CHARACTER CREATION CHALLENGE 2023: B/X D&D (6 of 6)
In our previous episode, Dwarven Veteran Hammara Ironaxe joined the party. Her companions are Halfling Veteran Brandic Bitterbow, Veteran-Medium Greenbriar, Acolyte Mary the Mace, and Medium Mildred of the Violet Robes. The party wants one more companion to venture into their next quest for gold and gems.
BX Character Creation Summary
Step 1: Time once again to roll 3d6 in order.
STR: 11 - OK.
INT: 8 - Not super bright, but not terrible.
WIS: 14 - Nice, above average.
DEX: 15 - Very nice.
CON: 17 - EXCELLENT.
CHA: 12 - Decent.
Step 2: Ok, so, our party so far lacks a Fighter, and a Thief. We do have characters who can fulfill both those roles to some extent, with the Fighter role handily covered by Hammara, Greenbriar and Brandic backed up by Mary the Mace. Brandic’s hiding skills are superior to any 1st Level Thief, but no other party member has any of the other abilities of a Thief. So I suppose that’s what we need.
As a Thief, this new PC will have the following abilities:
Backstab, +4 to hit, double damage.
Thief Skills.
At 1st Level, the Thief Skills are pretty miserly, save for Climb Walls. 15% to Open Locks, 10% to Find or Remove Traps, 20% to Pick Pockets, 20% to Move Silently, 87% to Climb Sheer Surfaces, 10% to Hide in Shadows, and finally Hear Noise on 1-2 on a d6.
Step 3: Hmm. We’re going to drop Strength and Wisdom to 9 and 10, respectively, so we can bump Dexterity to a “perfect” 18. This will give our Thief a much-needed Armor Class bonus, a bonus to ranged attacks, and a 10% bonus to earned experience.
Step 4: A d4 for HP yields a roll of 4 - couldn’t ask for more. But the 17 CON adds 2 HP, for a total of 6. Our Thief now has the most HP in the party.
Step 5: 90gp on the roll. We know we have to spend 25gp on Thieve’s Tools. Leather armor and a sword costs another 30. A short bow and Quiver another 30. That leaves only 5gp, which we’ll spend on a backpack.
Step 6: AC is 7 for Leather Armor with a bonus of 3 from the 18 DEX, giving a final AC of 4. One of the best in the party. But still not enough to get cocky. To-Hit is the basic 19 against AC 0, but adjusts to 16 when DEX is taken into account for ranged combat. Our Thief is DEADLY with a bow. Saving Throws are quite a bit less impressive than our Dwarf and Halfling, with numbers ranging between 13 and 16, with the best saves being against Death Ray/Poison and Paralysis/Turn to Stone and the worst being against Dragon Breath.
Step 7: Our human Thief is (odd=male) Robin. Robin Everyman. Which is hopefully what he will do.
Basic D&D Thieves are a frustrating class. Their abilities are woefully unreliable at 1st Level, but they do level faster than any other class at first. Backstab could be amazing or highly rare depending on how the DM adjudicates striking unnoticed. I’ve played with DMs that required a successful Hide in Shadows and Move Silently to set up a Backstab - which is mostly impossible with such low success chances. Other DMs just required a well-planned approach, which made Backstab a lot more useful and less uncommon. This character is lucky to have a 17 CON to help offset the d4 HD. The 18 DEX will make this character’s ranged attacks quite accurate, and also helps the weak Armor Class immensely. Without these stat bonuses, Thieves were sometimes a class eschewed by most players, yet needed by most parties. I think the dice luck for Robin here might make him a very useful character despite the low Thief Skills until he can get some levels under his belt.
Oh, I rolled Lawful for his alignment. How does one play a Lawful Thief? Either as a treasure hunter/tomb raider, or perhaps there is a formal Thieves' Guild, where the law of the setting allows for thievery if practiced within legal strictures.
