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Thread : Thief Skills in Basic D&D
Started at 04-03-04 04:30 PM by Aliquid
Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=213658
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[Post 1]
Author : Aliquid
Date : 04-03-04 04:30 PM
Thread Title : Thief Skills in Basic D&D

This is a post for those of you who remember the days before 3.5, before 3.0 , before 2nd Edition, and before 1st edition… Back to the true “good old days” of OD&D.

I was going through my old basic D&D players handbook (the red one), and got a good laugh when reading the skills for a 1st level thief.

Consider the following situation:  your 1st level thief comes across a door that is locked and trapped.  To successfully get past this obstacle, you will have to “find traps” (10%) , “remove traps” (10%) and “open locks” (15%).

Looking at it, I didn’t think it seemed all that bad until I realized the probability of succeeding in all three tasks.  Well…it was amazingly low.  Below one percent (0.15%) that’s a 1 in 666 chance of succeeding…

It’s interesting though.  I laugh at it now, but it didn’t bother me at all at the time (heck I didn’t even notice).  I think it just goes to show that the rules you work with don’t matter, as long as you have a good DM, and you have a good time :)

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[Post 2]
Author : Stonebeard
Date : 04-03-04 09:07 PM

That could possibly be because a trapped and locked chest for a 1st level thief would be a huge challenge.  I personally wouldn't throw it at them. Locked yes if there was something of good value inside this would only involve one lucky roll .  Trapped maybe if there was something truly spectacular inside (magic perhaps) because this would involve two lucky rolls (or one lucky result and some cunning).   But all three on a common basis would indeed be too much.   remember also a chest could be taken from a dungeon and worked on over a period of time.  They get a new chance at each level.

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