I'm part of a group who are doing several smaller campaigns (all starting paragon/epic) where we take turns DMing. The next one is an evil campaign where I'm playing a Changeling Assassin Executioner, we tend to do these for fun so I'm also borderline insane with emphasis on out of combat utility and the ability to murder and steal my way through the world rather than stand up in a fight.
Anyway, I'm taking the Thief of Legend epic destiny and level 24 looks pretty awesome to me. I've already found lots of uses for things like immovable rods or the various poisons that extend beyond their usual intended use and I was thinking about how to do the same with this. Obviously it's some way off but I like to plan ahead and it helps me build the character a bit more.
Essentially, what kinds of things would you look to steal? To clarify the ability is when you reduce an enemy to 0hp or fewer you can steal something intangible.
The ideas I've had so far are:
Steal a voice from someone, use it and various methods of disguise to better bluff my way around.
Steal the knowledge of a language (DM has said this is fine, maybe have to take several speakers to learn it).
Steal the knowledge of a base/dungeon/castle layout or guard route or similar.
Stealing silly things also works, my guy is meant to be pretty damned nuts so I'm thinking things like stealing an NPC's love for their mother, or dislike of a certain food as well as things like love for a particular weapon/family heirloom. That kind of thing.
Suggestions? Ideas? We're aware it's stretching the ability but like I said, it's all for fun, anything amusing/silly is fantastic and anything that helps me do other silly things by helping me to sneak around or bluff better will be welcomed too.
eta:
We (me and the DM) were also fond of the idea of stealing something like an individual's desire to fight. Obviously reducing someone to 0hp then ensuring they live just for that is stretching and not as amusing so I was wondering what kind of enemies this would be effective against? Liches crossed my mind and maybe devils/demons? This is a noobier question and apologies for that, this is the second campaign I've ever been in and the first was only a few weeks long, I read a lot but haven't devoured the monster manuals yet.
And yeah - creativity is key, on this ability. It requires that you "kill" the target, but Death Is Not A Career-Ending Injury in D&D, and een then, you can drop someone below 0 and leave them alive if you want to.
Try here
And yeah - creativity is key, on this ability. It requires that you "kill" the target, but Death Is Not A Career-Ending Injury in D&D, and een then, you can drop someone below 0 and leave them alive if you want to.
Gah, apologies. I did search but came up empty. Thanks!
Yeah, we have a lot of leeway if we can make the skill entertaining or badass enough so I'm looking for some neat ideas. Thanks for the thread
Other uses of the ability should be more specific to the situation or the enemy. What about them do you admire or want? Also, do you have to put together a scheme that culminates in the theft happening, or is this something you're envisioning as a spur of the moment snatching? Maybe thinking about how the theif ends up taking these things will give you ideas for things to take.
Adventurer's Vault 1
Gloves of the Bounty Hunter
Hands slot, 3400 gp
Property: When your attack causes a target to be reduced to
0 hit points or below, and you choose to knock out rather
than kill it, the target is restored to 1 hit point after an
extended rest (normally this occurs after a short rest).
Well, needless to say a few ideas cropped up. We'd already discussed capture and torture and we're allowed to do so...I was thinking of a couple of things but primarily I was wondering if there was a way to successfully and routinely 'convert' people to fight for us. Obviously we're not going to break every fight to 'recruit' the best and strongest but stealing an influential or powerful individual every now and then could prove immensely useful...
Any ideas to do this? I'm thinking something along the lines of stealing their morality, their free will and so on, something to completely alienate them from their past and their freedom so I can mould them as I see fit...
Also, those gloves are neat for RP purposes...
Regarding what to steal: Since you are evil, you can get into some really sneaky things. Wait until the local king/emperor/duke/whatever is old and on his deathbed, then fight and defeat the heir, and steal his birthright. Now you have your own country, and you didn't have to kill anyone for it.
- Knock the BBEG out and steal his alignment, his rage, his plans or something like that. Bottle it up and sell it to Asmodeus.
- Knock strangers out on the street and steal their balance. When they wake up, they can't walk. As a side effect (ask the DM), you might be allowed a saving throw (or immunity, depending on the DEX of the unbalanced creatures) against being knocked prone for each balance you've stolen.
- Knock out a leader of an enemy cult while he's sleeping and steal his conviction, his faith, etc.
- For some inter-party support, if someone else has a class/path/destiny feature that relies on stealing souls/shadows, etc. you can help that player by knocking out or killing enemies and giving your teammate the reward that they would've only received otherwise had they reduced the enemy to 0 hp themselves.
Some shenanigans off the top of my head:
- Knock the BBEG out and steal his alignment, his rage, his plans or something like that. Bottle it up and sell it to Asmodeus.
- Knock strangers out on the street and steal their balance. When they wake up, they can't walk. As a side effect (ask the DM), you might be allowed a saving throw (or immunity, depending on the DEX of the unbalanced creatures) against being knocked prone for each balance you've stolen.
- Knock out a leader of an enemy cult while he's sleeping and steal his conviction, his faith, etc.
- For some inter-party support, if someone else has a class/path/destiny feature that relies on stealing souls/shadows, etc. you can help that player by knocking out or killing enemies and giving your teammate the reward that they would've only received otherwise had they reduced the enemy to 0 hp themselves.
Having played more than my share of crazy characters....I'd add in some stuff about how doing this affects YOUR character....
Steal someone's love of fine wines ... next time you're at an inn spend all your cash on that one dusty bottle......
Previous poster said to steal someone's rage... great but now your always angry.....:-)
Ask your DM if it's OK for you to give instead of steal....limits need applied but certainly more options for fun...
Some shenanigans off the top of my head:
- Knock the BBEG out and steal his alignment, his rage, his plans or something like that. Bottle it up and sell it to Asmodeus.
- Knock strangers out on the street and steal their balance. When they wake up, they can't walk. As a side effect (ask the DM), you might be allowed a saving throw (or immunity, depending on the DEX of the unbalanced creatures) against being knocked prone for each balance you've stolen.
- Knock out a leader of an enemy cult while he's sleeping and steal his conviction, his faith, etc.
- For some inter-party support, if someone else has a class/path/destiny feature that relies on stealing souls/shadows, etc. you can help that player by knocking out or killing enemies and giving your teammate the reward that they would've only received otherwise had they reduced the enemy to 0 hp themselves.
Having played more than my share of crazy characters....I'd add in some stuff about how doing this affects YOUR character....
Steal someone's love of fine wines ... next time you're at an inn spend all your cash on that one dusty bottle......
Previous poster said to steal someone's rage... great but now your always angry.....:-)
Ask your DM if it's OK for you to give instead of steal....limits need applied but certainly more options for fun...
Well, if you can steal it, it doesn't have the same substance as it has when a "mortal" comes into contact with it. If you steal someone's soul, it doesn't replace your own. The fact that you have a manipulative power over a "love of fine wines" in the first place implies the possibility of otherwise affecting it as if it were an object to be manipulated (and not a psychological disposition), like sealing it in a container, if it isn't going to be used right away. Imagine knocking out a nobleman and giving his guards his love of fine wine to make them easier to bribe.
Sure, the DM can say "No" to anything and/or interpret it in a way that isn't fun for anyone, but such a DM wouldn't be fun to play with until Epic tier in the first place. In order for Thief of Legend to work in the first place, you'll need a DM who allows for some leeway as long as it doesn't destroy the campaign. Making the thief ALWAYS ANGRY GRRR would often wreck the campaign more than gathering some rage, putting it in a magical container and then later using it to make someone else angry. IF the latter turns out more destructive, the DM can simply say that the recepient of the rage is too controlled/willful to be enraged, or that he/she somehow avoided the method of transference. Either way, nothing of substantial value is lost to the party, since it's a free bonus in the first place.
Imagine the epilogue of the campaign stating that the thief has gathered so many strange intangible things over the the course of his final days of adventuring that he sets up shop afterwards. That's great and imaginative storytelling, and nobody gets hurt or overlooked (except the sadistic DM who hates his/her players, of course).