they are often used as scouts to sneak through unknown tunnels and survey the path ahead, hoping to silently eliminate foes that threaten to raise the alarm and bring reinforcements that could spell disaster for the party.
Hit Dice: Bards gain +1d6 hit die per level.
Requirements:
Restrictions: Thieves can wield any single-handed weapon. They can wear only padded, leather, or studded leather armor. They cannot use shields.
Alignment: As one might expect, thieves are almost always chaotic or neutral, given the nature of their skills. Lawful thieves are indeed a rarity, though not entirely unheard of, as many thieves operate on code of ethics, and a thief who ends their life of crime retains the skills they learned in the shadows.
THIEF EXPERIENCE LEVEL TABLE
| Level | Title | XP | HD | Attack Bonus | Skill/Luck |
| 1 | Knave | 0 | 1d6 | +0 | +3 / 1d4 |
| 2 | Footpad | 2000 | 2d6 | +1 | +3 / 1d4 |
| 3 | Robber | 4000 | 3d6 | +1 | +4 / 1d6 |
| 4 | Scoundrel | 8000 | 4d6 | +2 | +4 / 1d6 |
| 5 | Cutpurse | 16,000 | 5d6 | +3 | +5 / 1d8 |
| 6 | Sharper | 32,000 | 6d6 | +3 | +5 / 1d8 |
| 7 | Pilferer | 64,000 | 7d6 | +4 | +6 / 1d10 |
| 8 | Burglar | 125,000 | 8d6 | +5 | +6 / 1d10 |
| 9 | Rogue | 250,000 | 9d6 | +5 | +7 / 1d12 |
| 10 | Master-Thief | 500,000 | 10d6 | +6 | +7 / 1d12 |
THIEF SAVING THROW TABLE
| Level | Death/Poison | Wand/Rod | Petrify/Poly | Dragon Breath | Spells/Staves |
| 1 | +3 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +1 |
| 2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +0 | +1 |
| 3 | +4 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +2 |
| 4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +2 |
| 5 | +5 | +4 | +5 | +2 | +3 |
| 6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +3 |
| 7 | +6 | +5 | +6 | +3 | +4 |
| 8 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +3 | +4 |
| 9 | +7 | +6 | +7 | +4 | +5 |
| 10 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +4 | +5 |
Special Features
Thief Skills: The thief adds their skill bonus to ability checks when climbing, listening for noises, finding or removing traps, sneaking or hiding, picking pockets, picking locks, pilfering items, disguising themselves, forging documents, or reading languages. Skill bonus starts as +3 at 1st level, increasing to +4 at 3rd, +5 at 5th, +6 at 7th, and +7 at 9th.
Backstab: If the thief sneak ups on a creature and attacks it from behind, add their skill bonus to the attack roll. A successful backstab inflicts double damage. Increase to triple damage at level 5, and quadruple damage at level 10.
Luck: Fortune favors the bold. Once per day, a thief can add their Luck Die to any ability check, saving throw, or damage roll. Luck starts at 1d4 at 1st level, increasing to 1d6 at 3rd, 1d8 at 5th, 1d10 at 7th, and 1d12 at 9th.
Thieves’ Cant: Thieves can speak a secret coded language called thieves’ cant that allows them to relay information to other thieves without revealing the true details to an eavesdropper. They can also read and write special symbols that only other thieves can read which denote useful information about an area, such as the presence of danger, traps, monsters, law enforcement, watchful folks, or wealthy rubes.
Scroll Use: If a thief is able to successfully use their ability to read languages on an arcane spell scroll, they may attempt to cast it as a level 1 magic-user, but with disadvantage on the spell check.
At 9th Level: If the thief controls a stronghold, they attract 5d6x10 knaves to serve as a ring of thieves.