Delver

Delvers are often what the common folk think of when they think of an adventurer. While a cleric may dedicate time at a temple converting people to his faith or a dwarf may travel village to village protecting them from bandits, a delver is trained and is skilled primarily in one thing; to explore lost dungeons, monster infested caverns, and ancient ruins. To a delver these are the ultimate test of their wits.


Delvers are trained in a variety of guilds scattered through out civilized land. These guilds are often funded by historians looking for more information about the past, archivists trying to share and preserve history, or simply private collectors looking to add old artifacts to their collection that no one else owns. The investors to the guilds often get first pick of those items a delver finds of historical value, and delvers who try to strike out on their own after their training soon find themselves on the run from those the invested time and money without compensation. Because of this, many delvers will collect things that most other adventurers would consider junk. Guilds train delvers who to properly navigate the winding halls and crumbling corridors of a dungeon, avoiding traps laid out by those that built the place or those recently moved in, spotting hidden passages and buried secrets, and defending themselves against those that have taken up the dungeon as a lair. Delvers are of one of two personalities, or of rare occurrence both, those that share the inquisitive nature of their patrons, always curious as to what’s behind that next door or what bits of past they can discover and those that need a near constant danger in their life, looking to satisfy their craving for adrenaline and the rush of near death.

Delvers are viewed with trepidation by the common folk, they don’t usually offer the type of aid that a fighter or cleric or dwarf could nor are they as feared or misunderstood as elves, magic-users, or halflings. Most people believe that they skills a delver learns to get into and out of dungeons both in secret and with a handful of stuff could be equally applied to any home or shop and some delvers do indeed use their skills like that. However, most delvers see little challenge in taking something from a farmer’s home or from a noble’s pocket. Others feel what a delver does is disrespectful and desecrating. While many adventurers journey into ancient ruins or hidden dungeons, most do so to root out evil or threats to civilization while a delver usually does so to take something back out with him that didn’t necessarily belong to those evils that inhabit it. Even delvers who do so for noble purposes, to help learn about ages long past or discover clues about civilizations that had come before that could provide help to those that exist now, still can run into trouble from those who believe the past should lay undisturbed lest you rouse those that rest there.

Why They Adventure: Delvers are trained to adventure, it is their sole means of both sustenance and entertainment. A delvers skills apply directly to the exploration of hidden places and they would have little use of them elsewhere, or atleast not enough use to justify the training they went through. Delvers don’t often adventure for the same reasons as many other classes, a delver’s pursuit is usually material, while most others do so to protect against evil or to discover hidden knowledge. Delvers will not shy away from those other pursuits and their are many noble delvers who wish to help people and many inquisitive ones that wish to learn ancient secrets, but both do so on top of acquiring anything of value they find. Most delvers will travel with other adventurers for protection and preservation, even if it means splitting up the things they find down there.

Role-Playing Tips: It takes a unique type of personality to be a delver. More so then any other class, delvers understand how cheap life is among adventurers, a swift death can await behind any door, or come from the door itself. Yet delvers not only train for those situations, most can’t wait to meet those situations head on. Delvers often live for the moment, not too concerned with the future and only concerned with the past in how it may help them past an obstacle the currently faces them. Delvers are usually bold, boisterous, and aren’t known to shy away in the back of a group when standing out in front and waving their arms gets much more attention. Many a farmer’s son or daughter has fallen for the charms of a delver and their nomadic lifestyle, or angry fathers, means delvers make for strong memories instead of a reliant companion. The delver’s outspoken behavior and dangerous living often endears him to dwarves and garners him the disdain of elves. In dangerous situations and their chosen environment, they are not suicidal, indeed, escaping with one’s life is the ultimate challenge, but, they are not cowardly, as that means they won’t get to see what’s behind the next door.

Rule Changes: Delvers retain all the features of the Thief class as presented in Labyrinth Lord with the follow exception: Languages: Delvers speak Common only.