Stealing from shops

May 14, 2018, 12:32 pm
#1
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
Posts: 773
What if you could steal items from shops when the shopkeeper cannot see you, with a chance of failure, of course? Attnam shops would require invisiblity and high Dex to pull this off, but Merka and his guards can see invisible, so you would need a different tactics or be infra-invisible to steal from him.

There should always be a chance you make some sound when stealing even when they cannot see you, so no 100% stealing. It could be a high risk, high reward way of getting items, because angering the shopkeepers is quite deadly.
May 14, 2018, 1:25 pm
#2
Joined: Sep 8, 2010
Occupation: Petty Functionary
Location: Drinking pea soup in the world map
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red_kangaroo wrote
What if you could steal items from shops when the shopkeeper cannot see you, with a chance of failure, of course? Attnam shops would require invisiblity and high Dex to pull this off, but Merka and his guards can see invisible, so you would need a different tactics or be infra-invisible to steal from him.

There should always be a chance you make some sound when stealing even when they cannot see you, so no 100% stealing. It could be a high risk, high reward way of getting items, because angering the shopkeepers is quite deadly.

Also make difficulty proportional to object size and value? Would it need a cool down? The player's relationship with Cleptia would definitely factor in as well.
Batman? wrote
its been so long since i had gotten that far i didnt think it through. arrrr!!!!!!
May 14, 2018, 1:54 pm
#3
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
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fejoa wrote
Also make difficulty proportional to object size and value? The player's relationship with Cleptia would definitely factor in as well.

Definitely.

fejoa wrote
Would it need a cool down?

I don't think so as long as you cannot always steal successfully. We could cap it at something like 80 - 90 %, so there's always a real threat of being seen. With no cooldown, it would then seriously tempt the player to steal only one more item.

EDIT: Also shopkeeper's Per should play a role.

I now have a mental image of player using a pet bear (who is enormous) to block the shopkeeper's line of sight to steal...
May 15, 2018, 12:12 am
#4
Joined: Sep 8, 2010
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red_kangaroo wrote
I now have a mental image of player using a pet bear (who is enormous) to block the shopkeeper's line of sight to steal...

Can some states still foil this? Like infravision, ESP etc?
Batman? wrote
its been so long since i had gotten that far i didnt think it through. arrrr!!!!!!
May 15, 2018, 1:33 am
#5
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
Posts: 773
fejoa wrote
Can some states still foil this? Like infravision, ESP etc?

Both infra and ESP, as enormous creatures only block normal sight.
May 15, 2018, 11:56 am
#6
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
Posts: 773
What about a formula here? High Dex, high Cleptia favour and low weight / size of item are good for best chance of pulling of a thievery.
Dec 12, 2018, 1:20 pm
#7
Joined: Dec 2, 2007
Location: New Attnam
Interests: bananas
Posts: 2,309
Rubbing a genie lamp is a similar high risk, high reward.

It's nice to have the option to steal if you're desperate, or just a thrillseeker. And I like any change that makes the game more realistic.

I like the idea of pilfering from the Attnam shops early in the game. Your character isn't that buffed yet, you're broke, and don't have any valuable items so it's worth the risk. You manage to steal some nice equipment, but finally slip up. The alarm bells go off, but somehow you teleport off to an empty corner of the map and escape the city. The entire course of the game is now altered - you can't return to Attnam anymore so your only options are to power through the Tombs or Gloomy Caves with your newly acquired gear

Nice work red!
Dec 14, 2018, 8:10 am
#8
Joined: Dec 17, 2007
Occupation: Taking Names, Formerly Kicking Ass
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 992
Nice work on the mechanics. That being said the upside from stealing from shops is so small its still not worth it. there are only 2 shops in the game, and there is no value in stealing from either. Stealing from the one in attnam makes the whole town hostile, and the game almost unwinnable unless you are already end-game ready, and by the time you get to the one in the dungeon, you already have so much swag laying around that getting enough gold to buy anything in it is not that hard.

I think to make stealing viable you would need a lot more random shop like in ADOM, or make the generation of gold significantly more difficult so that stealing items might have some value. just my $0.02.
Booooooooooo!
Dec 14, 2018, 11:52 am
#9
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
Posts: 773
Yeah, I wasn't trying to make it especially useful, just possible.
Dec 17, 2018, 5:26 am
#10
Joined: Apr 2, 2014
Occupation: Navastating
Location: Aslona
Posts: 773
BTW, if you didn't know, you can even try to steal from the Cathedal treasury. Are you feeling lucky?
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