Thief

From FiranMUX

Overview

THIEF

(Important note: Please read 'help policy thieving', 'help policy pilfering', and 'help policy crime' before embarking on this IC job! Moreover, also peek at 'help @junk' -- don't @junk what isn't yours!)

Well, here's an interesting profession. The glamorous side of thieving is that you can pick up lots of nifty stuff, not have to do too much real work, and have a good time ignoring the law.

Now for the MUX reality. :)

Thieving is illegal. If you're caught, expect to be arrested and jailed. Should be easy, just don't get caught, right?

On FiranMUX, the world is not only inhabited by real life player characters, but NPC's, non-player characters who number in the thousands. This is important to keep in mind when you are trying to, for instance, break into an 'unoccupied' home. Servants are likely to be around if the home is of a noble, or middle class even. Commoner homes won't have servants, but they do often have neighbors, or passersby who see what is going on.

Each time you use the breaking and entering, or lockpicking skills, a roll is also made to see if you have been witnessed. You will not necessarily know if you've been witnessed. Additionally, using the 'bash' command to bash down a door can be heard for several blocks from where you are. It is not at all a quiet command, and you can expect that guards will come running when they hear it.

If you're jailed, expect that it could be weeks, real life weeks, before a trial is held. Remember that a trial takes real life players, and they are not always on the MUX at the same time, so coordination can be difficult at best. If you're jailed, use IC methods to contact a lawyer, or someone to bail you out, if that's possible. IC methods include asking a wiz to play a guard for awhile so you can get a message out, waiting until someone visits you in jail, or escaping.

Escaping sounds like fun, doesn't it? Well, it's nearly impossible, unless you have extremely exceptional stats.

When all is said and done, a thief relies on skills like stealth, hiding, pilfering, breaking and entering. A thief's profession is inherently illegal, and getting caught is likely.

Expect to get caught.

Equipment

• locksmith's tools (to pick locks)
• a good backpack (to hide your loot!)
• a lair or hideaway of some kind (also to hide your loot! the bank is not your friend)
• a fence (not picket -- a person. Once you have loot, sell it off quickly! get that hot stuff out of your hands and into someone else's)

Attributes and Skills

ATTRIBUTE: SHREWDNESS

The smarter you are about doing your dirty work, the less likely you'll get caught! Simple as that.

ATTRIBUTE: SOCIABILITY or CONNECTEDNESS

If you DO get caught, you want to get out of it, right? The more connected you are with powerful people, the better. Alternatively, you can try to charm your way out of trouble.

SKILL: LOCKPICKING

The ability to manipulate locks by means of picks and other tools in order to open or close them without the key. This confers no special ability to move bars or smash down doors (see the Breaking and Entering skill). Designing and making locks requires the Locksmithing skill.

In game terms, a character with Lockpicking can use the 'lockpick' command to pick various locks in the game.

SKILL: BREAKING AND ENTERING

Ability to break into windows, doors, or other such obstacles without making too much noise or leaving too many clues behind.

In game terms, this skill will allow you to break into houses, buildings, or other structures without getting caught or reported to the Firan authorities.

SKILL: PILFERING

Skill at using stealth to remove items from live or dead persons, showcases, containers, etc.

In game terms, this will allow you to take things that aren't yours without necessarily getting caught.

SKILL: STEALTH

General sneakiness skill that allows someone to move from place to place unnoticed.

In game terms, this allows to sneak from room to room without being noticed by the characters in it. It is also helpful in letting you get away with certain actions unnoticed -- such as being able to poison someone without being caught.

Game commands

• Sneak

Syntax: sneak <exit> ... sneak by guards

Players may use the first syntax of this command to sneak in and out of areas on the mux. The higher a player's 'stealth' skill, the more successful a player will be at using this command. If a player succeeds, nobody will see him/her enter or exit the room. If a player fails, people will see him/her enter or exit the room. There is a small energy cost associated with using the sneak command. Although the 'sneak' and 'hide' commands cannot be used simultaneously, one of the most effective ways to use the 'sneak' command is by using 'hide' in combination with it, such as sneaking into a room and then hiding. Both forms of this command will add fractional thug points if used successfully.

The second form of the command is to be used in rooms with guard objects. If successful, the player has 10 RL minutes during which the guards ICly do not notice him/her and he/she can sneak out of the area. When he/she has entered another room with guards, however, the command will have to be used again. This command is to be used only to sneak through exits; it does not mean that the player can do something else such as stealing from a shop after using the command on guards inside it.

• Hide

Syntax: hide

This command may be used by players with the hiding skill to secret themselves. The difficulty of this command changes depending upon whether or not the player is in a crowded room, a private area, or a city street. (It's easy to hide if there is one person around, or a hundred people around, but difficult inbetween that). There is a small energy cost associated with the use of this command. If you use the command successfully, you will be hidden for approximately 10 minutes. During this time you may not speak or pose. You will be warned when your hiding spot is about to be compromised. If you'd like to stop hiding before your time, use the 'unhide' command. If you do exceptionally well with this skill, you won't be charged energy and you will be hidden for a longer time. If you do exceptionally poorly with this skill, other people will see you try to hide. You may not move while you're hidden. This includes using the sneak command. You will have to unhide before you sneak. This command will add fractional thug points if used successfully. To stop hiding, type 'unhide'

• Poison

Syntax: poison <food or beverage> with <poisonous substance>

This command will enable you to put poison into food or drinks that other players may eat. On rare occasions, even healers may wish to do this when, for example, they are trying to reduce the pain of the dying. Mostly, however, this is a nefarious deed, and you'd better have a high 'stealth' skill, or you're likely to be caught in the act!

• Bash

Syntax: bash <door>

The bash command is used to force a door open through brute strength. If successful, the door will be broken through and you can enter or exit at will. Note that bashing a door breaks any of the locks on it and makes a lot of noise on both sides.

A character's Size attribute and Breaking and Entering skill factor into the chance of success, as well as any special properties of the door.

• Lockpick

Syntax: lockpick <door/container> with <tool>

This command enables those characters with a skill in lockpicking to use locksmith's tools to pick the locks on doors or containers. If you do well, you should be able to do it sneakily and not get caught. However, if you do poorly, there's a chance that someone will see you. They might even report it to authorities. Some really bad thieves even end up breaking their tools. There is a small energy cost associated with the use of this command. Your chance of success depends on your Coordination skill and your Lockpicking skill, as well as any special properties of the lock.

BE SURE TO READ 'help policy thieving' BEFORE ENGAGING IN THIEVERY.

• Scope Out

Syntax: scope out <player>

This command allows a player to surreptitiously look over another player and take a guess at how many stenis that player might be carrying, if any. The espionage skill is needed for this command to work, and the code rolls to see if your intended victim may or may not have noticed you looking him over. This command will add fractional thug points if used successfully.

• Pilfer

Syntax: pilfer <player>

Players with the pilfering skill can steal coins from other players. If you're extremely successful at this, you will not get caught. If you are successful, there's a small chance you'll get caught, and so on.

This command will add fractional thug points if used successfully

• Loot

Syntax: loot <player>

This command allows the enactor to take all the goods from a player's dead or unconscious body, including clothing and stenis. However, there is a chance you will be witnessed, and there can always be some IC consequences, so care must be taken to use the command in a proper IC context and roleplayed accordingly. Looting implies a criminal act; for priests and guards who need to legitimately remove goods from a body, use the 'strip' command.

This command will add fractional thug points if used successfully.

Suggested Roleplay Ideas

• Steal Stuffz! - It's obviously your job and it's an automatic RP boost. You go in and steal (following policy, of course) and have all of these objects to sell. Find yourself IC contacts to pawn things off on, recycle items and sell the materials, etc. A lot of this is individual work but once that is taken care of, find PC buyers and bam! Insta-RP.

• Threaten to steal - ...but don't! Every theif has to have some straight-arrow friends. Find a bit of an odd choice for a friendship and strike it up. Be buddies with that rich girl from the other side of the tracks and watch her finger her hairpins nervously every time you come to hang out.

• Take up a job - maids and butlers have access to some of the most sparkly stuff on the grid. If you do it on the sly, rob your employers blind! After you do your duty, disappear in to the Old City for a while with all their junk. Come back up when the heat's off and find someone else to tackle!

• Work in a Team - You might start out a lone thief -- but where's the fun? After you build a little name for yourself, start working your contacts. Get your buddies to rotate so there's less of a chance to get caught. Start a gang.