By Chris Nasipak.
I found it mildly unfair, when I heard that the Thief was not provided any schticks at all. So I took it upon myself to write some up.
[Webmaster's note: these are pretty powerful versions of one facet of the Thief's current Intrusion and Deceit skills. I'd recommend asking your players to use two skill bonuses for each of these they take, and they're worth about 16 experience points if bought after play begins.]
One of the classic abilities of the thief in movies is to become nearly invisible under the strangest of circumstances -- hiding in plain sight. This schtick allows them to do just that. With the expenditure of a Fortune Point, the thief does not become invisible. However, no one will pay any attention to her - so long as she does not move. It is also, after all, a movie classic for such a hiding thief to be betrayed by a sneeze or a giggle. The thief must roll his Intrusion skill against a difficulty of 8 for every minute that passes in which other people are in the room and not actively searching for him. Someone actually looking for the thief must use a perception schtick of some sort and spend a Fortune point.
The main limitation to Nobody's Home is, of course, that the thief must remain motionless while hiding. Sheer Audacity is what one uses when this is simply impossible or impractical. In this case, of course, the thief simply pretends to be someone who belongs, someone who has every right to be where they are and do what they're doing -- a police officer, mailman, army general, airline pilot, whatever. By spending two Fortune points, the thief can make such an act almost foolproof. Anyone the thief talks to can be snowed under with a fast-talking line of patter, and a roll of Intrusion vs the other's Mind attribute. The greatest danger to this schtick, of course, is running into the person one is pretending to be, especially if that is a Named Character.
Last modified: May 1st, 1997; please send comments to durrell@innocence.com.