Picking pockets in town

[Dagger]

Let's say an adventuring party arrives in a new city and the party's Thief wants to spend a couple of days picking pockets. Are there any rules for abstracting a day of purse snatching? I'm also wondering if there are any tables for randomly determining the contents of a snatched purse/pouch.

[thedungeondelver]

Let's say an adventuring party arrives in a new city and the party's Thief wants to spend a couple of days picking pockets. Are there any rules for abstracting a day of purse snatching? I'm also wondering if there are any tables for randomly determining the contents of a snatched purse/pouch.

Ed Greenwood did something like that back in dragon...59? Was it? Anyway, it was also full of insanely unbalancing things like an 18000gp amethyst bracelet, so you have to be careful. I myself wouldn't abstract it - I mean I know there are things the rest of the party wants to do, but here's a few things to consider: the thieves in question will be poaching on a different guild's territory, and may well be hitting already-cased marks, which means they'll draw the wrath of the guild. Any - one, single - blown pickpocket attempt will have the victim's attention, ire, and if they feel they can't overcome the filcher then they will call down the wrath of the gendarme - whomever the local enforcers are. The town watch, a gang of thugs, not-disinterested bystanders, a paladin having a tankard of ale at an outside stall, whatever, someone's probably going to come running. Assuming the thief is overcome and not spitted for their trouble, they're going to at the very least wind up in the local gaol. Great adventuring hooks are all through such events. Don't abstract 'em away, that's my advice.

[grodog]

Let's say an adventuring party arrives in a new city and the party's Thief wants to spend a couple of days picking pockets. Are there any rules for abstracting a day of purse snatching? I'm also wondering if there are any tables for randomly determining the contents of a snatched purse/pouch.

Ed Greenwood did something like that back in dragon...59? Was it? Anyway, it was also full of insanely unbalancing things like an 18000gp amethyst bracelet, so you have to be careful.

Greenwood did write "What Has He Got In His Pocketses, Anyway?" (Dragon 164), and it's basically 20 adventure seeds you can throw into a picked pocket, and none of them are inconsequential; but, he also wrote "Treasures Rare and Wondrous" (Dragon 80), which is filled with random normal treasures, worth a small amount up to about 10K gp or so (perhaps that's the one you were thinking of, Bill?).

If you like this kind of random thievery table, the Mother Of All Treasure Tables from TableTop Adventures (via NG) is filled with good ideas for pickpocketing too, with extensive random tables broken down by value ranges. It's an excellent book! (And, AEG's Toolbox also had some similar tables IIRC; I haven't checked out Toolbox II yet....).

[thedungeondelver]

Let's say an adventuring party arrives in a new city and the party's Thief wants to spend a couple of days picking pockets. Are there any rules for abstracting a day of purse snatching? I'm also wondering if there are any tables for randomly determining the contents of a snatched purse/pouch.

Ed Greenwood did something like that back in dragon...59? Was it? Anyway, it was also full of insanely unbalancing things like an 18000gp amethyst bracelet, so you have to be careful.

Greenwood did write "What Has He Got In His Pocketses, Anyway?" (Dragon 164), and it's basically 20 adventure seeds you can throw into a picked pocket, and none of them are inconsequential; but, he also wrote "Treasures Rare and Wondrous" (Dragon 80), which is filled with random normal treasures, worth a small amount up to about 10K gp or so (perhaps that's the one you were thinking of, Bill?).

Yeah; I was conflating the two. I think "Treasures Rare and Wondrous" is dynamite (as in, dangerous and unstable explosives, not cool and awesome) and should be avoided. I mean, really, finding enough in rare gems to level an entire party just lying in a box? Hah. Thanks but no thanks, Ed.

If you like this kind of random thievery table, the Mother Of All Treasure Tables from TableTop Adventures (via NG) is filled with good ideas for pickpocketing too, with extensive random tables broken down by value ranges. It's an excellent book! (And, AEG's Toolbox also had some similar tables IIRC; I haven't checked out Toolbox II yet....).

Tell us more about this, Allan.

[grodog]

Tell us more about this, Allan.

Well, it's a damn good book: all of the treasures in it are mundane/non-magical stuff, ranging in value from <10 gp to >100K gp. Some good info appears on the TableTop Adventures site @ http://www.tabletopadventures.com/Produ ... _matt.html (they wrote the book for NG), and in the NG forums @ http://necromancergames.yuku.com/forum/view/id/51 and in particular the intro @ http://necromancergames.yuku.com/topic/6115 and the editors favorites @ http://necromancergames.yuku.com/topic/6102

It's a great book, especially if you're looking for ideas a) for cool treasures, and b) for cool treasures to turn into magic items of your own design. One of NG's best products.

[Sacrificial Lamb]

I wouldn't abstract it. Each picked pocket is an experience unto itself.

[1stEditionRules]

Let's say an adventuring party arrives in a new city and the party's Thief wants to spend a couple of days picking pockets. Are there any rules for abstracting a day of purse snatching? I'm also wondering if there are any tables for randomly determining the contents of a snatched purse/pouch.

Ed Greenwood did something like that back in dragon...59? Was it? Anyway, it was also full of insanely unbalancing things like an 18000gp amethyst bracelet, so you have to be careful. I myself wouldn't abstract it - I mean I know there are things the rest of the party wants to do, but here's a few things to consider: the thieves in question will be poaching on a different guild's territory, and may well be hitting already-cased marks, which means they'll draw the wrath of the guild. Any - one, single - blown pickpocket attempt will have the victim's attention, ire, and if they feel they can't overcome the filcher then they will call down the wrath of the gendarme - whomever the local enforcers are. The town watch, a gang of thugs, not-disinterested bystanders, a paladin having a tankard of ale at an outside stall, whatever, someone's probably going to come running. Assuming the thief is overcome and not spitted for their trouble, they're going to at the very least wind up in the local gaol. Great adventuring hooks are all through such events. Don't abstract 'em away, that's my advice.

And don't forget the possibility of one's companions being swept up in a raid along with the aforementioned thief. Any group of town guards worth their salt knows who is grouped with whom when strangers come to town so bringing Mr. Sticky Fingers into a law and order town could have much broader consequences beyond just the thief being arrested or killed by the guards.
The whole group could be held responsible for bringing him there in the first place.