Thief Synergy Combinations

Now that we have eight synergies and have decided that three is the limit I need to ask what can they be combined to make? Is there an optimal three and what class proficiency would round them out at first level?

We have:

• Careful Footing (find traps + move silently)
• Evaluate mark (pick pockets + hear noise)
• Fog of war (hide in shadows + move silently)
• Leap from danger (climbing + hear noise)
• Nimble Fingers (open locks + pick pockets)
• Rigging (climb walls + remove traps)
• Shadowy Senses (hear noise + hide in shadows)
• Trap mastery (find traps + remove traps)

So let’s begin.

The Scout Thief

Thiefs can still be scouts, even though I posted a new class earlier it may not be in your game. Alternatively, the player may want the lower XP thresholds and extra skills. So duplicating the build and proficiency choice of alertness from the scout class leaves one choice. Here I take leap from danger for survivability, I gave the scout d6 hit dice to help it, but the base thief lacks this and the extra synergy helps somewhat..

Synergies:

Careful Footing (find traps + move silently)

Leap from danger (climbing + hear noise)

Shadowy Senses (hear noise + hide in shadows)

Proficiency: 

Alertness

The Stealth Thief

This build focuses purely on the stealth thief skills, what happens if we take them all? You can see in shadows, go into shadows in combat and avoid traps better in shadows. This creates a very focused concept that I can see as being attractive.

Synergies:

Careful Footing (find traps + move silently)

Fog of war (hide in shadows + move silently)

Shadowy Senses (hear noise + hide in shadows)

Proficiency: 

Skulking

The Trap Thief

Here I am looking at a tomb raider build. Traps are a common theme, and with trap mastery and trap finder you can disarm in a round with no penalty. Leap from danger adds that element of survivability to this risky role. Finally, careful footing allows you detect and avoid some of those pesky traps. Overall a very rounded and focussed build.

Synergies:

Careful Footing (find traps + move silently)

Leap from danger (climbing + hear noise)

Trap mastery (find traps + remove traps)

Proficiency: 

Trap finder

The City Thief

This one is for the city thief, it focuses on standard burglary. Evaluate mark and nimble fingers work well together. I took rigging, but then realised it is of no help to the city thief who takes cat burglary instead of mountaineering. I would modify rigging to include cat burglary in it's list of things that avoid fall failure if gear is used. Cat burglary still helps with tightrope walking and wall running to avoid falling. Rigging allows you to bring a friend as well, useful if you are expecting trouble on that top floor of the mansion or temple.

Synergies:

Evaluate mark (pick pockets + hear noise)

Nimble Fingers (open locks + pick pockets)

Rigging (climb walls + remove traps)

Proficiency: 

Cat burglary

The Thief Rogue

The adventuring dungeoneer, this takes all the good stuff into one package, the 3ed rogue. It can see in the shadows, enter concealment in a fight and dodge. Under this system this would be an attractive build and I wrote it up to gaze at it and wonder if it made something too good...

Synergies:

Fog of war (hide in shadows + move silently)

Leap from danger (climbing + hear noise)

Shadowy Senses (hear noise + hide in shadows)

Proficiency: 

Blind fighting

The Troubleshooter Thief

This is an alternative to the city thief, swapping the climbing focus. In an urban campaign this would get a lot of utility. In a dungeon game the utility around locks would be useful, and creative use of evaluate mark could let you know what magic items the boss has to inform the party. I also wonder if nimble fingers needs a time reduction down from 6 hours if the opens locks skill is present?

Synergies:

Evaluate mark (pick pockets + hear noise)

Nimble Fingers (open locks + pick pockets)

Trap mastery (find traps + remove traps)

Proficiency: 

Open locks

Summary

I selected combinations based on concepts, so it is not an exhaustive list, but I found several ones gravitated to the front. Looking at the combinations I took:

• Careful Footing - 3 times
• Evaluate mark - 2 times
• Fog of war- 2 times
• Leap from danger - 3 times
• Nimble Fingers - 2 times
• Rigging - 1 times
• Shadowy Senses - 3 times
• Trap mastery - 2 times

Careful footing and shadowy senses got a lot of use, two times in similar builds and each in a separate other build. Rigging I wasn’t enamoured with and most likely needs to bring cat burglary to the table as suggested.

I'm not sure if there is an optimal one here, they do create more variety through their presence. As such only time and actual play would be the true test to knowing if the synergy bonus works to make thiefs attractive. Which would you take given a specific style of game?