Additional Rogue Talents – Google Docs
Additional Rogue Talents
These are additional Talents (GURPS Basic Set: Characters, pages 89-91) designed for characters who are part of the criminal world (note: this includes groups like the City Watch). Note that there are no combat skills included. Also note that, while these Talents are not restricted to NPCs, they are explicitly designed for NPCs. Four levels of Sneak can turn a street rat into a surprisingly difficult adversary to run down, or even notice in the first place.
Burglar
A particular set of skills, designed around going somewhere you’re not supposed to g, stealing the best contents, and then leaving. Hopefully without anybody noticing.
Burglar: Animal Handling, Architecture, Climbing, Connoisseur, Forced Entry, Lockpicking, Search, Stealth, Traps. Reaction bonus: thieves, fences, people who think you have a romantic job. 10 points/level.
Con-Man
This talent is for people playing the con on the streets, or at least the town square.
Con-Man: Counterfeiting, Disguise, Fast-Talk, Gambling, Makeup, Running. Reaction Bonus: Grifters, flim-flam men, carnies, and other people ‘on the job.’ 5 points/level.
Cunning-Man
Despite the name, this can just as easily be a woman; he or she has a magical background, and is possibly even a mage. But the straight and narrow life is not for everyone.
Cunning-Man: Alchemy, Herb Lore, Hidden Lore, Occultism, Poisons, Research. Reaction Bonus: satisfied customers and anybody who doesn’t want you as an enemy. 5 points/level.
Fence
Somebody’s got to move the loot along, and there’s good money in it. Better money than in stealing the loot in the first place, sometimes.
Fence: Connoisseur, Diplomacy, Jeweler, Merchant, Savoir-Faire, Streetwise. Reaction Bonus: More or less the entire criminal community (as the philosopher once said: good fences make good neighbors). 5 points/level.
Smuggler
As long as governments are there to limit what can go from point A to point B, there will be those whose job is to evade such rules. This Talent is used by people who work in bulk, over long distances.
Smuggler: Animal Handling, Area Knowledge, Camouflage, Freight Handling, Packing, Politics, Smuggling, Teamster. Reaction Bonus: Certain government officials, people who want to acquire what you have, anybody who would like to be smuggled in or out of a location. 10 points/level.
Sneak
The street rats who grow up usually know these skills. This Talent is good for finding things out without people noticing, and for getting away quick when they do.
Sneak: Area Knowledge, Climbing, Filch, Holdout, Lip-Reading, Observation, Pickpocket, Running, Shadowing, Stealth, Streetwise, Traps. Reaction Bonus: street rats, the more pragmatic Watchmen, adventuring parties who need reliable and reasonably priced information. 10 points/level.
Swindler
Differs from the Con-Man mostly in scope. Swindlers rip off guilds and companies and municipal governments.
Swindler: Accounting, Acting, Administration, Finance, Forgery, Market Analysis, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire. Reaction bonus: people that you’ve made rich, people who think you’re going to make them rich, people, commoners who you’ve cultivated as part of your long con. 10 points/level.
Watchman
This talent is for street-level cops — and watchmen with both an anachronistic skill set, and outlook on life. Active members of the Watch will have Legal Enforcement Powers and hopefully a Patron, but a retired Watchman will also have these skills.
Watchman: Criminology, Detect Lies, Forensics, Law, Leadership, Observation, Search, Streetwise. Reaction Bonus: ‘honest citizens,’ ‘honest criminals,’ past crime victims whom you’ve helped. 10 points/level.
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Nobby Nobbs and his accomplice (whose name I forget) would have a couple levels in burglar, fence, and sneak, wouldn’t they?
Definitely Fence and Sneak, for Nobby. He also has a level in Watchman, and Sgt Colon has two. Most of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch would have Watchman, honestly. Captain Carrot is maxed out on Watchman; Vimes has only 3 levels, but he has two levels of Sneak. Cheri Littlebottom has Cunning-Woman, and she’d insist on the variant name.
Angua’s a werewolf, which is usually sufficient for what she needs to do. 🙂