The first most important thing to remember is to keep your head. If you get excited, angry, sad, or happy you could get killed. Secondly, the most important physical aspect to thieveing is being QUIET. This I think is by far the most obvious part of being a thief. So basicly don't run through a field of dry leaves if you can go through the trees instead.
A really good thing to do is model your movements around animals. i.e. cats, snakes, rats, spiders, praying mantis' . Mostly cats and snakes. Slow, sly movements are your friend. Try to think of each job as building a ship in a bottle, you must be very carefull, quiet, patient, and smooth. You must know that just because the guard is facing the other way, doesnt mean he cant hear you. Remember, you cant "roll" a sneak and make it. You are sneaking. A good way to remember things like this is to listen to your surroundings. If you can hear somthing, so can they. Therfore they will hear somone walking into the door behind them. So create distractions. if a guard is in your way, simply get him to move away in the oppisite direction. A really excellent way of doing this is those little white "snappers". The ones you can get at a fireworks store. Slingshot one about ten feet infront of the guard in a bush, he moves to investigate, you get past him. Of course, pracice makes perfect.
So now that you have a headache from reading all this,
here are some visual aids:
1) Atolucus, King of thieves from the TV show Hercules
2) Computer Game: THIEF the dark project
3) The thief from the movie "Lady Hawk" with Rutger Hauer and Michelle Phifer.
4) Any AD&D book on thieves
Of course we're not just going to drop you into a situation without some training. So go talk to the local thieves guild for some good pointers. Also your going to want your tools. Heres a list of things you will be getting as you get better and better at thieving*:
A Thiefs Tools:
1) Smoke bombs: Because thieves are trained to fight in the dark, we can also fight in smoke. these are small bags filled with Talc or some kind of powder that is thrown on the ground or at a tree. The result is a small burst of smoke that signals the other players that they cant see. And they should close thier eyes. Thus allowing us to operate, or run the hell away.
2) Distraction Pills: these are those cute little "Snappers" you got when you were ten to throw at the cat. To those who dont know what Im talking about, they are little white pill shaped, paper thingies that snap when thrown on a hard surface. Or when squeezed between your thumb and index finger, ther're perfectly safe...but dont swallow one.
3) Lock Pick: This one is going to mosly rely on your brain. The locks on boxes and doors, will be very small slide-puzzles. The ones where you slide each little peice around until you get the picture? Yeah those. If your not good at puzzles you might want to start practicing. The way the rules currently work is, if your at a tent, and your picking a lock on a box, and you cannot get the puzzle done, if you can count to 100 without ANY interruption, the box opens. So thats good for you.
4) Sleeping Powder: This is a small bag filled with any kind of "string-confetti". If you are on one of those "get in-get out" jobs that the employer doesnt want anyone killed, this is great stuff. Its also good for putting someone who is asleep, into a very DEEP sleep, so you can operate. Basicly the sleeping "powder" is kept in a small pouch on your waist, when needed you simply toss it in the face of the target. Or drop it in front of thier face from behind. Whatever the occasion calls for.
5) Caltrops: These are little spiked balls that, if being chased, you can throw on the ground behind you. The person(s) chasing you MUST stop running and walk through the field of caltrops. This gives you a good head start in front of them. Thier composed of whatever you can think of. Mabey those giant soft plasitc Jacks you see in novelty shops. Or small plastic jacks. Whatever. Just clear it with the thief marshal before using them. And by "clear it" I mean to show them to him BEFORE the game starts.
6) Poison: As it stands, the designated color for Poison is GREEN. There has been some playtesting of a type of green "lip-stick" smudged on the side, or rim of the glass. This tells the player that they must ignore the fact that they see the green smudge, and be poisoned, and therefor must die. Another possible way of poisoning somone is to radicly augment the flavor of their drink or food. By this I mean adding a pinch of sour candy powder, or kool-aid to said drink or food. The sudden terrible taste will not only add to the realism of the game, but would also be more discreat....and would look cooler in a pouch.
We're still working on the list of things thieves can do, so this list might change. The best thing to do is stay in contact with the Guild members. We are the best place for info right now, since his page might not be updated as much as we all want it to be. Because Im a lazy bastard.
Still More To Come....
THIEF!