Thug

Description

The Thug is the most violent sort of thief. Assassins are killers, certainly, but they depend on refinement and subtlety. Bounty hunters also are willing to use violence, but are relatively restrained as well. The Thug, on the other hand, comes as close to the warrior class as any Thief Kit.
Because of the kit's emphasis on physique and physical prowess, a Thug must have a minimum ability scores of 12 in strength and constitution. In designing the character's description, a Thug should be as physically imposing as possible. Furthermore, his intelligence may be no higher than 12.
Thugs are usually male, but this may be otherwise in your campaign (partic- ularly if your world sports an Amazon tradition).

Role

Historically, the "Thugee" were actually a cultish group of murderers found in India. The term 'Thug" has come to mean, however, any brutal sort of thief, such as an armed robber, hijacker, or goon (the latter specifically indicating a guild-associated Thug, an enforcer), or perhaps a kidnapper (though bounty hunters are probably better at that activity).
If one compared a guild to the human body, surely Thugs would be the muscle — the large, powerful muscles. Thugs function as enforcers, intimidating common people (especially in racketeering schemes), bodyguarding important guildsmen, and carrying out the guild's threats of violence often enough to keep people suitably afraid.
In fact, outside of the thieves' guild, the Thug really does not have a place. Most Thugs haven't the wit to become accomplished burglars or even pickpockets on their own, let alone swindlers, spies, or fences. Even begging might be denied them on account of their imposing physique: A plea for alms from a huge, muscular man tends to look more like a demand backed up by a thinly-veiled threat. The guild pays them well and gives them a satisfying job: They usually need just to scare the living daylights out of people, and not even face real combat.
The few Thugs who are not guildaffiliated will be found as armed robbers or (if they are more intelligent) kidnappers or hijackers.

Weapon Proficiencies

Thugs are permitted an extra weapon proficiency slot at first level. They may choose non-thief weapons, but to gain proficiency in one requires an extra slot.

Nonweapon Proficiencies

Required

Intimidation

Recommended

Player's choice; among those that may be selected are Alertness, Endurance, Looting and Trailing.

Skill Progression

There is no uniform preference among Thugs for the distribution of points among their thieves' skills. Note, however. that they start out with fewer points to distribute than other rogues.

Equipment

The Thug's equipment usually consists of the biggest, most intimidating weapon available. Otherwise, it's a matter of common sense according to the job. A kidnapper, for example, could make good use of a rope to bind his victim.

Special Benefits

Because they are better trained in combat than other thieves, Thugs receive +1 on their "to hit" rolls.

Special Hindrances

Thugs spend much of their early career learning about weapons and their use, and their initial training in the traditional thief skills suffers as a consequence. To compensate for the extra weapon proficiency slot and combat bonus, a thief of the Thug kit has only 40 points to distribute initially among his thief skills, although he can still put up to 30 of them in a single ability, if he so chooses.

Races

Humanoids and half-humanoids are particularly fond of this kit, as it emphasizes force over stealth. One has more difficulty imagining demi-human Thugs; dwarves might have the temperament, but the Thug personality doesn't suit their culture, and their small stature would might make them look somewhat silly as guild enforcers, which is not to say that they would be ineffective — they'd simply bash anyone who made thoughtless or snide comments about their height.

[Complete Thief's Handbook]