Creative Accounting
Okay, so sneak theft or robbery with violence aren't your style.
Wuss.
Never mind, there's always fraud. The advantage to fraud is that, once you've got yourself established, you'll be able to clean up nicely. Think about how much money the merchants have. Do you think their wealth consists entirely of boxes of coins hidden under their beds? Does it hell! There are trade bars, credit notes, trade agreements: the real wealth is in the documents. The problem is it takes brains, talent, planning and a hell of a lot of patience. If the rest of your adventuring party wants to run off and hunt dragons, you might just have picked the wrong line of work. Now, again, there are two types of fraudster: the successful and the unsuccessful. Look at the two examples below and see if you can guess which is which.
- After months of careful planning, the fraudster managed to get work with his target and, thanks to his competence and skill, quickly became indispensable. He knows the accounting system inside-out, has seen and learned how to copy everyone's signatures and has buried his tracks so skilfully that the merchant won't know he's had any money embezzled for years.
- After spending a whole five seconds faking a document, the fraudster hands the bookmaker a crudely-scrawled requisition that reads PLZ GIVE MISTER FRAUDSTER LOTS OF MONEY PLZ SINED WHATEVER MY BOSSES NAME IS PLZ.
Like pickpockets, a fraudster works best in the city, where a lot of work is going on and a great deal of money is passed around frequently. However, an intelligent embezzler takes the work wherever he can get it. Any sort of resource can be embezzled if a buyer can be found for it. A good fraudster could get a nice little racket going in the army, for example. If he gets himself appointed to the position of quartermaster or supply officer then he can always over-order weapons and armour, assign them to fictitious soldiers, sell the excess gear and pocket the difference. The possibility of 'working dead men' is also there if a job in payroll can be had. As long as the soldiers can be accounted for in the rolls, then their pay can be drawn and pocketed.
A fraudster doesn't have to worry quite so much about who he might or might not harm. Unlike a burglar, he doesn't have to do much in the way of breaking and entering. He doesn't have to threaten violence or try to sneak up on others and pick their pockets. Most of his targets tend to be rich and capable of parting with a few gold here and there. The only real moral difficulty lies in two areas; firstly, that the whole business of fraud is fundamentally dishonest. Secondly, if you are embezzling money from an orphanage or a good-aligned temple, then your alignment is going to be a bit suspect.
There are a few good-aligned fraudsters in a campaign world, however. The thing about heroes is that they do what they can for the common good. In an oppressive, officious society, a character burdened with a conscience may well infiltrate the system and divert funds to the needy. They might not have the muscle needed to slay the despots or the guile to harass the enemy forces, but a well-placed requisition order can disarm an entire company or redeploy a military force to a complete backwater.
The most successful fraudsters are geniuses -- criminal masterminds, at that. Rogues do well in this line of work, of course, although a good outside choice would be the wizard or the bard. Both classes tend to be literate and multilingual, and though they might not have all the skills needed or find that some of the skills are cross-class, judicious use of spells such as tongues and comprehend languages can help save on skill points. The most important abilities to a Fraudster are Intelligence and Charisma, since they need to be able to plan and work meticulously, and make a good impression with their choisen victims.
- Appraise is a useful skill to have at hand. Although you'll mainly be dealing with documents rather than actual pieces of jewellery and money, it's useful to know the value of items. Once you've infiltrated a company you'll need to be indispensable. The more reason your boss has for keeping you around, the less he'll want to pry into your affairs.
- Oh, look, it's our old friend Bluff again. The problem with dealing with merchants and other people is that sooner or later you'll have to talk to them face-to-face. Make sure your voice is just as persuasive as your documents. Check out Pants on Fire! while you're about it.
- Decipher Script is almost as handy as Forgery to a fraudster. Although it doesn't help much with the actual manufacturing of fake documents, it provides access to secret information that your mark might not otherwise want you to have. Information is always of value to someone.
- Diplomacy is a rather odd choice for a fraudster, but it's a good one. It's as useful as Appraise can be. While your boss needs someone to understand all the many and varied bits of paper, a skilled negotiator is always handy. The more persuasive a speaker you are, the more he'll trust you. Take this skill and cash in!
- Although Disguise relies on Charisma rather than Intelligence, it's a useful backup skill to take. Since duplicity and lies are your stock in trade, the less easy it is for people to identify you, the better. Since you'll be taking Forgery and the Deceitful feat anyway, you might as well take this skill to get better use out of the feat.
- Forgery is the key to being successful at defrauding others. In many fantasy campaigns a lot of economies are beginning to shift away from using gold and silver as the sole means of assigning monetary worth. Documents that entitle the bearer to money, credit notes for goods: all of these can be faked by someone with the requisite skill. To become a true master at this skill, Take the Skill Focus (Forgery) and Deceitful feats for a total bonus of +5.
- Profession (scribe) might not be focused entirely towards thieving; in fact it might seem like a bit of a daft choice, but when you're making use of a cover identity it's best to know your terrain. General skills like Appraise and Diplomacy are the icing on the cake, really, but it's the ability to provide a service that gets you noticed.
- Speak Language is essential. Forgery is a language-based skill. If you're embezzling money from dwarves, wouldn't it make sense to, oh, I don't know, speak fluent Dwarven? Of course it would.
Fraudsters are perhaps the least suited to adventuring parties, unless the party in question is involved in a very specialized campaign, full of intrigue, bureaucracy, secrecy and suspicion. That sort of setting can make for a great adventure, but if the rest of the party are after more action, you may be better off choosing another line of work.
Of course, a skilled embezzler can make a great nemesis for the PCs too. What if the servant they left in charge of their castle turned out to have this skill set? The whole estate could go to ruin, forcing the characters to go adventuring again, just to build their wealth back up. It's a useful way of trimming excess wealth, but don't overdo it. I'm broke. I can't pay your hospital bills for you.
Personality-wise, fraud requires that you put on a really convincing act. You have to win your mark's trust and like any good con-man you have to convince everyone that you're the best friend they could ever have. Be discreet, competent and professional at all times; make them believe that you're loyal and meticulous even while you're ripping them off. Any trace of your real personality has to be carefully modified or disguised; it's a difficult balance to strike, really. Lies work better if they steer closer to the truth, but you don't want your mark to think you're the duplicitous, untrustworthy bastard that you are… unless such duplicity is apparently used to benefit them.