Thieves' World Player's Guide, RPG Review

In the late 1970s and early 1980s a series of anthologies and novels set in and around the city of Sanctuary created a place known Thieves' World. Then in the early 2000s the city was revisited with another novel and a couple more anthologies. Now Thieves' World also exists in the d20 system.

I was a fan of Thieves' World when the books came out over 30 years ago and read every book as soon as I could get it. But, it took me ten years to bring myself to read Thieves' World Player's Guide. I was afraid of how this city of intrigue, despair, hope, and grit would be treated. The stories set in Sanctuary weren't written as young adult stories and I was concerned it might lose its edge. My worries were unfounded.

Green Ronin had a team of game developers involved on their project. More importantly, to me, they also had Lynn Abbey, one of the original creators and author. They kept the edginess of what life would be like in Sanctuary. They also provided the ability to engage the stories anywhere along the timeline presented in the stories.

Sanctuary always dealt with hardships and living in Thieves' World from the first books, creating a unique flavor. There is information presented allowing players to go right back to the beginning. The characters from the books are described and you can play or encounter. You can also step to the next time period and deal with the changes that took place when the books came back. New characters, new stories, and new problems, but the same grit.

The adventures are associated with the challenges of living in the city. There is the ability to create grander adventures and move beyond the city walls, and the information provided is in-line with the original works.

Thieves' World Player's Handbook presents new classes, abilities, and ways of handling a fantasy based game where there are only humans. They also dealt with the issue of how magic worked in Sanctuary—different authors developed different ways for their spell casters. Instead of converting the city into a generic d20 system, they flexed the system to work for the city, again keeping true to the Thieves' World books.

If you want a location for your existing characters, you can also do that. There is information for bringing Sanctuary into a more traditions DnD format. This allows for the magic systems people are used to and the ability to bring in the other gaming races people like to play.

If you are not familiar with Sanctuary and Thieves' World, be warned it is a grim setting dealing with the seedier side of humanity. This doesn't mean there are no good people, it means there are people who are surviving the trials of life in a city that has been torn apart by war, gods, disease, cults, drugs, etc. and they are doing what they can, and what they have to, to make it through another day.

First published in Utah Geek Magazine.

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