Stealth Revamp Brainstorm: Burglary

[Armaddict]

Greetings Armageddoners:
Before a too-long post, I'd like to disclose that I play a lot of stealth-based characters, and I'm not exactly ruthless, but I am callous.  I believe loss and some amount of 'pleasing displeasure' is a vital part of the Armageddon scenery.  That being said, I also think there are some things that are not exactly well suited to how we play, or the way many players want to feel about how we play.  I've been a longtime proponent of stealth changes, not to nerf it, but to make it used in different ways.

Also to disclose, I am one of these people who likes skill stacking: I like skills that are lightly or heavily influenced by gear, other skills, and environment.  While I don't particularly like the idea of impromptu animations to bring the world to life around you (because it is selective and surprising rather than a push for consistent consideration), I -am- in favor of making that life of the world more impactful.

So!  I wanted to start with burglary, because the game has come a long way since my fledgling days where your inventory was what you could carry, and you joined clans often just because of communal storage and personal storage in a secure place.  Let's face it; a major component of grief (not griefing) for a lot of people is losing things that they think of as secure.  While I don't think security should ever truly be relied on, it can definitely be expanded on.  Also note that this intrinsically ties in with criminal code, which is another of those huge projects that could only benefit the game by retouching.

Also please note that I do not expect these changes -ever-, not to mention in the long term.  But just in case someone wants to tackle it someday, we can have some ideas mulled up and prepared and accessible.

The Current State - Pick Lock
In the game's current state, pick lock equates to all forms of burglary despite being binary.  You beat this door, or you don't.  Players like myself have long since realized this is no good, because of the mechanics of this skill and all of the things it does, and does not, take into account.  I usually shift the idea of 'picking this lock' into overall security of the apartment itself.  Its windows, holes in walls/doorframes, etc.  Just about anything that can weaken the security of your apartment, it's all looped in under this skill.  I'm actually fine with that, but unfortunately this leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and disagreements in translation and interpretation and expectation.

A Future in Security
I'd propose that all apartments, and I do mean all of them, have additional options available based on some room value associated with apartment security (more code, I know, I'm sorry!).  This may be upgraded locks.  This may be window shutters.  This may be a simple doorjam.  It may be outer wall modifications.  IT MAY EVEN BE A GUARD.  These options, of course, would scale with the 'class' of the apartment building and the sort of building itself.  These upgrades may be simply purchasable from the apartment vendor, or they may be player crafted/installed.  They may differ from class type to class type; a criminal class might come up with very different defenses than a simple soldier.  There are endless ideas already presented for this, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Door bars are cheaper, super secure, and reliable...but they can only be fastened from the inside.  There is no key to be stolen.
Window shutters are not as effective as window bars at keeping people out, but they still allow people inside to egress (Specifically needed for apartment killings).
Door jams are even cheaper and easier to get than door bars...but any simple thief knows they might be able to poke it out from under the door if they test that door first.

While some of these might be good ideas or bad ideas for those options, the point is that they increase security to some degree, but have tradeoffs.  People can actually do something about improving security in their low-class place they can afford.

Burglary's New Way In (and out)
The core point of my proposal is here.  Burglary...is not a smart criminal's job.  99% of burglaries are not high-crime heists.  I would propose a hidden skill (like offense or defense) or global skill (like ride) that -everyone- has centered on gaining entry to buildings and leaving buildings WITHOUT using the door or using simple mechanics on that door.  It would still be done from the room with the door, just because I couldn't find any other way to deal with the complex mapping/room linking of the game.

This would be a long-delay command.  By long delay, I do mean long; the time could only be cut down by key contributing skills such as climb for second stories and indeed, pick lock.  The chance of success is hidden.  It may be impossible, but you aren't going to know.  You'll just be challenged to continue looking, or give up.  Success places you to a designated room within said secure space;  even if pick locked helped you gain entry, the door is NOT unlocked without actual use of the pick skill (reasons for this later).  Likewise, once within, you can exit the building the same way, albeit with MUCH shorter delay, with a different designated room (required so that jumping out a second story window requires a climb check or fall).  Apartments are no longer murder rooms unless designed to be murder rooms...which because of the design of security options, will have drawbacks.  This is also the 'stealthiest' of modes of entry.  I say this because even in real life, being particularly stealthy is not really a common requirement for getting into places without getting authorities called.  But it is also the lowest, by far, success rate.  At least anyone can try it, right?

Pick-lock is the next step up.  Unlike current design, this should, again, be a long-delay skill that takes time, impacted by the difference of skill vs lock.  The longer this skill check goes on, the higher the chance of crimflag at each 'tick', influenced by sneak first, and hide to a lesser degree (skill balances).  This works much the same way as it does now, only with the additional factors of:  You can no longer just wing it unless you want to risk crimflags.  Beat a lock does not guarantee access; they may have other protections they've invested in, so you may end up having to fall back on the burglary entry (which would be easier now that the door is unlocked.  I know that may not -realistically- make sense, but as far as gameplay, I believe it makes sense).  Success rate is higher here...but it also requires specialization of skills and higher risks taken.

Doorbashing is the final tier of apartment entry.  Success is a guaranteed crimflag.  Failure is not, but each successive attempt does increase your chance of success, and also increases your chance of crimflag-on-failure.  It is dependent on weight and strength, nearly solely.  You cannot use stealth for a period of time afterwards or gaining a certain amount of distance from the original use room.  If possible, a time delay before the nearest soldier/authority/apartment guard comes to investigate would be delightful.  This is the smash and grab.  This is the soldier breaking into your house.  This is you going to rescue someone from suspected danger in a locked building.  This is you in a flying rage at that shady elf who lives near you when something is missing.

I realize this is super expansive, and that is intentional.  I believe stealth in particular has a lot of room not just for improvement, but expansion.  There can be crafts built around this.  There can be player-influence on these little microcosms of conflict and activity.  There can be more of a feeling of security without -actually- making it harder for the criminal (you just add risk and requirement of preparation and consideration), and less of a breach of trust when things do happen.  There are similar veins of change available across the entirety of stealth mechanics that can still keep it powerful and useful, but less of a one-dimensional skill check.

This has been my first stealth ted talk. kthxbai.

[Ammut]

I would be in favor of adding doorjams.  It's a simple tool which could be added to the game and provide a level of comfort to those inside an apartment, knowing they won't be barged in on.  It's often an OOC concern of mine as I've done it as a burglar several times "woops there was someone home.  guess I should get going now"...

Bashing down a door makes sense, but what would it do to the existing lock? Shatter it? Or would it just flip open, allowing you to shut/lock the door once more? Would it be based on the bash skill?

[Riev]

It would be interesting for rooms to have an egress that isn't just the front door, but isn't necessarily an exploitable balcony either. Whether as the thief, or the target of an assassin, let me dive out a window and break my damn legs.

I'm all for making it easier on BOTH ends to have a secure apartment. Nothing irked me more as a stealth class than the fact that picking a lock is wildly different from just using a key and should be "noticeable" in some fashion. Some dark hooded figure clearly not using a key to get into an apartment (often times in clear 3-room view of the renter NPC) and then walking out with a coded lootbag and a couch felt... off.

[Brytta Léofa]

Interested in all this stuff. Thanks for the post, Armaddict.

+1 to door bashing.
+1 to door barring.

What about giving most apartments windows that can be opened (to see out, to get crimcoded when you cast), closed (for privacy), barred (for security), entered when open (by people <7 ten-stone), bashed (by people with huge strength)?

What about making all apartment hallways non-hideable at night? (Time-of-day dependent stealth sounds like a good idea that could be used multiple places.)
- In conjunction with this, if pick breaks hide maybe that could change to just a penalized hide check.
- This makes hiding vs picking feel less janky and also channels burglary into our 20 minute nighttime periods.

What about randomly renting PC-unoccupied apartments to (V)NPCs?
- The point is to make funnel most profitable burglary away from PCs while keeping it as a risk.
- As long as at least 2 apartments are unrented, there's a daily chance of "renting" an unoccupied apartment to a VNPC.
- VNPC apartments would get stocked with a variety of useful and junky stuff.