Thieves' Bargain

1. A type of bad-faith agreement in which each party is openly exploiting the other while tacitly agreeing to a measure of exploitation themselves, with each party hoping to outmaneuver the other to come out on top.

2. Any exchange in which the party accepts an obvious and material negative in hopes that the eventual benefits to them will be even greater.

"Your Honor, this is outrageous! To even suggest that the prosecutor would make a thieves' bargain with the notorious Velma Kelly... then fabricate the very evidence that set her free!"

"The 'Thief's Bargain' spell reduces the cooldowns of Shadow Blades, Vanish, and Feint by 33%, but using one reduces your damage by 10% for 6 sec."