Thieving code of honor

[gothmaugcc]

Does anyone happen to have created a thieving code of honor for the game? I heard there's one in Hyboria's Fallen, but considering I don't have that supplement yet, I was wondering if anyone has a home brewed honor code they feel like sharing.

Secondly, I just noticed that theres no search option on these forums. Is there an easier way to browse old posts than clicking and reading all 67 pages?

Thanks
Gothmaug

 

[Magistus]

Secondly, I just noticed that theres no search option on these forums. Is there an easier way to browse old posts than clicking and reading all 67 pages?

Look again Right next to FAQ there is search.

 

[Der Rote Baron]

Honour Among Thieves is in the Compendium, not in Hyboria's Fallen.
It goes like this:

+ Respect and honour a better thief.
+ Be bold.
+ Sahre adventure, and spoils, with a worthy thief.
+ Trust your instincts.
+ Be ever watchful

Things a thief with honour will not do:
+ Steal from other thieves whom he ha sshared adventure.
* Give aid or information to the city guard or militia about other thieves, even if this costs him life or freedom.
+ Kill more than is necessary in the course of his thievery.
+ Take employment as an assassin.

 

[Benedict]

Honour Among Thieves is in the Compendium, not in Hyboria's Fallen.

Same benefits as other codes of honour?

 

[Malcadon]

One of the best things about the Conan game over D&D is how they suggest doing things that D&D tells you not do or otherwise shy away from. For Example:

"There is no honor among Thieves..."

(you should have known some old-school AD&D geek would come along and bring this up )

 

[far-trader]

...you should have known some old-school AD&D geek would come along and bring this up

Well sure, I was going to myself

But it's a truism. At least as much as any. You can't trust a thief, and another thief knows this better than anyone else.

Honourable thieves is an interesting concept but it feels to me like a game contrivance to force cooperation with thieves on the rest of the group, so that the group can have the skills of the thief. HUMBUG.

I've played thieves, and even assassins, in partys of "good" characters where I was the most honourable, or at least the most honest (even including my lies to the party about my profession*).

My assassins have always been honourable. Far more honourable (in their minds at least) than others in the party. They choose to kill for professional reasons only, most of the parties I've been part of will kill at the drop of a hat or for a few coppers and care little about reasons. And that's the "good" guys :roll:

* lies are part and parcel for the professions, if you're not fibbing to everyone you know all the time you're in trouble, trust no one

 

[Spectator]

A thieving CoH, great, now where's my Darfuri cannibalistic hobbit NPC?
CoHs are bogus, and now the concept of giving thieves a CoH?
No wonder why this game is going to hell.
Count me out.

Mongoose has now fell down the slippery slope of Deedle-Dee.

 

[Azgulor]

A thieving CoH, great, now where's my Darfuri cannibalistic hobbit NPC?
CoHs are bogus, and now the concept of giving thieves a CoH?
No wonder why this game is going to hell.
Count me out.

Mongoose has now fell down the slippery slope of Deedle-Dee.

Troll much? :roll:

I find Allegiances and Codes of Honor (or lack thereof if the PC chooses) much better than the D&D alignment system. I think there is a huge chasm between 'an optional Code of Honor' to 'Conan RPG=D&D'.

Not sure how you've concluded that the Conan game is "going to hell" either, but you're entitled to your opinion.

For me, Conan remains the definitive swords-n-sorcery RPG - d20, OGL, or otherwise. Guess I'll have to buy an extra 2nd edition to make up for "counting you out".

 

[gothmaugcc]

Thanks for the posts guys.

1) My fellow players and I have alot of fun with the honor systems. In a game with no alignment, it gives your character a set of morale guidlines he can follow...or break. How many times in DnD have you ever seen a DM enforce alignment? The honor code is a load of fun, especially when "civilized" characters run into barbaric savages. A bunch of great Roleplaying ensues.

As for thieves having honor, well we all know they dont. BUT, they do have functioning guilds. All those burglars, fences, woman stealers, second story men, and tomb raiders need a place where they can be relatively safe and be able to get rid of thier ill gotten gains. True there is no honor among thieves, but I'm looking for an honor system that would spring up inside a thieves guild. Look at Arejun. The Maul DEFINATELY has a code of conduct there. Potential empployers can hire just about any man they would need for the job, and know whomever they hired should be relatively discreet in the identity of thier employer. Without some type of thieve's code, the entire system would break down. There has to be some type of "civil agreement" in place amongst the thieveing community. Granted, you dont have to follow it, but its there for the more organized guilds.

De rote baron had some intresting ideas, I'm going to write something up and I'll post it here when I'm done.

 

[Der Rote Baron]

Actually they aren't my ideas - they are straight from the Compendium.

Actually I like the Honour System in Conan. It is not that you have to have one. For instance in my current group we have a Soldier and a Noble/ Soldier with Civilized Code of Honour, a Soldier with the Mercenary's Code of Honour, a Nomad and a Barbarian with the Barbarian's Code of Honour and a Borderer and a Pirate/ Thief with no code.

The "coded" characters have some minor things to follow (more like guideliness how a character of said profession/ class/ culture would react appropiatedly in the eyes of his peers) and have bonusses to Will saves (came in handy with all them horrors of the Pictland ...), the borderer is happy with her "free" life and free choices and the pirate/ thif is complaining about 2 Corruption points and being frightened all the time and is going to get rid of the concept of pretending to have honour, so it's the No Honour feat for him any time soon.

I really don't know what Spectator is complaining all about:
The game works out perfectly with no Code and I think it makes sense to play thieves and pirates with no code or No Honour.

And the Thief's Code of Honour is in no way very restrictive. Basically it says:
Don't betray your friends.
Be professional (too much killing takes time, is useless and only brings down the heat more quickly).
Stay with your profession (killing for money is someone else's profession and they don't like if you meddle in their turf).
If you have partners in crime share the money - keeps everybody happy and your back knife-free.
Don't be careless or sleep on the job.
If it does not feel right - don't do it.
If it feels right - do it and don't chicken out.
Ratting your colleagues or other thieves out to the Five-O will make other people feel that you need a sword in your belly real bad!

All makes perfect sense to me if I were a criminal.
You could even argue that such self-preserving guidelines are hardly a code of honour and better put into the game as an alligiance to fellow thieves.

But I think it is okay if your thief belongs to a gang in Shadizar that is bound by such Code and has means to enforce it.

And it can also be a nice hook for little side-adventures:

I would argue that a thief with this code would hunt another thif down who is too indiscriminately killing peole or who constantly betrays others.

Hear about an informer? Find out who it is and "take care" of him.

People mistake the thief for an assasin/ common thug and try to hire him.

Thief decline sthe offer and the would-be-employer comes to the conclusion that he already knows too much ...

Another employer comes up with the outrageous idea of stealing the queen's necklace right out of her bedchamber. Are you "bold" enough for that, my friend, or do you know a "better thief" than you are that can handle the job?

If you gm it like that the Code is worth the save bonusses.