Heroscape Thief

[allskulls]

Originally Posted by Hex_Enduction_Hour

Glyph picker-upper?

I would give this ability to a magical character. I think of glyphs as a sort of magical presence touched by the spirit of the glyph's person (Astrid, Kelda, etc.).

Reaper- It can be argued that the magical items given by the Valkyrie bonds with its owner. Take Thogrim and Finn for instance. The sword and shield wields the power but the same power is carried on in their spirits (it would be cool to get the spirit of Drake granting Thorian Speed).

I think Theft and Disengage would suffice for a thief character.

Thief as a common hero? Maybe Horgle Thief?

Should it be more difficult to steal from a tricky character?

[reapersaurus]

I agree, that could be argued - but it's less fun than seeing a thief swipe the stupid magical speedy katana away from an oblivious Sgt Drake.

IMO, the theif has to be a unique hero - somewhere close to Morsbane in fragility/survivability and risk in taking near battle.

I don't know why I'm thinking this guy:

(which is actually a vaguely-alien-female figure)

I'm wondering something -
If this thief had various skills available to hem (like a Spell book approach to skills), what thief-like skills are possibly emulated in HS?

About the Picking of the Castle Door lock - I just don't think that the lock is the issue - it's the physical locks that stop it from being jammed open - not just a tumbler to be picked.
If there were treasure chests in HS ( ) maybe that'd be a cool ability, but not currently.

What else could he do?
Detect Traps? No traps (other than Glyph of Mitonsoul and other custom glyphs, like karkadinn's Carnivorous Glyph)
Decipher Script & Use Magic Device? Well, he could use other wizard's spell books and treasure potentially.
Listen and Spot? Na.....
Tumble? Too combat oriented and able to be emulated with stats.
Sleight of Hand? This is the Theft ability.

[allskulls]

Stealth or Evasive ability.

Really, I think Theft and Disengage is enough (with a move of 6). Theft will be the bulk of his cost and anything else added could make him too pricey. The target cost should be about 60pts. I compare to Ne-Gok-Sa who is the only official unit that can subtract from your opponent's army and at the same time add to yours. NGS gains a unit while the Thief will only gain the unit's ability. Plus his stats will be considerably lower (save for move) then NGS.

Then again, with the power that Theft would bring you might want to add more to this unit to bring up his cost

[reapersaurus]

Yes - I was thinking 100 points, with stats to make it so he CAN enter combat and survive a hit (since he has to get adjacent to steal) but low enough that it's risky for him to go in and 2 or 3 hits by a tough cookie would kill him.

He shouldn't be able to be picked off by range, though - that wouldn;t fit the theme or concept of the unit.
So Attack of 2 or 3, Defense of 3 or 4, Life of 4 or 5 with:

Sleight of Hand
Disengage
Stealth Dodge

[allskulls]

I am sold!

Life 5 (for your reasonings on staying power)

Attack 2 (Think ofthe weapons he could steal...Sword of Reckoning!)

Defense 3 (Stealth Dodge & Disengage makes him pretty slippery)

Now to find a better figure (sorry, that one is not doing it for me...plus he has a crossbow)

[Fsiv330]

my take on this is that u could have a squad of theives and 1 of their powers would be to steal someone elses power,

ie: Mimrings fly, would be taken so he couldnt use it, BUT the squad member whose turn it was could. The others could all use their own theft on whomever they want to.

[reapersaurus]

Originally Posted by allskulls

I am sold!

Life 5 (for your reasonings on staying power)

Attack 2 (Think ofthe weapons he could steal...Sword of Reckoning!)

Defense 3 (Stealth Dodge & Disengage makes him pretty slippery)

Now to find a better figure (sorry, that one is not doing it for me...plus he has a crossbow)

That all sounds good, with your Theft power (or if you want to call it Sleight of Hand or Legerdemain or something) made workable for multiple items and a Stolen Marker..... anyone have suggestions for a thief figure? (preferrably pre-painted plastic)

[Rhydderch]

I had made a thief character for the Heroscape Underground HS variant developed by Grungebob but it never made it to print since he eventually left custom characters out of the formula. Since GB had treasure in his variant it was pretty easy to create a Steal ability.

There are a number of rogue figures for DnD which could probably work including a bunch of halflings. I would expect MK to have several as well such as the Venthian Assassin. Not sure of any specific characters off the top of my head though.

One question I have for the Theft ability is how you determine what bonuses the thief will have when he steals a weapon. Do we assume the attack value is only derived from the weapon regardless of skill so that the thief simply gains the printed attack value on the hero he stole from? Also what happens to the attack value on the figure which loses its weapon?

Also remember many of the abilities which are tied to items are not referenced on the card and are only mentioned in the character bios. Thorian Speed and the Defense Aura are examples. Therefore some people may find it hard to determine which abilities can be stolen. Maybe a supplementary list could be made for people who do not follow the HS storyline.

Finally I agree with Reaper on the Castle Door: it could not be picked because it is most likely sealed shut by wooden bars or the weight of the door rather than any system of tumblers which could be picked. The only way a thief could really get the door open would be to sneak into the castle and open the doors from within which could be a fun set of abilities to create for a spy or assassin character. Or maybe a ninja hero =P

[Gambit]

acctually i remeber, back on HQ some one made a cocept called HS gear, what it did is you could have a hero or sqaud either buy it with leftover draft points, or pick it up off the ground, and it would enhance the finder in some way, however i stopped using it long ago because the people i play HS with can only understand so much that i tell them, that and it became more difficult to use due to all the expansions and the fact that this concept was made before(or shortly after) wave 1 came out.

anyway back on topic, this concept, is the only way i could see it working

also somone should start a contest to see who can make the best thief card, i would but i have nothing to give away at the moment

[Grungebob]

I got an idea for a thief, but it would need some serious figuring out. What if your thief was able to steal an unused order marker from an enemy unit and place it on his own card thus allowing him a possible extra turn?

[reapersaurus]

that's a great idea, GB - but too esoteric for the kind of physicalproperty thief that I'm thinking of at least in this thread.

And btw - as I mentioned to Ozman Strange way back, removing an opponent's order marker and gaining an extra one for yourself is so hideously powerful in this game, I doubt if such a unit could easily be costed, unless the chance of it happeneing is so slim as to be neglible (a la Ne-Gok-Sa).

[ChaosChild]

Turn Theft
After moving and before attacking, choose an adjacent opponents' figure. Roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 20 or higher, remove an unused order marker from that figure's Army Card and place it on this card. At the end of the round return that order marker.

Of course, the name of the ability would need to be better and a little common sense would be needed for the turn order but, you get the idea. I think it would be good for a Marro hero.

I like it.