Template
I'm not a fan of the taming/lore method: the template is powerful, but less versatile than many thief templates. Ninjitsu will serve you much better in the long run. My template looks like this:
120 Fencing
110 Ninjitsu
110 Stealing (80 real)
100 Hiding
100 Snooping (90 real)
95 Magery
80 Stealth (40 real)
80 Poisoning
Skills
Magery - I initially tried chivalry, but eventually dropped it for magery for the following reasons. First, I can near insta-heal/cure with only 2/6 (as opposed to 4/6 with chiv). Second, the teleport and invisibility spells are lifesavers, as you can cast them while visible and/or aggro'd. Third, if I see a bot on a track, I can mark a rune to return later. Fourth, I can gate for team stealing. Lastly, incognito/polymorph aren't especially useful, but they can be fun sometimes.
Ninjitsu - In my mind, ninjitsu is indispensable, for several reasons:
1) Shadowjump. The number one thief killer, in my mind, is passive reveal. If you stealth up to an elf, you have an over 50% chance to be passive revealed, and your outlook's not too bright against humans and gargoyles, either. As soon as you're revealed, you can expect an "all kill." However, with shadowjump, you never need risk passive reveal: just shadowjump next to your target. Also, shadowjumping doesn't count as movement, so it won't close the packs you've snooped. Once you get the hang of it, you can shadow jump to every player at a champ, open all their packs, and sit back and watch for the best scroll. Shadow jump is also a way to avoid being hit/revealed by earthquake/meteor strike, as shadowjump casts much faster than those two spells.
2) Wolf form. Besides giving you increased movement speed, wolf form gives you +20 hp. As soon as you make a steal, hit wolf form and run for it. Once you're in the clear, just hide and stealth away at mounted speed. Unless I get trapped in paralyze fields, I'm never, ever killed in wolf form.
3) Shurikens. Kill bots and supposed "PvPers" who like to shoot arrows at people from within the safety of their houses.
4) Smoke bombs. If someone is flagging you, you cannot hide without them.
5) Death strike. The further they run, the quicker they die.
Suit
My suit includes: Burglar's Bandana, Pendant of the Magi, Shadow Dancer Leggings, Quiver of Infinity, Totem of the Void, Ornament of the Magician, Cloak of Silence, and an imbued ring (15 hci, 3 fcr, 20 lrc, 15 fire, 7 cold), as well as custom gloves, arms, and tunic. When I cast gate travel, I throw on the Conjurer's Grimoire to bring me to 110 magery. When I'm killing a bot, I replace my totem of the void with the Conjurer's Trinket to increase my damage and hci. The suit was surprisingly easy to piece together (on Europa, no less) and has 100 lrc, 2/6, 30 lmc, and all 60s.
Shard
If you are looking to get into PvP thieving, I would
strenuously recommend a different shard than Atlantic. Atlantic is home of the PvP thief guild P0O - UO's largest thief guild. P0O's founder, Shinobi, is a nice, outgoing, and charismatic guild master. Largely as a result of his leadership, the thief population on Atlantic has exploded. At any given time, you may trip over three or four thieves at the Yew gate. In a nutshell, the shard is too crowded for more thieves.
The introduction of insurance has greatly reduced the number of stealable items. There are too few items and too many thieves on Atlantic to make for profitable thieving (unless, of course, you're willing to use less scrupulous methods, such as having people buy things from your fel vendor an immediately stealing back the item that you sold them).
My suggestion would be to try our a shard with a smaller thief population. You'll find it funner, I think.
As far as a thief guild . . . there's no better community than THIEF, in my view. Look here:
http://www.uothief.com.
