The Origin of the Thief

N.B. At the request of Allan Grohe, the link to his transcription has been removed.

Gaming historian extraordinaire, Allan Grohe, has once again done us a great service by obtaining a copy of issue 9 "The Great Plains Game Newsletter" from 1974, in which Gary Gygax first presents the Thief class for inclusion in OD&D. Allan's transcription is invaluable for having not only preserved a pre-Supplement I version of the class (which differs slightly in certain of its abilities), but also in having attached a name -- Gary Schweitzer -- to the original inspiration for the class. Schweitzer apparently told Gygax about the class in a phone conversation, resulting in the class Allan has now made available to us through his transcription.

I may have more detailed comments about this remarkable find later. For now, I'm just amazed that we've got hold such an important piece of gaming history. My hats off to Allan. Bravo!