This content requires the base game Fantasy Grounds on Steam in order to play.

## About This Content
## D&D Classics: Complete Thief’s Handbook

Hide in shadows, move silently, find traps, open locks -if you thought that
was all a thief was good for, think again. The masters of skulking and
skullduggery are a force to be reckoned with. Is anyone or anything safe from
a person who might be anywhere, anytime?

Learn the thief’s most closely guarded secrets in this devious accessory for
the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game.

Product History

PHBR2: The Complete Thief’s Handbook (1989) follows in the tradition of the
previously published Complete Fighter’s Handbook: These early supplements for
2nd edition AD&D provide a desperately needed distinction for low-option
character classes, introducing kits to help make mechanically similar
characters much more distinct in flavor and play style. While the series runs
into balance issues later in the run (The Complete Bard’s Handbook and the
Complete Book of Elves being notable examples), these early PHBRs are
generally excellent: solid mechanics, little if any power bloat, and some
interesting ideas.

Locking In Proficiencies. Before there were non-weapon proficiencies (first
introduced in a similar form in the 1st edition Oriental Adventures but
largely ignored otherwise), there were “secondary skills.” What’s a secondary
skill? Usually it was your pre-adventuring background. If you had been a
blacksmith, you could perform blacksmith-related tasks, with no other rules or
rolls required. By default rules in 2nd edition, AD&D non-weapon proficiencies
were optional. The PHBR series changed this.

Thief’s Handbook contains 20 new proficiencies, from Alertness to Fast-
Talking to Voice Mimicry. Some of these saw more play than others. You’d
seldom need Boating in a dungeon, for instance, but Observation was pretty
darn important. These new rules have the effect, intended or otherwise, of
narrowing a hero’s competency. Previously any AD &D hero could jump or lie or
spot things. Once proficiencies were implemented, that task became more
difficult for anyone who didn’t have the proficiency. Seldom-needed
proficiencies like Rope Use become incredibly important on those occasions
when you need to climb down a pit or tie up a villain, for instance.

Proficiencies in this book are categorized by the kit to which they applied.
If you want a proficiency but it isn’t listed as available for your thief’s
kit, you can gain it by spending a second proficiency slot. It’s worth arguing
that although proficiencies have some flaws in their implementation (as they
were highly ability-check based, a high strength made for a better blacksmith
than a low strength and decades of experience), they pave the way for
subsequent skill point systems that nowadays help define D&D.

Kit and Caboodle. Character kits help determine what sort of thief you’re
playing. There are 18 new kits introduced here, from Acrobat (echoing 1st
edition AD&D’s thief-acrobat class) to Scout to Thug. You can specialize in
thieving, ambushing, investigating, or (if you were a swashbuckler) swinging
on ropes and talking in an outrageous French accent. This book also re-
introduces the Assassin, a class that had been removed from 2nd edition AD&D
to improve its image; while the kit offers no chance to instantly kill a foe,
it does grant specialization in the use of poisons.

Some 2nd edition kits are notorious for balancing mechanical benefits with
roleplaying penalties, an approach that was not always successful, but there
are very few problems in the kits within this particular book: Game balance is
kept on a fairly even keel, with no egregious offenders.

Guilds, Tools and Rules. Subsequent chapters provide rules and descriptions
for thief aspects that don’t usually get much attention. Here, 36 pages are
given over to the thieves’ guild, detailing the benefits of joining and the
guild’s place in the campaign world. Another 17 pages cover tools – not just
tools that are useful for opening locks, but also for improving any of the
classic thief’s skills, such as grappling hooks for climbing walls and
camouflaged clothing for hiding. “The Joy of Sticks” even goes into detail on
blade poles, climbing poles, hooked poles, and mirror poles to look over
walls. The chapter ends with a handful of thief-related magic items.

Campaign Building. Guidelines give the DM advice on running an all-thief
campaign, as well as suggestions on how to thwart thieves in a D&D world.
There is discussion of deceptions and cons, and rules for building better
locks and using poison in the game. Overall, the latter half of the book gives
a solid grounding in the thief’s place within the world, allowing a DM to
model classic stories of thieves’ guilds in their game.

A Steal. This book is a must-have for anyone playing 2nd edition AD&D or who
wants to see the origin of many of the thief-related rules within modern D&D.
It’s solidly written, well-balanced, and consistently useful.

About the Creators. John Nephew is the president of Atlas Games; he got his
start in the gaming industry by writing articles for Dragon Magazine while he
was still in high school. His writing paid his way through college, and he
started Atlas Games in 1990 while he was still pursuing his BA.

Carl Sargent is a British author and game designer who started playing
Dungeons & Dragons in 1978. He worked primarily on Greyhawk while at TSR.

Douglas Niles is a novelist and designer who was one of the creators of the
Dragonlance world for TSR, and also the author of the first three Forgotten
Realms novels. He also wrote the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game.

Converted by: Mike Wilson

Released on April 26, 2019. Designed for Fantasy Grounds version 3.3.8 and
higher.

Requires: An active subscription or a one time purchase of a Fantasy Grounds
Full or Ultimate license and the included 2E ruleset as well as the D&D
Classics: Player’s Handbook (2E).

Fantasy Grounds – D&D Classics: Complete Thief’s Handbook