Halfling Thief - Hired Sword
Based on the original by tuff_git

The Halflings of the Empire have a well-deserved reputation for two things: their culinary skill and their skill at acquiring other people’s property. The plucky Halfling Thieves are not so much avaricious as they are curious. They put their finely honed skills to good use, hiring themselves out to any warband who will give them enough food (well, almost).

Hire: 20GC to hire + 10GC upkeep

Experience: Halfling Thieves start with no experience.

Skills: Halfling Thieves may choose skills from Shoting, Speed and Thief tables.

May be Hired: Only ‘Good’ warbands (Human, High/Wood Elf and Dwarf) may hire a Halfling Thief.

Rating: A Halfling Thief increases the warband Rating by 10 + 1 point for each experience point he has.

Equipment: Knife and Sling.

Special Rules

Starting Skill: The Halfling Thief starts with Eagle Eye or Quick Shot plus a single Thief skill chosen from the table below.

Small: Halflings are short and not very strong; consequently many weapons are unusable by them. Halflings may not use two-handed weapons, bows other than short bows, or any black-powder weapons.

Thief Skills

Thieving. At the end of a game, if he did not go OOA, a Halfling Thief may elect to try to steal a single item that is normally useable by him. Roll 2D6. For non-rare items, the theft is successful on a roll of 4+ on 2D6. For rare items, the warrior must roll over (not equal to) the rarity of the item they want to steal; a 12 is always a success.  Failure means that the warrior has been Sold to the Pits (65 on the Heroes Serious Injury Chart).

Pick Pocket. Instead of attacking, a Halfling Thief with this skill may attempt to remove an item from an enemy warrior who is in base contact at the beginning of a round of combat. This item may be anything up to the size of a single-handed weapon, but it cannot be an item worn or carried in the enemy’s hands (use common sense here). If the Pick Pocket is trying to retrieve money, henchmen will have 5% of the warband’s total wealth, heroes will have 10%, up to the maximum the warband has. Any remainder will be stashed somewhere in the immediate locale (and thus out of the reach of the Pick Pocket).

A Halfling Thief with this skill who is within 2” of an enemy who has been disarmed may immediately pick up the weapon without making an Initiative test, but still may do nothing else this turn.

To pick a pocket, a Halfling Thief with this skill must declare what he is trying to steal and make a successful initiative test (6 is always a failure). If he succeeds, the pick pocket may not attack this round, but may use the item from the beginning of the next turn (even if it’s the enemy’s turn), where appropriate. Failure means that the Halfling Thief has left himself vulnerable to attack; all hits against him strike on a 3+ and he goes last in this round of combat. This lasts for one round of combat only.

Trap Expert. The Halfling Thief is able to detect traps with relative ease. A Halfling Thief who possesses this skill will never set off traps himself (but may be subject to their effects if he is too close to one if it goes off). He can attempt to disarm any traps he comes upon. He must stop at the trap on his Movement, and may do nothing else that turn. If disarming a Simple trap, he must roll a 6+ on 2D6, or he is unsuccessful. If disarming a Complex trap, he must roll an 8+, or he will be unsuccessful. If unsuccessful, he must roll against his own Initiative. A failed test means he has inadvertently set off the trap himself!

He is also able to restore Dud traps or previously de-activated traps back into active traps. To determine what a Dud trap becomes, roll a D6: 1-4: Simple, 5-6: Complex. Obviously a previously disarmed trap will revert back to what it was. If restoring a Simple trap, he must roll a 6+ on 2D6, or he is unsuccessful. If restoring a Complex trap, he must roll an 8+, A failure will mean that the trap has failed to activate a success means that it will work.

Hide In Shadows. This is the same as the Shadow Warrior skill in TC10.

Through years of practice, Halfling Thieves have learnt how to freeze in place and remain undetected even from the steely gaze of Law Enforcement officers. An enemy warrior attempting to detect this Halfling Thief when he is hidden must halve his Initiative before measuring the distance.

Backstabbing. If a Halfling Thief remains undetected by an enemy who is within the Halfling’s normal movement range (4”) the Thief may charge him in his turn. If the Thief has the Sprint skill, this range increases to 6”.  When he charges, the Thief may add +1 to his strength and in the confusion, his enemy loses one attack.. These bonuses apply to the first round of combat only. Note the enemy must be within the Thief’s normal movement range not his charge range, as the enemy warrior would be able to spot the charging thief if he was further away, thus the thief would lose the element of surprise.