The party will find out that there is a magic item that will make their lives easier in the thieves guild. They may want to try to get it even without the rogue. I need some possibilities on how that could happen.
The party will find out that there is a magic item that will make their lives easier in the thieves guild. They may want to try to get it even without the rogue. I need some possibilities on how that could happen.
I'm sorry, but I'm slightly confused by what the title and this part of the post are meant to mean. Are you saying that they're tying to steal it from the thieves guild? That they're trying to steal it so that they can do better in the thieves guild? Or is the party trying to find the location of a thieves guild and the magic item will do so, like the title of this thread suggests?
Anyways, parties don't need to have a Rogue to be sneaky. They just need decent dexterity, or magic items that make their life easier like the one they want to look for.
Just give them an adventure or scenario where they can get the item without a Rogue if they make the right decisions and don't mess up.
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The party would normally be able to make contact with the thieves guild by way of a rogue making contact with someone in the thieves guild when the party comes to town. I am looking for ways to get a party with no rogue liaison in contact with the thieves guild in order that they can acquire a certain magic item. The party needs to get in contact and get close enough with someone inside that they can beg, borrow or steal the item. Until they make contact, they will not know where to go to steal it or who to barter with for it.
An adventuring wizard with a bit of a reputation might be just the thing the Thieves Guild needs for some task or other. They might offer a reward, but it would certainly warrant an introduction.
The party would normally be able to make contact with the thieves guild by way of a rogue making contact with someone in the thieves guild when the party comes to town. I am looking for ways to get a party with no rogue liaison in contact with the thieves guild in order that they can acquire a certain magic item. The party needs to get in contact and get close enough with someone inside that they can beg, borrow or steal the item. Until they make contact, they will not know where to go to steal it or who to barter with for it.
I'm a bit confused. As the DM, you can let them get in touch with the thieves guild however you like.
If you are looking for ideas ...
1) How can the thieves guild get hired to do a job if there is no channel for clients to get in touch?
2) The party could say bad things about the thieves guild and attract their attention that way though it might be a bit negative.
3) The party could ask around in bars or the seedier parts of town. The bard should be able to convince or deceive someone into saying something useful about the thieves guild.
4) Depending on what levels they are they might have divination spells that they could use to give them a hint.
5) You could have NPCs give them some information. The party somehow discovered that a magic item is held by the thieves guild. Wherever that information came from there could easily be more giving some indication of where to find the thieves guild.
6) The party could stumble into a fight between opposing thieves guilds ... or between the thieves guild and mercenaries employed by the merchants guild. The mercs might be looking for allies to teach the guild a lesson ...
Basically, there is a near infinite number of possibilities and it is just up to the DM to decide which ones are reasonable for their storyline and which might make sense depending on the character actions.
Couple options spring to mind, a third party hires the adventurers based on their reputation or previous events to get the artifact, this at least points them in the general direction
Another option is to bypass stage one (where the party get the item) and jump to stage 2, the party need the item. Now the party has to research how to progress, they discover a magic item (the mcguffin) has previously been stolen by the thieves guild and now they need to either get it from them. This could involve a heist, running jobs for guild in exchange for the item etc
Maybe if the party still has links to the previous thief they use the old character’s contacts to get in contact with the guild or to help plan how to get the item from the guild?
Yeah, I would make this the party's problem. As long as they know the guild exists, they can figure out a way of getting in contact with it. Some old-fashioned sleuthing, bribing, and hanging out in bad parts of town is always a good start. Depending on their level, the cleric and wizard might be able to use magic or appeal to extraplanar beings for guidance on finding it.
Let your players get creative and reward the choices that seem reasonable, I say.
From my understanding the party know the thieve's guild have an item they would like to buy.
What the party do to try and find the thieves guild is up to them as DM you then run with that, David's suggestions of asking around the seedier areas of time and using divination magic are a couple of things they might come up with, another would be to make it clear in the seedier areas of time they are looking for while not mentioning the thieves guild directly they hope the fence will be informed of their interest.
If they are struggling as DM you can have the thieves guild approach them or they "randomly" cross paths such as:
The thieves guild could need to hire some adventurers for example to obtain raw materials for some poisons they need for a job. A request for adventurers is posted for what appears to be a legitimate client
As David suggested they could come accross a turf war or a theft in progress
Members of the thieves guild could try to steal from the party
Good suggestions above. I’d add the classic trope of, go talk to a bartender/make a fuss about meeting the guild in a shady part of town. Then, a little later, the guild reaches out to the party.
If they are looking for the thieves guild, then perhaps asking around town will go one of a few ways:
1. They ask about the thieves guild, and are told how to find or contact them.
2. They ask about the thieves guild, and the guild hears of it, and contacts them to find out what they want.
3. They ask about the thieves guild, and the guild hears about it, and tries to put them off the scent, or monitor them somehow, or they just steal from them.
4. They learn that the thieves guild pays well for hired help, ask in the Hidden Hands Tavern for work.
So, this is where I talk about modular session and campaign planning. We GMs all too often get caught up and permanently anchor items, loot, quest hooks and the like in fixed locations. That can actually make for a really boring world because it's static.
So, why does it need to be at the thieves guild? If it's incredibly valuable and not something that is going to be of direct benefit to a group of thieves, it'd make for a living and breathing world for them to be planning to sell it on, auction it off, or deliver it to the person who hired them to steal it. And that's where your opening is. A thieves guild could only steal and fence on their own, but much like the world of art thefts, counterfitting and stealing to order are the only really profitable ways to commit theft. So at some point any good guild is going to have representatives out in the world scouting for people interested in the loot they've stolen.
Maybe then, the party don't need to find the guild, but need to find the auction, or the fence, or even the patron who instructed the guild to steal the item. It's your problem as a GM that has the party need to get into the thieves' guild, in a really good living world people, goods, and even enemies move about. What that allows us as GMs to do is adapt to our players. If all the clues lead them down route A, but they decide instead they're going down route B, we as GMs can manoeuvre almost anything onto the path in front of them. Having that flexibility can really help cut down on the stress of GMing.
The party will find out that there is a magic item that will make their lives easier in the thieves guild. They may want to try to get it even without the rogue. I need some possibilities on how that could happen.
Party is Cleric, Bard, Monk, Paladin and Wizard
I would welcome suggestions.
Easy way is the Bard. Bard have a little bit of everything, and know people who know people, which is how they can often get secrets and tell the best stories or songs.
So just make it that the bard's reputation and knowledge of the area, he knows a few people in the Thieves Guild, who make contact with him or her.
One surefire way to get the attention of the thieves guild is for the party to start going around asking people in town if they know where to find the thieves guild. That should facilitate an interesting encounter :)
By the way, you didn't ask for it, but if you need a good thieves guild encounter map, I have found this one to be outstanding and a lot of fun to use at the table. Lots of secret passages and innocent-looking storefronts along the outside. I believe it is available for free on Patreon as well - https://www.patreon.com/posts/thieves-guild-32507859
Not your fault at all. I think I'm just bad at understanding things.
I like the idea that the thieves guild hires adventurers or stealthy guys for work. Perhaps the characters could win the item - or at least get a discount on purchasing it - in return for completing a quest for the organization?
Either way, it shouldn't be too hard for the party to make contact with the thieves guild if they seek for them. Not only that, but it makes sense that the guild might reach out and request the characters aid if they seem powerful, well suited for a stealth mission, and like they'd be available for hire.
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BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
This was my first thought, but in a different way than Aquilain. You have a cleric/monk/bard in the party? Put that thing in the local temple/monastery/traveling troupe instead. This lets that character with the 'in' feel a bit more connected to things. Thieves' guilds don't hold a monopoly on having stuff.
Of course if they already know that it's at the thieves' guild, then I'd go with any of the other options mentioned here.
Previous rogue PC is no longer with the campaign.
The party will find out that there is a magic item that will make their lives easier in the thieves guild. They may want to try to get it even without the rogue. I need some possibilities on how that could happen.
Party is Cleric, Bard, Monk, Paladin and Wizard
I would welcome suggestions.
I'm sorry, but I'm slightly confused by what the title and this part of the post are meant to mean. Are you saying that they're tying to steal it from the thieves guild? That they're trying to steal it so that they can do better in the thieves guild? Or is the party trying to find the location of a thieves guild and the magic item will do so, like the title of this thread suggests?
Anyways, parties don't need to have a Rogue to be sneaky. They just need decent dexterity, or magic items that make their life easier like the one they want to look for.
Just give them an adventure or scenario where they can get the item without a Rogue if they make the right decisions and don't mess up.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.My humble apologies,
The party would normally be able to make contact with the thieves guild by way of a rogue making contact with someone in the thieves guild when the party comes to town. I am looking for ways to get a party with no rogue liaison in contact with the thieves guild in order that they can acquire a certain magic item. The party needs to get in contact and get close enough with someone inside that they can beg, borrow or steal the item. Until they make contact, they will not know where to go to steal it or who to barter with for it.
An adventuring wizard with a bit of a reputation might be just the thing the Thieves Guild needs for some task or other. They might offer a reward, but it would certainly warrant an introduction.
I'm a bit confused. As the DM, you can let them get in touch with the thieves guild however you like.
If you are looking for ideas ...
1) How can the thieves guild get hired to do a job if there is no channel for clients to get in touch?
2) The party could say bad things about the thieves guild and attract their attention that way though it might be a bit negative.
3) The party could ask around in bars or the seedier parts of town. The bard should be able to convince or deceive someone into saying something useful about the thieves guild.
4) Depending on what levels they are they might have divination spells that they could use to give them a hint.
5) You could have NPCs give them some information. The party somehow discovered that a magic item is held by the thieves guild. Wherever that information came from there could easily be more giving some indication of where to find the thieves guild.
6) The party could stumble into a fight between opposing thieves guilds ... or between the thieves guild and mercenaries employed by the merchants guild. The mercs might be looking for allies to teach the guild a lesson ...
Basically, there is a near infinite number of possibilities and it is just up to the DM to decide which ones are reasonable for their storyline and which might make sense depending on the character actions.
Couple options spring to mind, a third party hires the adventurers based on their reputation or previous events to get the artifact, this at least points them in the general direction
Another option is to bypass stage one (where the party get the item) and jump to stage 2, the party need the item. Now the party has to research how to progress, they discover a magic item (the mcguffin) has previously been stolen by the thieves guild and now they need to either get it from them. This could involve a heist, running jobs for guild in exchange for the item etc
Maybe if the party still has links to the previous thief they use the old character’s contacts to get in contact with the guild or to help plan how to get the item from the guild?
Yeah, I would make this the party's problem. As long as they know the guild exists, they can figure out a way of getting in contact with it. Some old-fashioned sleuthing, bribing, and hanging out in bad parts of town is always a good start. Depending on their level, the cleric and wizard might be able to use magic or appeal to extraplanar beings for guidance on finding it.
Let your players get creative and reward the choices that seem reasonable, I say.
From my understanding the party know the thieve's guild have an item they would like to buy.
What the party do to try and find the thieves guild is up to them as DM you then run with that, David's suggestions of asking around the seedier areas of time and using divination magic are a couple of things they might come up with, another would be to make it clear in the seedier areas of time they are looking for while not mentioning the thieves guild directly they hope the fence will be informed of their interest.
If they are struggling as DM you can have the thieves guild approach them or they "randomly" cross paths such as:
Good suggestions above. I’d add the classic trope of, go talk to a bartender/make a fuss about meeting the guild in a shady part of town. Then, a little later, the guild reaches out to the party.
If they are looking for the thieves guild, then perhaps asking around town will go one of a few ways:
1. They ask about the thieves guild, and are told how to find or contact them.
2. They ask about the thieves guild, and the guild hears of it, and contacts them to find out what they want.
3. They ask about the thieves guild, and the guild hears about it, and tries to put them off the scent, or monitor them somehow, or they just steal from them.
4. They learn that the thieves guild pays well for hired help, ask in the Hidden Hands Tavern for work.
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So, this is where I talk about modular session and campaign planning. We GMs all too often get caught up and permanently anchor items, loot, quest hooks and the like in fixed locations. That can actually make for a really boring world because it's static.
So, why does it need to be at the thieves guild? If it's incredibly valuable and not something that is going to be of direct benefit to a group of thieves, it'd make for a living and breathing world for them to be planning to sell it on, auction it off, or deliver it to the person who hired them to steal it. And that's where your opening is. A thieves guild could only steal and fence on their own, but much like the world of art thefts, counterfitting and stealing to order are the only really profitable ways to commit theft. So at some point any good guild is going to have representatives out in the world scouting for people interested in the loot they've stolen.
Maybe then, the party don't need to find the guild, but need to find the auction, or the fence, or even the patron who instructed the guild to steal the item. It's your problem as a GM that has the party need to get into the thieves' guild, in a really good living world people, goods, and even enemies move about. What that allows us as GMs to do is adapt to our players. If all the clues lead them down route A, but they decide instead they're going down route B, we as GMs can manoeuvre almost anything onto the path in front of them. Having that flexibility can really help cut down on the stress of GMing.
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Easy way is the Bard. Bard have a little bit of everything, and know people who know people, which is how they can often get secrets and tell the best stories or songs.
So just make it that the bard's reputation and knowledge of the area, he knows a few people in the Thieves Guild, who make contact with him or her.
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One surefire way to get the attention of the thieves guild is for the party to start going around asking people in town if they know where to find the thieves guild. That should facilitate an interesting encounter :)
By the way, you didn't ask for it, but if you need a good thieves guild encounter map, I have found this one to be outstanding and a lot of fun to use at the table. Lots of secret passages and innocent-looking storefronts along the outside. I believe it is available for free on Patreon as well - https://www.patreon.com/posts/thieves-guild-32507859
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Not your fault at all. I think I'm just bad at understanding things.
I like the idea that the thieves guild hires adventurers or stealthy guys for work. Perhaps the characters could win the item - or at least get a discount on purchasing it - in return for completing a quest for the organization?
Either way, it shouldn't be too hard for the party to make contact with the thieves guild if they seek for them. Not only that, but it makes sense that the guild might reach out and request the characters aid if they seem powerful, well suited for a stealth mission, and like they'd be available for hire.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.go into town and start stealing things. The thieves guild will find you
All great suggestions. Thank you.
Continue if you have other thoughts. The group will be running into this scenario in a few weeks.
This was my first thought, but in a different way than Aquilain. You have a cleric/monk/bard in the party? Put that thing in the local temple/monastery/traveling troupe instead. This lets that character with the 'in' feel a bit more connected to things. Thieves' guilds don't hold a monopoly on having stuff.
Of course if they already know that it's at the thieves' guild, then I'd go with any of the other options mentioned here.
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(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
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(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm