Basic Storylines for Thief Campaigns (CTH)

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Perhaps the player character thieves will be content at the start of a campaign to plunder this noble mansion and that opulent gallery, staying one or two steps ahead of the city watch. Such campaigns require little planning beyond the next gaming session for the DM, and work well with players who can only attend occasional gaming sessions.
However, the repetition of objectives and motivations can prevent players from exploring the full possibilities of their characters and the game. Even if each mission involves a different setting, new monsters, and unique, challenging traps and NPCs, players and DMs alike may find themselves wanting more.
    
The addition of a basic storyline can add a theme tying the campaign together, giving the player characters a cause higher than mere plunder for their exploits. Storylines allow for greater development of NPCs, and also provide the PCs with more opportunities for interactive roleplaying (as opposed to combat and other physical encounters).
    
Several suggested storylines are presented here. Many dungeon masters prefer to create their own, and this is encouraged. The examples are brief enough that each campaign's will be specifically tailored for a unique fit.
==The Great Artifact==
This is the type of story that gets the old thieves talking late into the night, sipping their mugs and reminiscing wistfully about the big job that they never quite got around to.
    
The great artifact is a unique object, a one of a kind wand or gem or statue or anything else of tremendous worth. It is famed for its power (like a magic item) or its symbolic value (like the crown jewels of a proud government) or perhaps simply for its mindboggling worth financially (the mint or gold repository of a powerful city-state, perhaps). Occasionally, an artifact will combine features of all these types, and more. Objects labelled as "artifacts" in the AD&D® game system usually fall into this category.
    
Whatever its nature, some generalities about the theft of the great artifact apply. Its worth is fabulous. Although it may not be sought by everyone, there are plenty who would give anything to own it.
    
The great artifact's acquisition should be a process requiring many gaming sessions. Perhaps several additional quests are required before the theft of the artifact can even begin—a key must be obtained before the magically warded chest can be opened, for example.
    
The protections of the artifact should be many, and their effectiveness should increase the closer the PCs get to their goal. These barriers should ideally include obstacles to the mental, as well as the physical, abilities of the characters. Often a great deal of planning and coordination can be required of a band of thieves, in order to pull off the theft everyone thought was impossible.
    
Indeed, there might be a body of lore surrounding the artifact. Player characters willing to do their homework might be able to find survivors of previous expeditions, or at least hear tales handed down from earlier years. Such cautionary tales, of course, may contain more fiction than fact. They may also be couched in obscure language (as, for example: "Beware the witching moon when the hog walks upon the water"), containing a meaning that only becomes clear when certain conditions come to pass.
    
The quest for the great artifact does not have to end with its acquisition, by the way. Once its removal becomes public knowledge, any object of such great value becomes the focus of attention for bounty hunters, master thieves, and whoever had the object stolen to begin with. Especially in the case of potent magic, the PCs might find themselves holding onto a lot more than they bargained for.
==The Mysterious Client==
The mysterious client is usually an NPC. He or she can be a player character, however, if that player is briefed by the DM privately beforehand.
    
However the client is played, the role is that of a person (or perhaps a deity) who contacts the main group of PCs and asks them to perform some task worthy of their thiefly abilities.
    
This storyline is easy to start because the client can always direct the PCs toward the first encounter. The most important feature here is for the DM to surround the client with an air of mystery. Perhaps the characters never see the client's face, or learn his or her name. Maybe all of their communications are in writing, and they are allowed no information as to where the client can be found.
     
Mysterious clients can be drawn from any and all character classes, or even from the ranks of monsters. A powerful and intelligent monster that cannot mingle freely with humans might seek thieves to perform some of its business. In the ultimate extreme, of course, the client turns out to be a powerful god or other extraplanar being, and the PCs are involved in really big time trouble before they know what's happening.
    
The task required of the thieves by the client can include theft, of course. Other possibilities include the search for a lost object, often requiring investigative work as well as stealth; the gaining of information by requiring the characters to serve as spies or scouts; or other even more nefarious tasks invented by the client or the DM.
==Role Reversal==
An interesting challenge to player characters, and particularly thief player characters, is the task of protecting some object from an imminent theft. This story can be combined with the mysterious client plotline to create another twist.
    
The PCs can be assigned to move the object somewhere, guarding it on the way, or simply to protect it where it is. The challenge arises from anticipating the plans of whatever thieves might be inclined to make the attempt.
    
Generally, the PCs will be tested with one or two easy probes before the real challenges occur. The guardianship role can easily be extended through several gaming sessions, as more and more vigorous attempts to acquire the loot are mounted.
    
This storyline is not as well suited for a longrunning campaign as are some of the others. However, characters who spend most of their time attempting to obtain items of value might find the change of perspective interesting.
==Foul Betrayal==
This storyline is best combined with one of the others. It fits well in the thief subculture and can be wrapped around any significant non-player character in the campaign. It provides PCs with strong motivation and can dramatically shake up a campaign that starts to run too smoothly.
    
The NPC who betrays them should be an important figure in the campaign, and one who is fairly well known to the player characters. He can be their employer, or a respected neighbor, or even a mentor or family member to one of the PCs. Ideally, in one of the latter cases, the NPC has a deep and compelling motivation for the betrayal. Most characters, even including thieves, would not be too likely to sell their brother or grandmother down the road for a small profit.
    
The betrayal should be set up carefully by the DM. Perhaps one or two clues might indicate the NPC's true nature, but only if the players are exceptionally alert. The betrayal itself should not be the end of the story, however; the PCs should have a long and difficult road to follow in their quest for an accounting.
    
The betrayal situation works best in campaigns where there are many well-detailed NPCs. If it is used capriciously in a setting with few NPCs, players may become inclined to distrust every NPC introduced to the game. This is frustrating for players and DM alike.
==The Spy==
This plotline works most effectively for small groups of player characters, or even individuals. More complex evolutions can involve large groups, all cooperating on an intelligence-gathering mission, but these are harder to run and more confusing to play.
    
Perhaps more than any other, a spying storyline allows the DM to draw upon a vast store of novels, films, and other media. Plotlines involving spies, even when set outside the fantasy area, can often be converted into challenging roleplaying situations. Substitute a crystal ball for satellite reconnaissance, clairaudience for a phone tap, and a flying carpet for a helicopter, and you will be able to reproduce many a modern thriller in an AD&D® game setting and format.
    
The spy storyline offers another advantage to many players in that it serves as a non-evil alternative for thief player characters. Of course, spies can be evil, but a spy may also be motivated by grander ambitions than perhaps the common thief. A character or group sent to infiltrate the ranks of a menacing warlord or bandit king can perform great service for the good of society if they can succeed in their mission.