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View Full Version : Thieves Guild Idea Synopsis



Sir_Gabes
2012-07-19, 03:15 AM
I'm posting this to troll for feed back. Would you want to play this game? If so, what system? What kind of magic would I include? Are there any other villains pr factions suited to the setting? Anything else that seems worth mentioning.

Thieves Guild
Like fleas on a dog, you will find thieves in a city. Whether pinching pennies in the market or robbing from graves . You are a member of the family. A cousin, a brother, a sister or adopted. Your bonds a greater then the most disciplined legions. As you wheel and deal your way through, politics and commerce.*
Your tools could be: a knife in the back, poison in the wine or simply a smoldering look. But, "trust" me you'll need them. Your enemies are numerous.

The Aristocracy: the inbred nobility think they can sweep the scum under the rug and wave goodbye to their problems. Their primary mission is clear. Usurp the democratic government and replace it with a monarchy.

The Guard: the guard are corrupt and malleable. But, there are those among their ranks as rigid and unyielding as stone foundations the reside in.

The Church: better thieves then us! Can you believe it? They hold your soul hostage and make sure you pay the ransom. Promising forgiveness for all eternity. At least until next Sunday...

The Cult: Strange things happen beyond those cold walls. Twisted rituals, dark hyms, necrophilia. Depending on who you ask The Cult is probably the scariest of the lot.

The Rabble: It's a desperate world out there. Merchants, mercenaries other families. You can trust no one.

Keep your back to the wall, look out for the family and long live the patriarch.

Character Archtypes
I thought of these to guide character creation. I want the party to have a variety in skills so people don't overlap.

Apothecary: This archtype is the most eccentric. This character dissects cadavers, brews poisons, makes explosives and patches people up.

Artisan: This archtype is the typical inventor or smith. He builds contraptions and weapons to outfit the guild. This could be secret compartments in suit of armour or secret rooms in a thieves den.

Tactician: This character keeps tabs on all the operations. He focuses heavily on making sure everyone can do their job. This guy is super analytical.

Merchant: this character is a master of commerce and politics. He's a fence and a conman. Good at making friends and influencing people.

Courtesan: the courtesan is the seductive femme fatale styled archtype. She is adept at techniques of distraction and knows how destroy someone's reputation.

Infiltrator: This character is what people think when someone says. STOP! THIEF! This guy can crack a lock, take anything that's nailed down and get out without a trace.

Bandit: This is your survivalist and scout. He delivers messages to other cities, collects road tolls and is a capable hunter.

Mercenary: this is your typical bodyguard and bagman. He's the name people whisper on the street. Notorious and fearsome.

When I run this game the Archtypes will be basic guidelines. This should lead to and oceans 11 styled party. Everyone has a job to do and while people can mix and match a little the bandit who knows a little about poisons won't make apothecary useless.

GM.Casper
2012-07-19, 10:15 AM
Interesting. Gurps would be well suited for a skill focused game. It also has extensive rules for social manipulation, seduction and so on (major improvement over DD where you basically have only Charisma and Diplomacy).

It would be more interesting if there were many criminal groups, rather than one monolithic Thieves Guild.

And the players don't have to be 'Thieves' per se. Something A-team style or some other conmen group would work too.

The Mages Guild could be another faction. They have a monopoly on magic- and if you want to practice spellcasting you need to purchase a license. Rogue wizards would have to operate in the underworld and avoid the Guild's notice.

kieza
2012-07-19, 01:55 PM
One idea I once found for a thieves' guild was that the guild didn't make its money off of actually performing robberies; instead, they functioned as a service provider: they made plans for heists, and then sold the details of the plan (and optionally, associated equipment and training) to the highest bidder and let them do the work. They also sold things like incarceration insurance (Get pinched? We'll spring you!) and participation in group bribery plans where a bunch of small-timers pooled money to bribe someone they couldn't afford individually.

Basically, the Guild was where thieves worked once they got too old, or wanted to settle down with their loot (or if they were better at planning than action). They could get the vicarious thrill of making the plan and watching it work, without the risk of actually being involved.

Erik Vale
2012-07-19, 06:13 PM
Good Idea Kieza. Consider it stolen.

Sir, the idea works, as for the system, that depends on how rigid you want it to be and what you know. For example, Dnd, Heroes or Gurps can be very rigid with some surprising cariation. Or you could just go freeform where the archtypes do slightly better.

Sir_Gabes
2012-07-19, 11:39 PM
I want a pretty lethal system. The kinda stuff where stealth kills are actually plausible. But, I also want a rules light system so that it's not to hard to get in and play. I don't want a system that gets in the way of the fun either.
"What, I can't disarm him without a feat/power."

This guild is more of a mafia family. If you follow me. You can be adopted in or married in so it's not exclusive. But, the guild is headed by "the patriarch" who is an old retired thief.

I have ideas for a few adventures.

1. One of the family members is found raped and dead in an alley way. It will start off as a murder mystery, ultimately becoming a revenge fueled character assassination or actual assassination if the characters choose.

2. A cult of "vampires" living under the sewers is starting to show its ugly head. The group will be sent naturally to investigate. The twist will be that no one there is in fact a vampire. Their just a messed up bunch of cultists.

3. A noble family calls a feud on the thief family. Meaning the situation must be diffused quickly to avoid war on the streets. This could be done in multiple ways and will hopefully lead to the family getting out.

4. A prison that is mistreating the convicts is pissing the patriarch off. He wants the group to get the warden fired/dead/imprisoned and get the prison to start treating people humanely.

5. The patriarch wants to expand his business. He decides he wants the group to move out and do a territory grab. Establishing a guild in another city. The group will setup business and do jobs. Destroy any competition.

6. There is a traitor in the guild! Giving information out and sabotaging plans. The group will find him/her and punishment will be delivered.

7. A heist! Gotta grab that super awesome stuff in that super awesome palace!

Those are a few ideas. I will be enabling characters to make their own character backgrounds to give further adventure ideas.

Kadzar
2012-07-19, 11:58 PM
6. There is a traitor in the guild! Giving information out and sabotaging plans. The group will find him/her and punishment will be delivered.This is best if they think that one of them might possibly be the traitor. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, but at some point they should all be eyeing each other suspiciously.

Sir_Gabes
2012-07-20, 01:26 AM
This is best if they think that one of them might possibly be the traitor. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, but at some point they should all be eyeing each other suspiciously.

That is such a brilliant idea. I could even throw them off by passing out pieces of paper and telling them to tell no one what is on it.

GM.Casper
2012-07-22, 06:06 AM
I would play this if it was GURPS.

Sir_Gabes
2012-07-22, 09:51 AM
GURPS seems like a headache to run. Could someone give me some info about it?

Inglenook
2012-07-24, 01:01 AM
GURPS is quite rule-extensive. There's a lite version (http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/) of the rules, though, that's available for free and might be closer to what you're looking for.

FATE is quite light on the rules and and story-centric, although I'm not sure about the lethality.

NightWriter
2012-07-24, 05:05 PM
I actually ran a game that was almost exactly like this, and it went extremely well. I started out by designing the entire city, breaking it up in districts (Main Street, Downtown, Uptown, Dark Hill, The Maze and South City), and figuring out what factions ran each district. Then I outlawed magic altogether- if a city guard saw you performing magic of any kind (unless you were in the Arena), you were executed on the spot.

I made the characters all give me seperate backstories that weren't connected and drew them all together with a common enemy. But people had secret alliances programmed into their backstories (this guy is actually a rat working for the city guard, while this guy is actually working for a rival faction, while this guy belongs to the secret society that ran the city before the current government took over, etc). It was required that all the characters had half their levels in some skill-based Class (Rogue, Scout, ninja, Beguiler, etc), so they could break into buildings, sneak away from crime scenes, get the jump on people, and so on.

Then, while I ran my own story in the foreground, the party itself ran their own story in the background, and for a good portion of the campaign, I actually felt like a player while the party shaped and ran the campaign. It was pretty great for everybody- I totally reccomend it! Just make sure there are different levels of opponents- a rival gang that is only somewhat superior to them, a scarier group of assassins that run the crime in half the city, the city guard itself, the Mage that even the city government is afraid of, etc. etc.

TomPliss
2012-08-03, 03:53 PM
I actually ran a game that was almost exactly like this, and it went extremely well. I started out by designing the entire city, breaking it up in districts (Main Street, Downtown, Uptown, Dark Hill, The Maze and South City), and figuring out what factions ran each district. I don't think anyone would hurt you for posting that work, but, hey, i'm new here ... :smalltongue:

gorfnab
2012-08-06, 11:17 PM
If you need more inspiration on creating/running a theive's guild check out the book Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick.