I love the idea of the honest stranger wearing two rings, being too socially awkward to admit to not knowing the stranger who seems to know them and their kids, accidentally hiring an assassin to take out their butcher.
*proceeds to beg DM for implementing* Even though I am a lawful good fighter. edit: because I am thoughtful of our rogue player, I never violate the law, pay the court a fine or serve out my sentence.
"So how is old swindolfoot these days?" "Not so good, I'm afraid. He passed away about a month ago. Got a little too... Well, lets just say his ambitions finally got the better of him. Sad really. I always liked the old sod." "Too bad. His family is well taken care of though, I hope." "That's the worst of it. Not taking any handouts... Living mostly on principals these days." "Hmmm. Sorry to hear that. Can't eat principals." "Well, you know what they say; if you stand by principals long enough, you're sure to be rewarded." "And you believe it?" "Doesn't matter what I think. When your back is to the wall and the floor falling from beneath you, you either grab onto something or nothing at all. ...but enough of that. What do you say to a game of cards with a couple of old friends later?" "I always did love cards... Friends too if they're the right sort." "Hehehh Good! Meet me in the upper room on the southeast side after we've had time to put the kids to bed. ...and don't wake the dogs. Theyre a pain to put down and thier barking causes all kinds of trouble."
What's the interpretation of this? I got most of it, but I think I might be missing some pieces (the kids and dogs for instance). I take it this would be for a very difficult job with no specified payment, but the promise of some kind of reward afterward.
@@MacroAggressor from what I gather it's "hey got a job?" "yeah, but a dangerous one" "does it pay well?" "there is a chance for a big reward, but it's not certain. Are you interested?" "I am" "Good, meet me at night (this is the when we put the kids to sleep) and don't alert the guards".
Actually, yeah! They kept it really simple and straight forward, and if you learnt a few of them you could extrapolate the meaning of most of them from there. I miss my Riften days, you've made me all nostalgic.
@@MonarchsFactory fun fact, in case you didn't know, you can actually see symbols on the player home, if you don't own it, it's listed as empty, if you own it but aren't a member, you become a mark, then if you join, you become guarded
Instead of cards, we talk about foods. soup / soupkitchens are safe places, candy is stuff for pick pockets; big meals are big scores (usually burglary); medicines are assassination works. Sweet indicates easy and bitter stuff indicates danger. "Hi, I'm new in town, you wouldn't happen to know a place where I can get some soup?" "Oh, yeah, 2nd street on the right, there's a nice little tavern that makes a nice tomato soup. What type you fancy?" "Oh, I'm actually not that much of a soup drinker. I'm a sucker for cany, actually. But I'm in town with reservations in this littel restorant, not to far from the mayor's house. 7 course meal, this thurseday." "Oh, I know the place, but seriously mate, I've heard of people who ate there, and buy, the food tasted bitter ! "
I just got to the first critical role episode with the leaky tap and Matt mentioned two better dressed people playing a game of cards and I immediately just remembered this video and was like "someone is either getting info or hiring for some illicit caper"
I enjoy the idea of a rogue running up to a potential member of the trade and saying "Whoo boy, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." being met with a very serious and immediate "Come, join for me a drink." and both just meandering to the side to be properly hidden. Also on the converse "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." met with "Who are you?" and then... "Well... shoot, my bad gotta run!"
Sometimes thieves' cant is just about finding certain keywords and then you can improvise from there. Cats and dogs being code for thieves' and guards. If one thief who just traveled into town says "Is it me or are the dogs in this town unusually loud? feels like there are thousands of them" the other thief might respond with "maybe, but at night it's actually the cats that are the loudest". One might then then deduce that the first question is, how active are the guards in the city to which he's responded with not more active than what the thieves can manage. It can be rather intuitive from there. Like what does it mean if one guy says the cats and dogs fight a lot or that the cats usually outruns the dogs? What does it mean when one guys says many of the dogs in the city are owned by cat lovers? It might feel super easy to decode, but that's kinda the point. Realistically. such a cant would be decoded too easily by authorities, but it simply serves as light version of functional thieves' cant where players don't have to learn a lot before they can improvise the rest. Oh and this is not me claiming to know better. This is me coming up with ideas inspired by your video so well done.
An interesting thing to note is that it doesn't need to stand up to the scrutiny of the law, as lawmen would scarcely be hearing it. It just needs to sound enough like a normal, plausible conversation for the laymen that overhear it to not pay it any mind. So the ham-fisted analogies between things like cats and dogs or obviously back-and-fourth about ages or number of children doesn't seem like much of an issue here. Now, if the thieves needed to have said conversation through the bars of a prison cell or some other scenario where lawmen are present, they'd have to get much craftier.
saw a mad dog chasing a cat down the alley, hope the cat finds a way free = guards on the prowl, get out of sight. my cousin wrote to me how is your cousin oh he said he is bringing in some sacks of grain he should bring them to the old warehouse at the docks /// something along those lines could be used to locate a fence for stolen goods.
Another thing I also like is the idea of the rogue just nonchalantly incorporating slang from thieves' cant into the way he speaks occasionally confusing the party wizard. "Gotta hand it to ya, Wiz. You're wicked sipper alright" "Pardon?" "A sipper! y'know, an informant? Intel broker? Someone who knows a lot and sometimes won't shut up about it?" "First, rude. Second, why in all realms of existence would you call that a 'sipper?" "Because you gossip. 'Sip. You're a 'sipper" "How is anyone supposed to connect the word 'sip with intelligence broker?!" "They're not. That's the point, Wiz. Man, some times you can really be a meath" "A WHAT?!" Fits best with the rogue who's just too used to his isolated bubble of fellow criminals who know the lingo. That's why I don't use it for my current rogue. He's too concerned about blending in.
Or, for an assassination: "Well well well, it's been too long mate"(Fake intro) "Right on that, it HAS been too long"(confirmation) "Yeah well, could you pick something up from the butcher's for me?"(assassination request) "Of course, of course, anything for a friend!"(confirmation) "Yeah, could you get me a...(Rabbit-Another criminal Pig-An officer of the law, guards and shit Boar-A member of the military or king's guard or such Deer/Doe(male/female)-A member of the upperclass Stag-A REALLY rich person etc.)" "Yeah, it'll cost about six gold"(six-hundred gold, what he'll pay) "Really? I thought he raised his prices to ten gold for a....(Rabbit, Boar, Pig, etc.)"(haggling) "Nah, not THAT high, probably eight"(haggling continues) "Yeah, you're right, I do think it's eight"(agreement on eight-hundred gold) "So, I'll need this done by next Wednesday"(due date set) "Ok, but what'll you need this for? You bringing guests or just for you and your family?"(checking if it has to do with a crime family or syndicate, or if it's just something he wants done) "Oh, it's for.....(My Family and I-Himself Some friends and I-Crime syndicate or gang For Some Family Coming Over-Crime family)" "Great, who's coming over?"(Trying to figure out who he works for) "Oh my Uncle Kassim's coming over all the way from Posha"(In my world, Kassim's the leader of a very large crime family in Posha, which is a megacity much like Mexico City or Rio)
When I have rogues in my games, I'll just play it naturally to effect another roguish presence by using evocative colloquialisms and metaphor in the predominant language to imply something. It's actually really intuitive. Say my rogue is getting information on job location. "Ah, right ripe grapes at the Vinter's this time of year. View over the carriage house into the valley from the estate is incredible. Just be mindful you stay on the tour path, some kettles in the place heavy enough to crush a man!" I'm sure the rogues out there take the meaning! Ups your GM cred considerably.
In my game the rogue indicates he's about to talk in cant, and then we rp a normal conversation, subtexted by what he's really saying. Everyone around hears the rogue and the barkeep, for example, talking about the potency of the ale and the turn of the weather, but really they're setting up a secret meeting between the PC and another NPC from the underbelly.
That's kind of how I do it, too. Sometimes the play comes up with his own special theives cant-ie flair, and I just roll with it as though it's always existed in the world. I don't have anything "special" made up, though.
Like on "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" when Colin and Ryan do the Noir sketch, they have some dialogue, and then one turns towards the camera and explains his motivations or actions, then returns to dialogue.
I love this! Also I have the idea stuck in my head of a rogue just trying to get his first job and asking "oh how's Dorian?" And getting the response "he's dead" and the rouge just turns away and walks out of the building slowly picking up the pace.
Jobman: Yo remember that recipe I told you about i said 8 whole eggs right? I can't remember. Jobdoman: I'm pretty sure you said 7 whole eggs. Jobman: Really? Or wait no I think I added an egg yolk aswell so 7 whole eggs and an egg yolk. Jobdoman: Yeah that sounds about right. Rest of the party: Dafuq since when can our drow Roque bake?! That's so much fun definitely gonna use that from now on in my campaigns!!
I saw this as like the critical role sense with nott and Caleb having many different cons they run so one can shout stuff like “mothers love” “modern literature” etc
This was the first video of yours that I watched years back and it gelled so well with how I have always thought of and run thieves' cant that I knew I would love your content. I have watching since. And then tonight, I ran a game for you wherein there was a thieves guild, a crime family, and two heists... and I didn't think to use thieves' cant once. I'm such a bonehead.
A good idea for speaking Thieves Cant is to have the player use "real world" slang, and ONLY slang(kind of difficult to do!) - breaking the 4th wall a bit but creating a good sense of understanding common language, but not comprehending the meaning behind it. :D
My Great Uncle Jim was a marvelous person who would have been a 15th lvl rogue if he was a d&d character. He not only held minor local political offices throughout his later life and had connections to all the bigger politicians in our state, he was also very good friends with the moonshine smugglers and Italian smuggling groups and would regularly meet up for poker game nights with both groups. Because he worked for Bell during Prohibition he would overhear chatter from the police on when and where they were planning the next alcohol raid. He would then call up the friends who were targeted and tell them “I’m sorry I can’t make it to poker night tomorrow, I’m not feeling well, must be that bug going around”. All the moonshiners knew that if Jim called in sick to poker night it meant a raid was coming and they better scramble to move the stash and clear out.
I love that this leaves room for an accidental thieves cant conversation. A rogue approaches and feigns familiarity and the awkward party member just agrees and goes along with it
This is honestly genius. The haggling part of the conversation between employer and employee was mind blowing. It makes the players feel cool for knowing a language the others wouldn't know, and it makes role-playing have a SERIOUS impact on a mission. Amazing.
"the varied trades" is the best name ever. Definitely stealing that. I have to say this is the most mature and best implemented rules of any of your DND stuff so far.
Ive Given my Players who took the Criminal background or Charlatan Background (Basically if they are in that trade) the ability to learn Thieves’ Cant and of course rouges. I then gave them select words they would know in the language, Symbols they’d know and specific sounds and knocks. From there we’ve had fun making a secret language that only the Thieves’ of the party really know and me the DM, its added a really cool element to the roleplaying experience and makes it a lot of fun when in tense situations or battles to start saying key phrases tactically.
Meanwhile, warriors have their own secret way of talking... with their fists! Seriously though, that's some really cool world building. You're so thorough about it, it's quite impressive.
This. Was. Brilliant. I refer you as well to the Oceans (11,12,13) series of movies where Thieves Cant came into play to describe scams or methods. I’d also recommend you look up prison or gang tattoos and their meaning. You might find this enlightening in developing a visual Thieves Cant. Love this. Your family reference to jobs and pay is genius and will indeed be stolen by THIS guy...
"Off the top of my head, I'd say you're looking at a Boeski, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever."
I have the best rogue in the party I'm DMing for. The most amazing thing is that she never played before, and it's so much fun to witness her discoveries in thievery. Now that they finally arrived in a large city, I introduced the Cant in the campaign, but you have much better ideas here! I'm so going to steal this!
I was working on the ins and outs of the thieves guild in my last campaign[1]. I didn't get my design as far along as I wanted to which was fine 'cus he got kicked out after the second session[2]. Anywho the greeting was asking about a lost dog. The name confirmed your position in the guild and where (and when) they saw it would set up a meeting. It worked pretty well while it lasted. 1) The rogue wanted one so the rogue got one. 2) There was a vampire involved. And a partial mind wipe. And the death of an old woman. And an unfortunate tattoo. Its a long story.
This is absolutely brilliant, through and through. Not only because RPing it infront of the other, uninformed party members, would be extremely fun, but also because it thematically makes SO much more sense the typical cockney rhyming slang interpretation most people take. You version sounds completely believable and innocuous, so can be shared loudly in public, whilst cockney rhyming slang is obviously gobbledygook to all around so would arouse suspicion. The double-banded jewelry is such a good idea too because it strikes the perfect balance between subtle and obvious, as well as being easy to hide at short notice. Fantastic job!
"Yes, you can pick up the WATCH at MIDNIGHT. The WATCH. The Chinese WATCH. Yes, that's the one. Goodbye .... MOTHER." (nearby Paladin -- Hmm, that's not at all suspicious)
I decided I wanted to learn Thieves Can't so I can roleplay better and you are the only person who I have found that actually tried to explain it. So very thank you for this
I wasn't going to comment but I'll be twice damned, this was done really well & got me excited to use this in my own game thank you very much for sharing I look forward to seeing some more of your work!
two paralell jewlery/bands. Good one. My universal symbol is to draw notice upon the number three, with a respons in the same nature to confirm the contact "I would like to order 3 beers" says the theif. "Beer for your 3 friends" answers the barkeep, and indicates a place to sit down and wait for the fence. and so on.
That is some tasty worldbuilding, Dael. It feels natural and mysterious at the same time, it doesn't complicate things for the players, and the way you present it is absolutely believable. It's like you're giving a lecture on something you researched rather than invented. And the varied trades is such a great name. It sounds harmless and natural with just a hint of shadiness, I love it.
Love Dael! Watching her I got an idea. 💡 Instead of pre-writing the hundreds of expressions you would need for your own code, just say something that sounds good, (“The Kremesham had a Gloidinsclaw”) and then pass a note to the player, or to the DM if you’re the player, with the translation; “The entrance has a trap”. That way the other players can be mystified and you get the flavor without all the work of remembering or looking up the real meanings! Works also for one rogue eavesdropping on two or more others.
Just finding your channel and binging it a bit, really enjoying your videos. Wanted to comment and share that me and my friend use thieves' cant as an excuse to spout pythonesque gibberish and amuse ourselves and our table. The gibberish/cant doesn't have to make sense at all and the more outrageous, the better. The player tells me what kind of info they are looking for, whe chat some silly nonsense, and based on the quality of the nonsense I give them more or less detail about the questions they asked, "aunty esmerelda's off with the rancid cheese squirrel" "angry coconuts are chewing my eyeballs" "not without my trousers, Kenneth."
My favorite version of the Thieves' Cant is the Drasnian Secret Language from David Eddings' "The Belgariad". It's basically a form of sign language that only involves the use of a single hand, and a skilled practitioner can use it to have a silent conversation while holding a completely unrelated conversation verbally.
This is some brilliance. Probably the cleanest, most role-playing-focused treatment of cant that I have ever seen, and I will be delighted to use it in my games. Thank you for this!
I am so used to listening to either Matt that an Australian accent is almost jarring. Hi from Brisbane tho! I'm running a campaign a few sessions in but have been worldbuilding for a year or so. The players love the minutiae of just interacting with any part of the world and happily dodge story hooks to RP about. My approach was to just build everything, at a bare minimum give NPCs a name, appearance and motivation so I have a pretty good idea how PC action X will affect NPC Y etc etc. Your vids 100% helped to inform this process, so thanks! Stuff like customizing races and homebrewing magic items has been especially rewarding
In my world I have always assumed thieves cant to be something like this but with the addition of a form of sign language included so that the rogue could have a normal conversation on the surface and be having a completely different conversation in reality.
Hey Dael, big fan here from italy! Just want to tell you that thanks to you i got to know Matt Colville's channel which (i think) enriched my world even more than after your video. Which i love, and this one in particular more than any other. So... You're great. Thanks for everything you do! :3
I gotta say, I have never really thought about Thieves' Cant that much, but you reaaaally managed to make it sound not just awesome, but incredibly interesting. I'll have to prepare a handout for my party's rogue, I guess.
Interesting take ! Since my players are new, I tried to have an NPC telling something like "There is a rumor around the port that treasure seeker disapear underwater at night ! I wouldn't go there alone if I were you !" and blink on the key word so that it would be "rumor : treasure, port, at night, alone.". But since my players don't pay attention, to that kind of detail, I had to slip the rogue a note to explain what he just heard.
Aussie talking about criminals, funny. Also I find it just as amusing that to explain what a 'hobo' was you used the far more regional and obscure "swagman". It would be like me explaining that McDonalds is like In'n'out.
I Really Love this idea you’ve created! it feels very real and could be used really well in the game as the rouge learns more about the trade there in! Great Video!
When I have a thief/rouge in my campaign I hand them over a small notebook that has basic words, phrases, and symbols and their meanings. Due to having 3 separate thief's guild across my 6 continents in my world i want them too know some of the street signs. As well as they travel the notebook gets updated with their personal efforts (them players don't get everything for free, sometimes blood swear and tears are needed for the juicy information defiantly the bloody parts). this all due to i highly motivate my sneaky players to play in the darker parts of my world that i created for them, because you know those lawful good characters due sleep ;) also new to your channel thanks for all the fun content, also inspires me to make soft changes, mostly to the DM Binder loved that video. Keep up the awesome work. Cheers
Closing line gave me a very vivid flashback to Night Moves by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band I woke last night to the sound of thunder How far off I sat and wondered Started humming a song from nineteen sixty-two Ain't it funny how the night moves Seems like an appropriate song for a video about thieves and rogues
I think the main takeaway, however you might decide to portray it, is that cant is basically meant to simplify and disguise criminal conversation. In my case, it boils down to simple expressions like "Friendly greeting", "Trade in the back" or "Business after sundown" disguised as weather talk and ornithology. All that to say that if I hadn't come up with my own thing I would be stealing this *so hard* you'd think it's a gold pouch. It's so good!
I often work hand work into my thieve's cant in order to identify that you might have the same symbol that describes multiple different versions depending on your situation. Gives me the opportunity to make my players roll for perception to make sure theyre paying attention to it so they dont misinterpret what they think they know.
The great Gary Gygax himself wrote a whole book on this called The Canting Crew. All your thieving world needs for your RPG. Thanks Dael for giving us your thoughts!
The PDF is really awesome!! I did notice though that some of the paragraphs trail off of the page to the right. I don't know if anyone has brought this to your attention and thought you should know :) thank you for the wonderful content.
For thieves cant, I use a modified version of polari. "Vadaing some limmy cake ajax the dishbag, might shift it, doesn't look like jimmy can lift me there"
We have used thieves cant in our game. Actually creating the canting. ie "saw a scorpion sting the green snake" basically meaning an assassin killed the traitor. If we cannot comeup with this in RL we have ruled it cannot be used in the game. It does mean that both player and DM have to create the phrase and be able to understand it, though overtime this does get easier as we are creating the phrases and their meanings as we go. On the fly i passed on this message "From Spiders beneath the silken thread, Slab of meat has a new bed". DM loved it as it took him a few minutes to decipher (even with knowing a few terminology). There are limitations to any messages as all phrases are linked in some way to activates you want to keep away from guards, but has to be obscure enough so not to be too obvious. we basically again ruled that some others might know thieves cant due to experience, being taught it by a rogue etc.
Really creative! I've been DMing for years and you always have such rich original ways of looking at things. I never would have thought of this! Thanks for the videos!
This is essentially my idea of Thieves Cant. It *can't* be another whole language or obviously different from normal conversation because the *point* is that you can communicate in it without other people/'The Law' realising that anything's amiss. I remember a game where it was made up of fairly innocuous hand signals (making a C with your left hand in front of your body to identify you were a 'thief' being the only one I remember) but yours is a lot easier and far more natural.
I was honestly surprised how much my Grandma knew of these kind of cant's. Love it and really would love to even be a spectator in a game that uses this, let alone the rogue or bard participating.
Some time ago I had an epiphany about Thieves' Cant in real world. Have you ever watched Penn and Teller Fool Us? The premise of the show is this: two world-class magicians invite some illusionists to their show, they perform their trick, if two gentlemen can't figure out HOW they did it - they get the trophy. But honestly - world class magicians... they know most tricks in the book. They just can't say "oh, we get it, you did it that way" and spill out all of their guest's secrets to the audience though. So... They use Thieves' Cant. They tell a little story, some anegdote, at some point the guest bows to the audience, smiles coyly to the hostess and says they figured him out. They probably use some key-words or names that are associated with the trick's roots or basis - known to the inner circle of performers, but seamlessly woven into the speach to everyone around. I recommend watching couple performances on youtube for research reasons. It's astonishing.
Super useful video. I just started a campaign where my friend who wanted to play a barbarian but ended up playing a rogue because someone else in the party picked barbarian first. I think this stuff will make playing a rogue feel super cool and get him to enjoy his new character more.
This is a brilliant way of creating role-playing opportunities. Bravo, next game I run just might be a rogue focused campaign and this will be incorporated.
Ha, fun video. I gotta admitt, I hadn't given the topic much thought; I haven't had a rogue player in any of my games really. And now that I think about it, that fact itself is kind of blowing my mind. A lot of interesting bits and pieces there to mull over and steal (was gonna say borrow but this seemed thematic). Great video as always, thanks a bunch!
You've done a really good job for this. A friend and I (we both love rogues more than any other class, that sort of character). I've actually purchased an old Thieves Cant dictionary for that very reason.
Great video! lots of inspiration here. One suggestion to add to your homebrew document which I love so far, is: Information Broker: Bottom lip piercing This could indicate that someone is just a point of contact for the area and their job is just to dispense information on other contacts, or 'jobmen' as you might call them :P I wouldn't put these characters in the same vein as spies, especially since some of their business should be generated by people knowing who they are and how to find them. Also, I feel like there should be an understanding that Info Brokers are neutral. They don't pick sides and they're willing to give any info they have, to any individual who can pay for what that info is worth. In my mind, I think of this as the embodiment of the phrase, "Don't kill the messenger," or how it's typically part of the rules of engagement not to shoot the medic on a battlefield.
This is great. Just come across your channel and insta-subbed. In my most recent game I ran Thieves Cant as a combination of military hand signals and sign language (our group is fairly familiar with using both IRL) that could a) be used as signals when being stealthy, and b) could be mixed into just waving your hands around when you speak. Our Rogue had a lot of fun deciphering what people are /really/ saying behind their conversation.
I'm telling my group that one of them has to play a Rogue next adventure. =P I love the idea of starting an adventure by having a stranger approach the Rogue character and say "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes"...
"There's no such thing as a thieve's guild in my game"
That's what the thieves' guild WANTS you to believe :P
@Corvus Morve Yes the king wants you to visit Lake Logai
For historical precedent, check out thief hunter generals
Or just flavor it as a VERY shady locksmith guild.
@Konnor Jakob wtf why
It a legitimate organization of creative entrepreneurs that broker the redistribution of goods and information for clients who value discretion.
When the thieves' guild is so good at hiding that even the DM doesn't know about them
I love the idea of the honest stranger wearing two rings, being too socially awkward to admit to not knowing the stranger who seems to know them and their kids, accidentally hiring an assassin to take out their butcher.
*proceeds to steal this for his own game*
*proceeds to beg DM for implementing*
Even though I am a lawful good fighter.
edit: because I am thoughtful of our rogue player, I never violate the law, pay the court a fine or serve out my sentence.
You could still use it as a lawful good character. Just think of them as an informant.
Can't spell stealthing without stealing.
"So how is old swindolfoot these days?"
"Not so good, I'm afraid. He passed away about a month ago. Got a little too... Well, lets just say his ambitions finally got the better of him. Sad really. I always liked the old sod."
"Too bad. His family is well taken care of though, I hope."
"That's the worst of it. Not taking any handouts... Living mostly on principals these days."
"Hmmm. Sorry to hear that. Can't eat principals."
"Well, you know what they say; if you stand by principals long enough, you're sure to be rewarded."
"And you believe it?"
"Doesn't matter what I think. When your back is to the wall and the floor falling from beneath you, you either grab onto something or nothing at all. ...but enough of that. What do you say to a game of cards with a couple of old friends later?"
"I always did love cards... Friends too if they're the right sort."
"Hehehh Good! Meet me in the upper room on the southeast side after we've had time to put the kids to bed. ...and don't wake the dogs. Theyre a pain to put down and thier barking causes all kinds of trouble."
What's the interpretation of this? I got most of it, but I think I might be missing some pieces (the kids and dogs for instance). I take it this would be for a very difficult job with no specified payment, but the promise of some kind of reward afterward.
@@MacroAggressor "kids" or "children" are usually code for gold or valuables.
"dogs" are code for guards
@@MacroAggressor from what I gather it's "hey got a job?" "yeah, but a dangerous one" "does it pay well?" "there is a chance for a big reward, but it's not certain. Are you interested?" "I am" "Good, meet me at night (this is the when we put the kids to sleep) and don't alert the guards".
@@Zakiel97 I took it to mean no pay just what you can steal or the guild will owe you a favor, something along those lines
I actually really liked how in the skyrim thieves guild used the "hobo symbol" thing
Actually, yeah! They kept it really simple and straight forward, and if you learnt a few of them you could extrapolate the meaning of most of them from there. I miss my Riften days, you've made me all nostalgic.
And they're put to use around the game! Saved me a lot of trouble to recognize them
I totally did not realise this was a thing. But then again I don't roleplay as a thief very often. Hobosymbols are kinda cool.
Shadowmarks
@@MonarchsFactory fun fact, in case you didn't know, you can actually see symbols on the player home, if you don't own it, it's listed as empty, if you own it but aren't a member, you become a mark, then if you join, you become guarded
Instead of cards, we talk about foods.
soup / soupkitchens are safe places, candy is stuff for pick pockets; big meals are big scores (usually burglary); medicines are assassination works. Sweet indicates easy and bitter stuff indicates danger.
"Hi, I'm new in town, you wouldn't happen to know a place where I can get some soup?"
"Oh, yeah, 2nd street on the right, there's a nice little tavern that makes a nice tomato soup. What type you fancy?"
"Oh, I'm actually not that much of a soup drinker. I'm a sucker for cany, actually. But I'm in town with reservations in this littel restorant, not to far from the mayor's house. 7 course meal, this thurseday."
"Oh, I know the place, but seriously mate, I've heard of people who ate there, and buy, the food tasted bitter ! "
I just got to the first critical role episode with the leaky tap and Matt mentioned two better dressed people playing a game of cards and I immediately just remembered this video and was like "someone is either getting info or hiring for some illicit caper"
I can't get over how lucky Dael's players must be that she goes to this level of thought in her world building.
I enjoy the idea of a rogue running up to a potential member of the trade and saying "Whoo boy, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." being met with a very serious and immediate "Come, join for me a drink." and both just meandering to the side to be properly hidden.
Also on the converse "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." met with "Who are you?" and then... "Well... shoot, my bad gotta run!"
Sometimes thieves' cant is just about finding certain keywords and then you can improvise from there. Cats and dogs being code for thieves' and guards. If one thief who just traveled into town says "Is it me or are the dogs in this town unusually loud? feels like there are thousands of them" the other thief might respond with "maybe, but at night it's actually the cats that are the loudest". One might then then deduce that the first question is, how active are the guards in the city to which he's responded with not more active than what the thieves can manage. It can be rather intuitive from there. Like what does it mean if one guy says the cats and dogs fight a lot or that the cats usually outruns the dogs? What does it mean when one guys says many of the dogs in the city are owned by cat lovers?
It might feel super easy to decode, but that's kinda the point. Realistically. such a cant would be decoded too easily by authorities, but it simply serves as light version of functional thieves' cant where players don't have to learn a lot before they can improvise the rest.
Oh and this is not me claiming to know better. This is me coming up with ideas inspired by your video so well done.
An interesting thing to note is that it doesn't need to stand up to the scrutiny of the law, as lawmen would scarcely be hearing it. It just needs to sound enough like a normal, plausible conversation for the laymen that overhear it to not pay it any mind. So the ham-fisted analogies between things like cats and dogs or obviously back-and-fourth about ages or number of children doesn't seem like much of an issue here.
Now, if the thieves needed to have said conversation through the bars of a prison cell or some other scenario where lawmen are present, they'd have to get much craftier.
saw a mad dog chasing a cat down the alley, hope the cat finds a way free = guards on the prowl, get out of sight.
my cousin wrote to me how is your cousin oh he said he is bringing in some sacks of grain he should bring them to the old warehouse at the docks /// something along those lines could be used to locate a fence for stolen goods.
Another thing I also like is the idea of the rogue just nonchalantly incorporating slang from thieves' cant into the way he speaks occasionally confusing the party wizard.
"Gotta hand it to ya, Wiz. You're wicked sipper alright"
"Pardon?"
"A sipper! y'know, an informant? Intel broker? Someone who knows a lot and sometimes won't shut up about it?"
"First, rude. Second, why in all realms of existence would you call that a 'sipper?"
"Because you gossip. 'Sip. You're a 'sipper"
"How is anyone supposed to connect the word 'sip with intelligence broker?!"
"They're not. That's the point, Wiz. Man, some times you can really be a meath"
"A WHAT?!"
Fits best with the rogue who's just too used to his isolated bubble of fellow criminals who know the lingo. That's why I don't use it for my current rogue. He's too concerned about blending in.
Or, for an assassination:
"Well well well, it's been too long mate"(Fake intro)
"Right on that, it HAS been too long"(confirmation)
"Yeah well, could you pick something up from the butcher's for me?"(assassination request)
"Of course, of course, anything for a friend!"(confirmation)
"Yeah, could you get me a...(Rabbit-Another criminal Pig-An officer of the law, guards and shit Boar-A member of the military or king's guard or such Deer/Doe(male/female)-A member of the upperclass Stag-A REALLY rich person etc.)"
"Yeah, it'll cost about six gold"(six-hundred gold, what he'll pay)
"Really? I thought he raised his prices to ten gold for a....(Rabbit, Boar, Pig, etc.)"(haggling)
"Nah, not THAT high, probably eight"(haggling continues)
"Yeah, you're right, I do think it's eight"(agreement on eight-hundred gold)
"So, I'll need this done by next Wednesday"(due date set)
"Ok, but what'll you need this for? You bringing guests or just for you and your family?"(checking if it has to do with a crime family or syndicate, or if it's just something he wants done)
"Oh, it's for.....(My Family and I-Himself Some friends and I-Crime syndicate or gang For Some Family Coming Over-Crime family)"
"Great, who's coming over?"(Trying to figure out who he works for)
"Oh my Uncle Kassim's coming over all the way from Posha"(In my world, Kassim's the leader of a very large crime family in Posha, which is a megacity much like Mexico City or Rio)
When I have rogues in my games, I'll just play it naturally to effect another roguish presence by using evocative colloquialisms and metaphor in the predominant language to imply something. It's actually really intuitive.
Say my rogue is getting information on job location. "Ah, right ripe grapes at the Vinter's this time of year. View over the carriage house into the valley from the estate is incredible. Just be mindful you stay on the tour path, some kettles in the place heavy enough to crush a man!"
I'm sure the rogues out there take the meaning! Ups your GM cred considerably.
In my game the rogue indicates he's about to talk in cant, and then we rp a normal conversation, subtexted by what he's really saying. Everyone around hears the rogue and the barkeep, for example, talking about the potency of the ale and the turn of the weather, but really they're setting up a secret meeting between the PC and another NPC from the underbelly.
That's kind of how I do it, too. Sometimes the play comes up with his own special theives cant-ie flair, and I just roll with it as though it's always existed in the world. I don't have anything "special" made up, though.
Like on "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?" when Colin and Ryan do the Noir sketch, they have some dialogue, and then one turns towards the camera and explains his motivations or actions, then returns to dialogue.
I love this! Also I have the idea stuck in my head of a rogue just trying to get his first job and asking "oh how's Dorian?" And getting the response "he's dead" and the rouge just turns away and walks out of the building slowly picking up the pace.
Jobman: Yo remember that recipe I told you about i said 8 whole eggs right? I can't remember.
Jobdoman: I'm pretty sure you said 7 whole eggs.
Jobman: Really? Or wait no I think I added an egg yolk aswell so 7 whole eggs and an egg yolk.
Jobdoman: Yeah that sounds about right.
Rest of the party: Dafuq since when can our drow Roque bake?!
That's so much fun definitely gonna use that from now on in my campaigns!!
Wizard: That's a whole lot of cholesterol!
@@Jza_Dragon THATS A LOTTA DAMAGE
Bard: Now I'm craving crepes.
In my setting, Jobdoman is now official thieves cant lingo
pretty sure this is why rogues get SO. MANY. SKILLPOINTS! -> or whatever the 5e variant of that is
Really relate to those Australian accent Thieve's Carnt Thieves' Cehnt feels
I saw this as like the critical role sense with nott and Caleb having many different cons they run so one can shout stuff like “mothers love” “modern literature” etc
"I NEED SOME GOOD _MODERN LITERATURE_ RIGHT NOW!"
//Nott appears to immediately shoot him in the chest to the rest of the party's dismay//
"The varied trades" is a beautiful euphemism, and these systems you've come up with for collecting information and hiring a rogue are genius.
Now we need to hear your take on the Druid language.
I figure it's written like Ogham script.
Whaaaaa huhuhu eeek eeek kraaaa whaaa hu eeek meeeeeehhh-- Shithead Goblins down the creek yo' bitchass fella
I love everything here, including the "Varied Trades" and the very simplistic names that sound like street folk stuff, it's so subtle
Love the “Leaky Tap” Critical Role reference!
Not with that attitude they can't.
I absolutely could not help myself.
god i'm glad you're top comment because i was about to type up the same thing
So what you're saying is you can't help yourself
This was the first video of yours that I watched years back and it gelled so well with how I have always thought of and run thieves' cant that I knew I would love your content. I have watching since.
And then tonight, I ran a game for you wherein there was a thieves guild, a crime family, and two heists... and I didn't think to use thieves' cant once. I'm such a bonehead.
A good idea for speaking Thieves Cant is to have the player use "real world" slang, and ONLY slang(kind of difficult to do!) - breaking the 4th wall a bit but creating a good sense of understanding common language, but not comprehending the meaning behind it. :D
my man out here 0 likes for 2 years its all aight i liked your comment
@@Nolan-yp7vl i dont leave comments to get likes :P
Apples and Pears, Apples and Pears
My Great Uncle Jim was a marvelous person who would have been a 15th lvl rogue if he was a d&d character. He not only held minor local political offices throughout his later life and had connections to all the bigger politicians in our state, he was also very good friends with the moonshine smugglers and Italian smuggling groups and would regularly meet up for poker game nights with both groups. Because he worked for Bell during Prohibition he would overhear chatter from the police on when and where they were planning the next alcohol raid. He would then call up the friends who were targeted and tell them “I’m sorry I can’t make it to poker night tomorrow, I’m not feeling well, must be that bug going around”. All the moonshiners knew that if Jim called in sick to poker night it meant a raid was coming and they better scramble to move the stash and clear out.
I love that this leaves room for an accidental thieves cant conversation. A rogue approaches and feigns familiarity and the awkward party member just agrees and goes along with it
This is honestly genius. The haggling part of the conversation between employer and employee was mind blowing. It makes the players feel cool for knowing a language the others wouldn't know, and it makes role-playing have a SERIOUS impact on a mission. Amazing.
"the varied trades" is the best name ever. Definitely stealing that. I have to say this is the most mature and best implemented rules of any of your DND stuff so far.
Ive Given my Players who took the Criminal background or Charlatan Background (Basically if they are in that trade) the ability to learn Thieves’ Cant and of course rouges. I then gave them select words they would know in the language, Symbols they’d know and specific sounds and knocks. From there we’ve had fun making a secret language that only the Thieves’ of the party really know and me the DM, its added a really cool element to the roleplaying experience and makes it a lot of fun when in tense situations or battles to start saying key phrases tactically.
Meanwhile, warriors have their own secret way of talking... with their fists!
Seriously though, that's some really cool world building. You're so thorough about it, it's quite impressive.
This is the most amazing homebrew anything I've ever heard of! Most DMs I know just pass notes while they're talking
I love that this could be happening at the table without the other players even knowing. Totally stealing this!
This. Was. Brilliant.
I refer you as well to the Oceans (11,12,13) series of movies where Thieves Cant came into play to describe scams or methods.
I’d also recommend you look up prison or gang tattoos and their meaning. You might find this enlightening in developing a visual Thieves Cant.
Love this.
Your family reference to jobs and pay is genius and will indeed be stolen by THIS guy...
"Off the top of my head, I'd say you're looking at a Boeski, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever."
I have the best rogue in the party I'm DMing for. The most amazing thing is that she never played before, and it's so much fun to witness her discoveries in thievery. Now that they finally arrived in a large city, I introduced the Cant in the campaign, but you have much better ideas here! I'm so going to steal this!
I don’t know if I could ever use this in-game, but it is absolutely BRILLIANT for use as a dialogue method in fiction.
I was working on the ins and outs of the thieves guild in my last campaign[1]. I didn't get my design as far along as I wanted to which was fine 'cus he got kicked out after the second session[2]. Anywho the greeting was asking about a lost dog. The name confirmed your position in the guild and where (and when) they saw it would set up a meeting. It worked pretty well while it lasted.
1) The rogue wanted one so the rogue got one.
2) There was a vampire involved. And a partial mind wipe. And the death of an old woman. And an unfortunate tattoo. Its a long story.
the card game rogue introduction is actually super clever I'm definitely using that
This is absolutely brilliant, through and through. Not only because RPing it infront of the other, uninformed party members, would be extremely fun, but also because it thematically makes SO much more sense the typical cockney rhyming slang interpretation most people take. You version sounds completely believable and innocuous, so can be shared loudly in public, whilst cockney rhyming slang is obviously gobbledygook to all around so would arouse suspicion. The double-banded jewelry is such a good idea too because it strikes the perfect balance between subtle and obvious, as well as being easy to hide at short notice. Fantastic job!
"Yes, you can pick up the WATCH at MIDNIGHT. The WATCH. The Chinese WATCH. Yes, that's the one. Goodbye .... MOTHER."
(nearby Paladin -- Hmm, that's not at all suspicious)
I decided I wanted to learn Thieves Can't so I can roleplay better and you are the only person who I have found that actually tried to explain it. So very thank you for this
Kept pausing the video to practice and take notes lol. This is something I'll definitely have to develop for my own world.
I have a rogue in my party who needs to communicate with the Underbelly discreetly, to this will really help both of us!
I wasn't going to comment but I'll be twice damned, this was done really well & got me excited to use this in my own game thank you very much for sharing I look forward to seeing some more of your work!
two paralell jewlery/bands. Good one. My universal symbol is to draw notice upon the number three, with a respons in the same nature to confirm the contact
"I would like to order 3 beers" says the theif. "Beer for your 3 friends" answers the barkeep, and indicates a place to sit down and wait for the fence. and so on.
I LOVE this way of running thieves cant! I had always felt like it was a little lacking and this is the perfect fix!
The amount of verisimilitude that you bring to the game is just beautiful.
Grandma would not approve of Lockpickers
But what if Grandma use to be a Rogue in her day? What better way to find out? lol.
this one knows the truth of grandma, she is a silver tongue, no?
"We're in Barney. Barney Rubble? Trouble!" -Basher (It'll be nice working with proper villains again.)
That is some tasty worldbuilding, Dael. It feels natural and mysterious at the same time, it doesn't complicate things for the players, and the way you present it is absolutely believable. It's like you're giving a lecture on something you researched rather than invented.
And the varied trades is such a great name. It sounds harmless and natural with just a hint of shadiness, I love it.
Love Dael! Watching her I got an idea. 💡 Instead of pre-writing the hundreds of expressions you would need for your own code, just say something that sounds good, (“The Kremesham had a Gloidinsclaw”) and then pass a note to the player, or to the DM if you’re the player, with the translation; “The entrance has a trap”. That way the other players can be mystified and you get the flavor without all the work of remembering or looking up the real meanings! Works also for one rogue eavesdropping on two or more others.
Best explication of Cant I’ve encountered in 40 years of gaming. Well done!
Just finding your channel and binging it a bit, really enjoying your videos.
Wanted to comment and share that me and my friend use thieves' cant as an excuse to spout pythonesque gibberish and amuse ourselves and our table.
The gibberish/cant doesn't have to make sense at all and the more outrageous, the better. The player tells me what kind of info they are looking for, whe chat some silly nonsense, and based on the quality of the nonsense I give them more or less detail about the questions they asked,
"aunty esmerelda's off with the rancid cheese squirrel"
"angry coconuts are chewing my eyeballs"
"not without my trousers, Kenneth."
That card game thing is brilliant.
You're brilliant.
My favorite version of the Thieves' Cant is the Drasnian Secret Language from David Eddings' "The Belgariad". It's basically a form of sign language that only involves the use of a single hand, and a skilled practitioner can use it to have a silent conversation while holding a completely unrelated conversation verbally.
Wow, this is incredibly helpful! I love how RP heavy this is instead of just "I say in thieves can't..."
"At the leaky tap" ...a revolution is brewing
"Varied Trades." I really like that. It's so simple yet so euphemistic.
This is some brilliance. Probably the cleanest, most role-playing-focused treatment of cant that I have ever seen, and I will be delighted to use it in my games. Thank you for this!
I am so used to listening to either Matt that an Australian accent is almost jarring. Hi from Brisbane tho! I'm running a campaign a few sessions in but have been worldbuilding for a year or so. The players love the minutiae of just interacting with any part of the world and happily dodge story hooks to RP about. My approach was to just build everything, at a bare minimum give NPCs a name, appearance and motivation so I have a pretty good idea how PC action X will affect NPC Y etc etc. Your vids 100% helped to inform this process, so thanks! Stuff like customizing races and homebrewing magic items has been especially rewarding
I just suggested you in a D&D post for people looking for DM advice and you just uploaded D&D related video. Nice timing!
so effortlessly engaging. i'm loving your channel and that since i'm new here there's literally years worth of content to catch up on
I like this. It's easier than the Reddit post that I too had seen more recently. Yours is better.
In my world I have always assumed thieves cant to be something like this but with the addition of a form of sign language included so that the rogue could have a normal conversation on the surface and be having a completely different conversation in reality.
Hey Dael, big fan here from italy! Just want to tell you that thanks to you i got to know Matt Colville's channel which (i think) enriched my world even more than after your video.
Which i love, and this one in particular more than any other. So... You're great. Thanks for everything you do! :3
I gotta say, I have never really thought about Thieves' Cant that much, but you reaaaally managed to make it sound not just awesome, but incredibly interesting. I'll have to prepare a handout for my party's rogue, I guess.
Interesting take ! Since my players are new, I tried to have an NPC telling something like "There is a rumor around the port that treasure seeker disapear underwater at night ! I wouldn't go there alone if I were you !" and blink on the key word so that it would be "rumor : treasure, port, at night, alone.". But since my players don't pay attention, to that kind of detail, I had to slip the rogue a note to explain what he just heard.
This is amazing. Never realized communication between thieves could be so deep! Thank you so much for this insight into a very interesting mechanic
This is excellent. It's simple, evocative, cool, clear, makes rogues feel special. 10/10
As a DM of 20+ years.. Thank you for this! I will be putting it to immediate use in my OSR game.
This has been 1. Useful 2. Lovely 3.Insightful
Thank you so much, it's really great, you can tell your players must love you dearly!
Aussie talking about criminals, funny. Also I find it just as amusing that to explain what a 'hobo' was you used the far more regional and obscure "swagman". It would be like me explaining that McDonalds is like In'n'out.
Really good video, thank you for this!
"Oh. I'm rude again."
I Really Love this idea you’ve created!
it feels very real and could be used really well in the game as the rouge learns more about the trade there in! Great Video!
When I have a thief/rouge in my campaign I hand them over a small notebook that has basic words, phrases, and symbols and their meanings. Due to having 3 separate thief's guild across my 6 continents in my world i want them too know some of the street signs. As well as they travel the notebook gets updated with their personal efforts (them players don't get everything for free, sometimes blood swear and tears are needed for the juicy information defiantly the bloody parts).
this all due to i highly motivate my sneaky players to play in the darker parts of my world that i created for them, because you know those lawful good characters due sleep ;)
also new to your channel thanks for all the fun content, also inspires me to make soft changes, mostly to the DM Binder loved that video. Keep up the awesome work. Cheers
Closing line gave me a very vivid flashback to Night Moves by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from nineteen sixty-two
Ain't it funny how the night moves
Seems like an appropriate song for a video about thieves and rogues
I love the intricacies of your "thieves cant" so much it just became apart of my world, thx for sharing!!
every single one of these insights to your dming is just absolutely fantastic Dael. Well done!
I think the main takeaway, however you might decide to portray it, is that cant is basically meant to simplify and disguise criminal conversation. In my case, it boils down to simple expressions like "Friendly greeting", "Trade in the back" or "Business after sundown" disguised as weather talk and ornithology.
All that to say that if I hadn't come up with my own thing I would be stealing this *so hard* you'd think it's a gold pouch. It's so good!
I often work hand work into my thieve's cant in order to identify that you might have the same symbol that describes multiple different versions depending on your situation. Gives me the opportunity to make my players roll for perception to make sure theyre paying attention to it so they dont misinterpret what they think they know.
The great Gary Gygax himself wrote a whole book on this called The Canting Crew. All your thieving world needs for your RPG. Thanks Dael for giving us your thoughts!
The PDF is really awesome!! I did notice though that some of the paragraphs trail off of the page to the right. I don't know if anyone has brought this to your attention and thought you should know :) thank you for the wonderful content.
For thieves cant, I use a modified version of polari.
"Vadaing some limmy cake ajax the dishbag, might shift it, doesn't look like jimmy can lift me there"
I usually really enjoy your videos, but this is one of my favorites! AND you made the homebrew doc SO PRETTY!
i love these dnd and gm type vids. lots of good ideas to incorporate into our campaigns. please do more!
We have used thieves cant in our game. Actually creating the canting. ie "saw a scorpion sting the green snake" basically meaning an assassin killed the traitor. If we cannot comeup with this in RL we have ruled it cannot be used in the game. It does mean that both player and DM have to create the phrase and be able to understand it, though overtime this does get easier as we are creating the phrases and their meanings as we go.
On the fly i passed on this message "From Spiders beneath the silken thread, Slab of meat has a new bed". DM loved it as it took him a few minutes to decipher (even with knowing a few terminology).
There are limitations to any messages as all phrases are linked in some way to activates you want to keep away from guards, but has to be obscure enough so not to be too obvious. we basically again ruled that some others might know thieves cant due to experience, being taught it by a rogue etc.
Really creative! I've been DMing for years and you always have such rich original ways of looking at things. I never would have thought of this! Thanks for the videos!
I love how organic your take on this is. top tier well done
Also, props for being able to actually lift your ring finger like that, yo.
This is essentially my idea of Thieves Cant. It *can't* be another whole language or obviously different from normal conversation because the *point* is that you can communicate in it without other people/'The Law' realising that anything's amiss. I remember a game where it was made up of fairly innocuous hand signals (making a C with your left hand in front of your body to identify you were a 'thief' being the only one I remember) but yours is a lot easier and far more natural.
I was honestly surprised how much my Grandma knew of these kind of cant's.
Love it and really would love to even be a spectator in a game that uses this, let alone the rogue or bard participating.
The jewels/jewel location ideas are soooo nice, I'll probably end up stealing that. Great video o/
Good lord, this is brilliant! I can't believe how much thought you've put into this!
Some time ago I had an epiphany about Thieves' Cant in real world. Have you ever watched Penn and Teller Fool Us? The premise of the show is this: two world-class magicians invite some illusionists to their show, they perform their trick, if two gentlemen can't figure out HOW they did it - they get the trophy. But honestly - world class magicians... they know most tricks in the book. They just can't say "oh, we get it, you did it that way" and spill out all of their guest's secrets to the audience though.
So... They use Thieves' Cant. They tell a little story, some anegdote, at some point the guest bows to the audience, smiles coyly to the hostess and says they figured him out. They probably use some key-words or names that are associated with the trick's roots or basis - known to the inner circle of performers, but seamlessly woven into the speach to everyone around.
I recommend watching couple performances on youtube for research reasons. It's astonishing.
Super useful video. I just started a campaign where my friend who wanted to play a barbarian but ended up playing a rogue because someone else in the party picked barbarian first. I think this stuff will make playing a rogue feel super cool and get him to enjoy his new character more.
This was really good. I can see applying it to secretive factions like the Harpers too.
This is a brilliant way of creating role-playing opportunities. Bravo, next game I run just might be a rogue focused campaign and this will be incorporated.
Ha, fun video. I gotta admitt, I hadn't given the topic much thought; I haven't had a rogue player in any of my games really. And now that I think about it, that fact itself is kind of blowing my mind. A lot of interesting bits and pieces there to mull over and steal (was gonna say borrow but this seemed thematic). Great video as always, thanks a bunch!
You've done a really good job for this. A friend and I (we both love rogues more than any other class, that sort of character). I've actually purchased an old Thieves Cant dictionary for that very reason.
Great video! lots of inspiration here. One suggestion to add to your homebrew document which I love so far, is:
Information Broker: Bottom lip piercing
This could indicate that someone is just a point of contact for the area and their job is just to dispense information on other contacts, or 'jobmen' as you might call them :P I wouldn't put these characters in the same vein as spies, especially since some of their business should be generated by people knowing who they are and how to find them. Also, I feel like there should be an understanding that Info Brokers are neutral. They don't pick sides and they're willing to give any info they have, to any individual who can pay for what that info is worth. In my mind, I think of this as the embodiment of the phrase, "Don't kill the messenger," or how it's typically part of the rules of engagement not to shoot the medic on a battlefield.
Youve earned a new sub. This was detailed, informative, and fun! Personality is top notch too! Cant wait to watch more.
This is great. Just come across your channel and insta-subbed.
In my most recent game I ran Thieves Cant as a combination of military hand signals and sign language (our group is fairly familiar with using both IRL) that could a) be used as signals when being stealthy, and b) could be mixed into just waving your hands around when you speak. Our Rogue had a lot of fun deciphering what people are /really/ saying behind their conversation.
Your enthusiasm is amazing
I'm telling my group that one of them has to play a Rogue next adventure. =P I love the idea of starting an adventure by having a stranger approach the Rogue character and say "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes"...