The common thief is a great deal like the one found in the Palladium® setting on page 91. There are a few minor difference between them, however. Most obvious is that the common thief will not join a guild. Instead, he chooses to remain a rogue, accountable to no one but himself.
These people are often looked on with disdain due to the fact that they have no allegiance at all. Often times considered second-rate, unprofessional cut-purses, they are far from that. In many ways, the common thief is more cunning that his guilded counterparts, having been forced to hide on his own. In fact, often times, a common thief will be approached by a guild and offered membership!
While common thieves are basically the same as any other type of thief, they do not fetch as much money on the whole for missions. All the prices quoted in the official system are halved for serveses rendered. This doesn't mean that they do not make a lucrative buisness, in fact some people will not hire guilded thieves simply because of the politics involved.
Common Thieves, Armor, and Weapons
All common theives refuse to wear "cumbersome" armor. In stead, they wear
leather armors and do not use a shield or a helm. Metal armor of any kind is far too noisy
and terribly difficult to move in for these agile men and women.
In addition to the refusal to wear metal armor, they will never use two handed weapons apart from a bow or crossbow. This is because they need to have at least one hand open to perform any special maneuvers or tactics. Nearly all common thieves are ambidextrious, but very few of them will use two swords together (less than 10%). Instead, they prefer to use two daggers, or whip and dagger, or other exotic weapon.
They perfer to use less traditional weapons, but not to the extreme that the Shadow Walkers do. Weapons of choice for thieves include daggers, sai, and bola. They rely heavily on cunning and agility to do the job rather than brute strength.
Attribute Minimum: P.P.: 12+, I.Q.: 9+
Base S.D.C.™: 2D6
For details on creating a common thief, see page 91-94.