More White Box Class House Rules: Magic-User, Cleric, & Thief

I don't think the Magic-User needs to change, so that can stay the same.

Clerics would stay basically the same, however I like to change the Turn Undead mechanic. No one I've played with likes it, or misses its absence; personally I don't like having to look up tables in the middle of play (I know that seems odd for an old school Ref). Instead I use the Ranger's favored enemy mechanic against undead and demons; the Cleric adds his level to damage scored against those creatures, "smiting" them. Other than that, Clerics stay the same.

Now on to Thieves. For the most part I keep the Thief the same, however I've decided to make the skills static, and non-improving. I've blogged about the logic behind that before, and opened up some discussion on the OD&D forums I recommend checking out. Waysoftheearth has some really good support for this. A quick note; these rules are for White Box style play, which assumes a heroic level of 10, not 20. There is no real cap, as explained the in the LBB, but 10 is definitely considered the goal. Anything past that is just icing on the cake.

The Thief's first function is to "Pick Pockets", which has a 75% chance of success. If the Referee wishes to impose changing difficulty for higher level characters, subtract the victims level times 5. If this system is used it is recommend you add the Thief's Dexterity and Level (not multiplied) to their percent chance of success. Therefore a 10th level Thief, with 18 Dexterity has a 53% chance of pick pocketing a 10th level NPC.

The Thief has a 60% chance of to "Disable Devices" of a mechanical nature, such as locks or small traps (like poison needle locks). Such a roll also serves to detect and find the trap.

The Thief has a 55% chance to "Sneak", which can be used in lieu of the normal "Surprise" roll. Thieves can spend a turn "sneaking" during combat; if they are successful in "sneaking", the Thief gains a +4 "to hit", and deals double damage. At 5th level damage increase to triple, and at 9th level damage increases to quadruple.

Finally Thieves have a 35% chance to "Hear Noises", whether quiet ruminations off in the distance, or rumblings of some monster beyond a door or portal. Thieves also have a 90% chance to "Climb Walls" or other vertical surfaces. They cannot be perfectly smooth, and must have some form of footholds or ledges. Mountains, trees with plenty of branches, and other easily climbable surfaces need not be rolled for (including the use of rope and grappling hook), and can usually be climbed by anyone.

So that rounds out the four basic classes that everyone's familiar with. I'll probably do the Ranger, and maybe Paladin next.