Thieves? World has a rich background beginning as the combined efforts of a number of writers to produce a single book which turned into a series. The book has a good cover but some of the pencils inside are so good they could almost be photographs.
Thieves World uses backgrounds which give you extra class skills and modifies your age. This is a common system, perhaps best known as the occupations from d20 Modern and it is only a matter of time before it will appear in d20 core. There are a slew of new classes to chose from, including the assassin, a variant ranger and the noble who specializes in Leadership. There are a lot of interesting prestige classes. I count 19 prestige classes with a wide range for every class to move into. I had my eye on the hazard mage. The gladiator and hell hound are some very solid combat classes ? something you will need in a party to survive in Thieves? World.
There is a section for using prestige classes from the DMG. I really like this. They?ve taken the time to make sure their product is compatible with core material.
Gambling comes up as a new skill and there are many new uses for old skills. This is handy for entering a new campaign setting. There are new haggling rules for Diplomacy. There are a number of new feats including feats to gain an additional background and a number of new meta-magic feats. They do not lean on the +2 bonus to two skill feats, instead creating feats for specific checks such as dealing with criminals.
Somebody has read d20 Modern (Modern has a lot of good additions to d20). Besides backgrounds, the combat section introduces Massive Damage rules. I think this is a good idea, especially for this setting. It makes characters a little more vulnerable to assassination or dying from a very powerful blow which matches the style of the campaign. (I don?t think any of my favorite characters in the Thieves? World novel series lasted past book 4.) They have expanded the system slightly to include resulting injuries.
Ahah, Reputation! Nothing could be more appropriate from Modern. Living and dying because of fame is suitable for this cutthroat back-alley dealing campaign setting.
The book is not modern. It?s just using the best of both worlds. It is chock full of new ideas and rules such as hidden weapons, new metals and new alchemy rules ? and of course poison making. There is a chart to rival the DMG on poisons. Might be a good idea to memorize it.
The system uses a variant magic system which makes me twinge. Still it looks well thought out. There are a variety of ways to cast spells and although it uses a mana pool, there are a lot of similarities to standard magic ? plus the earlier conversion notes for using core spellcasters. There is a big chunk on curses ? no surprise there. There are new spell tables for the new spellcasting classes and new spells which are completely usable by standard classes.
The last chapter of the book deals with new deities, done in a format similar to the Player?s Handbook. The book ends with an appendix of characters but they have no stats and a new character sheet modified for Thieves? World.
A popular complaint is laid to rest. This book has a complete set of bookmarks added to the PDF to compliment its table of contents and index.
<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: This is a well put together book with great art and new material that is very compatible with core 3.5 material. There is everything a player needs to build an entirely new kind of character, classes, prestige classes, feats, new skill uses, spells and a new magic system all tailored to the flavor of the cut throat setting that is Thieves? World. They?ve borrowed some of the best d20 Modern rules and added them to the game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The famous characters from the Thieves? World novel series are given only a passing glance. The fact that most of them are dead may or may not have played a part in this. The last page hints at a supplement based on the character Shadowspawn and I?ll hope his stats show up there.
The book has a very clean layout which is easy to print. I would have liked a second PDF though which included pages with a background or border art. I?m curious to see if there is a printed version with additional background art.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |