Burglary less tenable?

[jriley]

I think keeping an apartment would be much more viable if there were other things for burglars to burgle than strictly PC-owned apartments. If there's three burglars and twenty apartments in one area, it's no wonder noone wants to turn their room into anything remotely resembling a home. If there were five or ten non-PC locations to rob, each "respawning" at intervals, then burglars wouldn't have to operate exclusively in a manner that happens to completely invalidate the only option for private PC housing, and people might be more inclined to actually leave something in their apartments which burglars could then occasionally prey on, hopefully seldom enough that it doesn't make said apartments useless. It's not as if there aren't dozens of otherwise completely purposeless locations in each city. It seems unfortunate and unnecessary that the burglar guild's premise has to be so prohibitively small.

I suggested this a few years ago.  People liked the idea.  Nobody followed up, though. 

+1

[Fredd]

I beleave that if you are good enough, you can rob a merchant house.

Have fun.

[Thunkkin]

I think keeping an apartment would be much more viable if there were other things for burglars to burgle than strictly PC-owned apartments. If there's three burglars and twenty apartments in one area, it's no wonder noone wants to turn their room into anything remotely resembling a home. If there were five or ten non-PC locations to rob, each "respawning" at intervals, then burglars wouldn't have to operate exclusively in a manner that happens to completely invalidate the only option for private PC housing, and people might be more inclined to actually leave something in their apartments which burglars could then occasionally prey on, hopefully seldom enough that it doesn't make said apartments useless. It's not as if there aren't dozens of otherwise completely purposeless locations in each city. It seems unfortunate and unnecessary that the burglar guild's premise has to be so prohibitively small.

I suggested this a few years ago.  People liked the idea.  Nobody followed up, though. 
+1

Combat characters can hunt and kill npc critters.
Assassins can hunt and kill npc humanoids.
Pickpockets can steal from npcs.
Merchants can sell goods to npcs.
But burglars have nothing to burgle except for PCs.

NPC homes with the occasional, random aggro npc or even under the protection of certain crime syndicates, would add even more spice to the burgling life.

[Qzzrbl]

Burglars can spy, burglars can do pickpocket stuff, burglars begin to "learn the path of the assassin".

Fuck's sake people. Use your imagination.

Pickpockets don't -only- pickpocket.

Assassins don't -only- assass.

Warriors don't -only- war.

Rangers don't -only- range.

And burglars don't -only- burgle.

[Thunkkin]

Burglars can spy, burglars can do pickpocket stuff, burglars begin to "learn the path of the assassin".

Fuck's sake people. Use your imagination.

Pickpockets don't -only- pickpocket.

Assassins don't -only- assass.

Warriors don't -only- war.

Rangers don't -only- range.

And burglars don't -only- burgle.

This isn't about "gee, what do I do with my burglar."  This is about low-end apartment renting problems and how to solve them.

Edit:  You'll also note the OP was asking about whether burglary was tenable as a career, not whether guild burglar was tenable.  The discussion has now moved to how to balance making burgling fun while also encouraging people to treat low end apartments like real homes.

[Qzzrbl]

There are -alot- of locks to pick IG.

Some lead to bigger treasures than others.

Not all of them are PC apartments or "useless  areas" as someone put it.

[Thunkkin]

There are -alot- of locks to pick IG.

Some lead to bigger treasures than others.

Not all of them are PC apartments or "useless  areas" as someone put it.

And somehow the idea of increasing the number of npc homes in order to spread out the risk to PCs and encourage realistic use of apartments offends you.

Why?

[Qzzrbl]

There are -alot- of locks to pick IG.

Some lead to bigger treasures than others.

Not all of them are PC apartments or "useless  areas" as someone put it.

And somehow the idea of increasing the number of npc homes in order to spread out the risk to PCs and encourage realistic use of apartments offends you.

Why?

The idea of NPC homes with "respawning" loot doesn't seem terribly realistic.

Especially if you think there's going to be anything worth selling in your average npc/vnpc common filth dwelling.

[Thunkkin]

The idea of NPC homes with "respawning" loot doesn't seem terribly realistic.

How is this different from, say, duskhorn respawning?  Or flowers on a plant respawning?  Or shop keepers replenishing their income to provide opportunities for merchants/sellers?

Especially if you think there's going to be anything worth selling in your average npc/vnpc common filth dwelling.

Possibly not.  But it still spreads out the risk.  Make the average apartment as valuable as the average tregil or duskhorn.  Mix them in with the PC apartments so it's impossible to know whether you're breaking into a PC or NPC apartment.  It would provide a reason for certain groups to keep close tabs on what and how much is being broken into, just like there are groups that keep tabs on over-hunting and will bring down wrath on those who flaunt the natural system.

More RP opportunities?  More variety and interest?  More realistic apartment use?  Sounds like a win/win to me.  I'm not sure what's being lost.

[Qzzrbl]

So basically give burglars a few more rooms to break into before they score a PC's apartment?

It hardly seems like a solution.

It's only a matter of moving a room and typing, "Pick <door>".

[brytta.leofa]

So basically give burglars a few more rooms to break into before they...

...break into the apartment of an irritable off-duty soldier?

Adding NPC apartments with a decent variety of well-scripted NPCs could make burglary vastly more challenging.  PCs often don't spend much time in their apartments; for instance, none of the time they're logged off.  NPCs probably would.

[Qzzrbl]

Any burglar I've ever seen worth their salt remains hidden with a hood up before opening the door and looking into the room before entering with scan on.

It's too easy to flee situations like that with half-decent stealth skills.

So unless NPC apartment renters are actually secretly ninja assassins who get their rocks off by hiding in their apartment waiting to maim an unsuspecting burglar, I don't see how there will be much of a change.

[Thunkkin]

So unless NPC apartment renters are actually secretly ninja assassins who get their rocks off by hiding in their apartment waiting to maim an unsuspecting burglar, I don't see how there will be much of a change.

I did this as a PC once ... >.>

[X-D]

Not the only one.

[Fredd]

Not the only one.

I'de do it if I found shet missing from my apartment regularly.

[Qzzrbl]

Instead of just adding a few random NPC rooms to apartments that won't do much to make burglary any more/less tenable. I think it'd be cool to expand upon burglary some more.

Here's something I posted a couple of years back:

It would be nice if burglary were expounded upon.

It's always bugged me that all you need is a lockpick to get a door open.

No torsion wrenches?

No slim jims?

How does -everyone- have a lock made of wood? You'd think more people would trust just barring their door, and other options for locking.

And more options for locking would open up for an arsenal of tools to circumvent the security.

I see incompetent burglars messing up and breaking the lock to the point to where they can't be used anymore, alerting everyone to the presence of a break-in.

I see tools for removing the hinges or knobs of doors entirely, for the burglar who doesn't care.

It would also be neat to have the option to prop a chair up against a door, or barricading the door with heavy stuff, or trying to hold a door shut with your own weight.

Would be neat if it were possible to kick flimsy doors down, with critical fails (or particularly sturdy doors) injuring the kicker's foot and giving them more movement delay for a few days, that would also give a sound echo to a few room radius that would alert apartment/house guards.

[Fredd]

My problem with burglery comes with the fact you MUST have a lockpick to pick locks.

In order to make a lockpick, you have to be a master at picking locks.

But how do you master it, if you have no lock picks?

Which came first, the thief, or the lockpick? LOL

[Ampere]

My problem with burglery comes with the fact you MUST have a lockpick to pick locks.

In order to make a lockpick, you have to be a master at picking locks.

But how do you master it, if you have no lock picks?

Which came first, the thief, or the lockpick? LOL

Never had a problem finding lockpicks.  Just ask your friendly neighbourhood celf.