I like the idea of wilderness "thief", and I think I would work to achieve that archetype with this methodology primarily. I did a similar process when I worked on Thief Bonuses for Races that have a outdoorsy preference. Certain skills got a penalty in urban/dungeon environs while performing as expected (or bonuses) in outdoorsy areas. When I worked on my own classes (or quasi classes) I applied small bonus to ability check type rolls when in certain areas.cbarchuk wrote: ↑Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:00 am I definitely don't like the idea of an optional class implying a core class should be penalized in someway. I think that can cause a lot of problems in my opinion. Whenever you start creating subclasses of subclasses the niche that class is trying to fill becomes more and more narrow.
The Complete Thief's Handbook from 2e is a good source to get inspiration from.
- It lists the main skills of a Scout as Hiding, Move Silently, Hear Noise, and possibly Climbing.
- When in the wilderness the Scout gains a +10% bonus to Hiding & Move Silently.
- Scouts surprise opponents on a 3 in 6 chance while in the wilderness.
It then lists of course various background skills that would most likely compliment a Scout along with some racial bonuses. Very simple. I really like the whole Kits approach.
- Due to their wilderness expertise they suffer a -5% penalty on all thief skills while in an urban area.
So take the Thief class and give it a few bonuses while in the wilderness and some penalties while in the city and...voila...you got yourself a Scout. Keep it simple.
Mechanical differences to the Thief are minor with the major changes coming from how you roleplay the character which in my view is how it should be.
Really, there is little reason to over-think the abilities or try to come up with too much overt extra abilities for a wilderness thief. The "bones" of the thief class are good.