Rogue Toys

[Guttersnipe]

People say rogues are weak, and in some respects they are, in some respects they aren't. It's suggested time to time that they need a buff, and while I agree to an extent I personally don't feel that they need new or beefier perks.

However, what I would like to see more of are the rogue toys I've caught glimpses of in the mod, vanishing smoke, bags of snakes, the blades and the like. From what I gather they're only handed out by DMs, but this seems a very rare occurrence. My rogue only got her hands on a few when another non-rogue PC got them in an event and gifted them to me.

So, what I'd like to suggest is a means to acquire at least some of these nifty gadgets ingame, probably best to be rogue-only. It could be one of the random merchants, or someplace in the Old Stones like Bilby's, whatever the gamestaff would think would be best. It's easy added flavor and a small bit of buffing of the class without lots of scripting or difficult balance juggling.

[One_With_Nature]

Would be nice to see.

[Talir]

If you (you all) can think of a creative way to make it available without it taking too long to implement but still provide a challenge that needs to be overcome (rogue is all about cunning), I'll add it now.

[One_With_Nature]

Could make perhaps a small quest that rogues can take solo where they would have to complete various tasks and for each one completed they are likely to get a better reward.


  For example:


  Pickpocket X item from Y NPC


  Climb up X while avoiding traps and retrieve something


  Sneak past X without being detected and collect Y from the locked chest

 
  Persuade/Intimidate/Bluff/Buy X NPC into giving you an item (Chance of going hostile on failure)


  The quest giver could be like a gem collector or something and reward you for collecting various gems from different locations.

[Guttersnipe]

I like the idea of rogues raiding smuggler/bandit stashes, perhaps randomly occurring though that might be much more difficult to implement. However, the idea is that you discover the stash either in the woods, or in the desert, and you need to make some rogue-specific types of checks to acquire it.

Things like climbing down a cliff, or even up a tree, find a secret lever, or use pick pocket to throw a trapped one, sneak past a guardian, pick a lock to a chest or a box. As long as it's rogue specific enough that other classes really couldn't achieve it without some serious cross-classing of skills.

Something along those lines would be in staying with the flavor of the setting, so it wouldn't be some NPC asking for silly tasks to be done. The prize at the end would be something suited for rogues, since those things would also be suited for the bandit or smuggler who created their little emergency stash.

[Sheer Gluttony]

I like Guttersnipes idea, a small cache belonging to a smuggler which you can steal from in various ways would be a nice addition.  A few bandit NPC's who begin as unhostile but if they detect you sneaking will turn hostile?  Perhaps a few alternatives to evade them such as tumble checks around, sneaking past, bluffing them/persuading them with false intelligence.  As a rogue who invested in neither trap or stealth skills it would be nice to see some kind of challenge involving speech craft.

[Adhesive]

There are caches of general supply that can be found in the wilderness that are already rogue specific, since they require open lock checks to pilfer.

Some of these ideas sound more like variations on Bilby's or what I just mentioned above.

I do like the idea of finding small bandit hideouts, however. Perhaps that require a search check to discover, thereby circumventing mages or fighters who would try to brute-force the challenges. Adding a bandit or two outside or nearby with bluff/intimidate checks for the more social rogues would also work, but keep it so other classes would get rebuffed, or even attacked, since they don't have that rogueish look about them (what would a wizard want with a rough and tumble group of cutthroats?).

[Gotham]

What about buried smuggler caches, that require a search check to find, a shovel to get to, and then you gotta disable the trap and the lock. Only Rogues can find these caches because of markings in Thieves Cant

Also remember ONLY rogues can make search checks in excess of 35 which would require 16 search for the rogue at minimum, admittedly not a small amount, and only rogues can disable traps with checks in excess of 35. But even with take 20's those kinds of DC's might be too high for any but high level or well kitted rogue.



Edit: or perhaps a Bilby-esque quest set up in Sis Limain by Smugglers. Retrieve something for them like lost cargo, or forged shipping papers or something, and you have several ways/sources you can retrieve it - persuading a tough that already has the items, pick pocketing a merchant, cracking open a locked chest, climbing a cliff to get at a chest that was desposited high up by a rogue wave. Successful turn ins earn you favor points with the smugglers (1x reset like any other quest). In turn, these favor points with the smugglers can be exchanged for special rogue specific equipment, such as the throwables.

Other ways to get this favor might be finding smuggled goods caches over the island and returning them, persuading NPC's (or murdering them) into giving up these goods, etc.

[Seanzie]

If you (you all) can think of a creative way to make it available without it taking too long to implement but still provide a challenge that needs to be overcome (rogue is all about cunning), I'll add it now.

Seems like all those ideas would take long to implement, maybe something simpler like the crates wouldn't however!

[Decimate_The_Weak]

What about an area in the Stones; to gain entry, one must;

Make a successful Tumble Check to leap from X to Y,

Make a successful Pickpocket Check to release lever Z,

Make a successful Lock Pick Check to unlock "Access".

-

Now you are in a small smuggler's hideout, perhaps just a small mercantile place with store access.

[Disco]

Thives guild.

[putrid_plum]

A theives guild would be cool, a loose association you could join if you showed initiative, with some prestige and perks that come with it...

[The Beggar]

Thives guilds rock.

[el groso]

Maybe there's one already.

[Reuel]

In order to acquire these special rogue toys, I recommend a tinkerer who has a variety of different thief-style missions. Some are actual thefts, while others are more scouting or combat based. That would allow rogues of all stripes to find something they could legitimately do IC. Base the NPC out of a nice, neutral spot, like the bridge in the Veil. The missions could take place in random places, much like the Bounty system you already have in place.