Help with a new Lifepath: Burglar

[Clint]

My first exposure to this system is going to be running a game for my fiancee, who loves thieves. I noticed that there's no Burglar, Second-Story Man, or other similar Lifepath in any section of Men (despite one of the examples in another section of the book using a Master Burglar). :)

This is my first shot at making one to fill the gap, so I broke out the Monster Burner and went step by step along with its advice. Here's what I came up with:

Burglar
Time: 5 yrs
Stat: +1 M/P
Resources: 12
Traits: 2pt: Quiet*, Daring, Overconfident
Leads: Outcast, Soldier (Spy?)
Skills: 6 pts: Stealthy, Appraise, Lockpick, Climbing, Security-wise

The time was a guess. A burglar uses both body and mind, so I thought the option to choose between them was fine. I thought that being a career burglar had to be at least as lucrative as being a con man.

I looked through all the traits in the Character Burner and thought that Quiet was appropriate. Also daring and overconfident, which is why there tend not to be older burglars. Which leads me to a question: Quiet is listed as a two-point trait. I'm guessing that means that to have that and another trait, you have to list three or more points?

My biggest uncertainty came with choosing skills. How do you pare them down? On top of the ones I listed, there are strong cases for Haggling (for dealing with fences) and Streetwise (for moving about town). Maybe take out Security-wise and replace with one of these?

And I had no idea of requirements for this. There are stories about noble burgalrs, and then simple criminals. I left it blank. Anyone have any ideas?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much.

[Thor Olavsrud]

Hey Clint. Looks pretty solid.

I would drop the Resources to 10, and the Trait points to 1. I'd also throw in a lead to Servitude!

For Trait points, if it's listed on the Lifepath, you only need to pay 1 trait point for it. I think giving the LP only 1 trait point is sufficient.

For skills, you don't want to go overboard. There are other criminal LPs that grant skills. You don't want to invalidate them. So keep it tight!

Personally, if I had to rate the skills, I would put Climbing first. I mean, you are imagining this as a second-story man, right? Otherwise Criminal or Street Thug would do. Climbing has to be the required skill for this LP, I think. Your instincts with Stealthy were right on, though. Optimally, a cat burglar gets in and out without his prey ever knowing he's there. So I would put Stealthy as the second skill in the path.

Appraisal and Lockpick are both viable I think. Which do you feel is more important to a cat burglar? That should go next.

Finally, I understand what you're getting at with Security-wise, but that feels too modern for me. This is totally a judgement call on your part of course, but something like Guard-wise, House-wise, Fat Merchant-wise or even Scrooge-wise might be more flavorful.

I don't know if you need a Requirement for this LP. Street Thug, Criminal, Pick Pocket and Confidence Man don't have requirements.

[Clint]

Thanks for the feedback, Thor. I'll make those changes. I'm glad that I got it mostly right. This is a really fun system to play around with. :)
Finally, I understand what you're getting at with Security-wise, but that feels too modern for me. This is totally a judgement call on your part of course, but something like Guard-wise, House-wise, Fat Merchant-wise or even Scrooge-wise might be more flavorful.
You're right: Security is a modern-sounding word, and I need a more appropriate term

What I was going for was for this skill to have a really narrow focus, specifically the field of breaking in. How about Breaking-in-wise? Inflitration-wise? I want it to be the difference between picking a lock on your friend's manacles and picking a lock on a second-story window, or between hiding when someone's chasing you in the woods and hiding from a guard on patrol of a place you're getting into. Is that the intended effect for a FoRKed "-wise" skill? Or should that be a call-on trait?

[donbaloo]

Sweet job on the life path. Its funny, as I was going through the life paths and looking at what sorts of thieving type paths there were, I actually looked for Cat Burglar...and of course didn't see it. I think you filled that gap rather nicely. I'm with Thor, I think I'd go with Climbing as his mandatory skill. That's just me though, the whole time I was looking for "Cat Burglar" and while I was reading your lifepath I kept getting flashbacks of the old AD&D Unearthed Arcana's sketch of the Thief-Acrobat...so climbing was important in my preconceieved concept :D .

I could see arguments going either way for whether to add a prereq for the lifepath. In a way, in my mind, the Cat Burglar seems like a "better burglar"...a classy sort of selective thief. I don't think it unreasonable to require him to be an evolvement from some baser thief or even a sophisticate of sorts that is adopting a criminal bent. Nice work with it though!

[Kublai]

Very cool. If you have the Monster Burner, you'll notice I developed the Burglar within the Roden Below. I hope he can inspire you somehow.

As to whether or not Burglar has a requirement, that decision will influence the setting in a big way.

If any thug that can climb through a window is considered a Burglar, I'd have no requirement and lessen the amount of time, skill pts and resources he would get. However, if a Burglar is considered an elite profession above and beyond the gutter tripes of common criminality, then he should have a requirement of Thief or Pickpocket. Then boost the time, skill pts and resources to reflect his higher status.

Maybe a Shutter-wise?

[Clint]

The final version:

Cat Burglar, from the City Setting of Man
Time: 5 yrs
Stat: +1 M/P
Resources: 10
Traits: 1pt: Quiet, Lithe, Overconfident
Leads: Servitude, Soldier, Outcast
Skills: 6 pts: Climbing, Stealthy, Appraise, Lockpick, Infiltration-wise

No LP requirements. I feel that making this the only elite criminal profession would be strange. I'm a big fan of fictional crime. Maybe someday I'll take a poke at making a whole Urban-Crime subsetting for Man, starting with the criminal type roles in the Character Burner and adding from there.

Thanks for all your help! :)

[Kublai]

Looks great! To be technical, please supply which setting this LP can be found in. I imagine it's the City Setting, yes?

[Clint]

You bet, Kublai. I've edited it to say so. Thanks much.

[Yagathai]

Of course, the best cat burglars are small...