Skill | Thievery (Dexterity)

Thievery reflects your skill at bypassing locks, disabling traps, and stealing through mechanical expertise and careful precision. This is the art of illicit manipulation—defeating security measures, rifling through pockets without being caught, and making unauthorized access appear effortless.

Unlike Sleight of Hand, which focuses on distraction and subtle misdirection in social or casual settings, Thievery covers technical, risky, and often illegal interference with locks, traps, and guarded property.

When You Use It:
Thievery applies when:

• Picking locks on doors, chests, or other secured objects

• Disabling mechanical traps and security devices

• Stealing directly from targets or guarded locations (e.g., cutting purses or stealing keys)

• Manipulating magical wards that include physical components (GM discretion)

• Handling complex or dangerous objects delicately during infiltration

Stat Used:

• Always Dexterity.

Untrained Use:
You may attempt Thievery untrained using your full Dexterity %.

• Simple tasks (cutting a purse or crude lockpicking with improvised tools) may succeed untrained.

• Complex locks, advanced traps, and high-risk theft attempts are extremely difficult and usually impractical without training.

Opposed Rolls:

• Stealing from people: Roll Thievery vs. target’s Perception.

• Locks, traps, and devices: Roll vs. static difficulty based on complexity and conditions.

Mechanical Effects:

• Success: You bypass the obstacle or complete the theft unnoticed.

• Critical Success (01): You act quickly and flawlessly, often avoiding any sign of tampering or leaving behind evidence (GM discretion).

• Failure: You fumble or delay, possibly triggering alarms, leaving evidence, or alerting guards.

• Critical Failure (00): You trigger traps, jam locks, or are caught in the act.

Situational Modifiers:
Apply the standard Difficulty Ladder (+50% to –50%) based on task complexity and risk:

+50% — Simple trap or lock with easy access
+40% — Old or poorly maintained lock with proper tools
+30% — Stealing from an inattentive target in relaxed surroundings
+20% — Typical traps or locks under normal conditions
+10% — Familiar device or partial inside knowledge
0% — Standard theft or bypass attempt
–10% — Time pressure or modest interference
–20% — Poor lighting, improvised tools, or hostile territory
–30% — Target is alert and suspicious, or device is intricate
–40% — Complex trap or magical ward combined with mechanical components
–50% — Picking a masterwork lock or disabling elite security under direct observation

Companion Skills:

• Sleight of Hand: For subtle palming and misdirection during thefts

• Stealth: For approaching unnoticed and avoiding discovery while working

• Engineering: For understanding advanced trap design or construction

• Perception: For spotting hidden traps or determining the best approach to bypass them

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File Created: 05/01/2025
Last Modified: 05/01/2025