Suggestion on the item "Blade Orb"

[Saarya]

Hello, I would like to propose an idea for changing the effect of Blade Orbs on pickpockets, which in my opinion, is completely game-breaker. I will try to succinctly explain my feelings about the item.

I've now had the chance to delve deeply into the SoH aspect addressed to pickpockets on the server. It's truly funny. It creates gameplay, demands a logical skill investment, and even allows for the creation of RP in some cases. Intrigues, narratives, overall enriching gameplay.

What I do notice, however, is that to be a good pickpocket, it requires a significant investment in points, which are as follows:

Hide
Move Silently
Sleight of Hand

This means we have to level up 3 skills, compared to the ONLY skill that the "victims" need:

Spot

In this sense, one could naturally think that the "victims" already have an advantage. Since they only need to maximize one skill compared to the thieves. However, thanks to the Blade Orb, an item that is very easily obtainable in large quantities and in very little time, the thief is then completely prevented from stealing when someone has it.

The problem with this item is the 10-round paralysis. After sampling around a dozen examples, it's "almost" impossible to survive when caught with someone's Blade Orb. Because the player will kill us 90% of the time, and it's impossible to get out of this situation. Neither with Freedom of Movement, nor with -Pray, and even our gods don't intervene.

All level 30 players (the most interesting targets for a thief) have around 30-40 of these in their inventory. Here are some suggestions to make the item more fair-play:

1 - Drastically reduce the duration of paralysis.

2 - Make this paralysis dissipable with -Pray.

3 - Ensure that paralysis is treated as any other effect, so a player under the effect of Freedom of Movement is not affected.

4 - Allow a Reflex or Fortitude save to avoid paralysis. (DC 10-20)

5 - Remove all Blade Orbs from the game and reintroduce them

[Cthuletta]

I have about 50 Blade Orbs on my current character.
In the past, I've kept upwards of 100 on previous characters.

I've never, not once, had one go off in over three years of playing.
They are EXTREMELY rare to actually catch a pickpocket, I've heard of it happening a mere handful of times. I'd personally argue the opposite, that they should work more often.

The idea of being able to get rid of the paralysis with -pray or a Reflex Save is a cool idea, though! However with the Reflex Save, a DC of 10-20 is something any rogue would likely just sneeze at. I'd make it much higher, myself. Freedom of Movement would just ensure every pickpockets bonks themself with a wand to go stealing, it'd kinda defeat the purpose of the Blade Orb.

I think a good chunk of players, myself included, want Pickpocketting to be harder or done LESS, not making it even harder to catch them when the good majority of Pickpockets do not actually roleplay with you. Given how little the Blade Orb actually works, I don't see much reason to also provide multiple extremely-easy outs of them at the same time?

[silverpheonix]

You don't need Hide/MS to pickpocket. At all. You sneaking up on someone is more sus than standing next to them in a crowd. Also search will lessen the chance of a PC fumble-fingering into a blade orb.

Another strategy is learning targets better instead of going after random people. Who has keen eyes, who doesn't? Don't go after people with a reputation for spotting sneaks.

[Saarya]

After a discussion on how Blade Orbs work, I will continue to suggest that -Pray would be a really good idea.

Also note that a thief can "only" steal 3,000 gold pieces, or key per 24 hours ( from the same player ) That's very little.

[silverpheonix]

PP from players is and never was intended to be a money making machine. Maybe a long time ago when items could still be lifted.

[Saarya]

PP from players is and never was intended to be a money making machine. Maybe a long time ago when items could still be lifted.

When you steal, you don't know what you're going to get. You suspect that most of the time, you'll get a bit of gold. But you can also be surprised.

[silverpheonix]

PP from players is and never was intended to be a money making machine. Maybe a long time ago when items could still be lifted.

When you steal, you don't know what you're going to get. You suspect that most of the time, you'll get a bit of gold. But you can also be surprised.

I play one of the people that run that place, but I'm going to OOCly ignore that.

I will say that I sincerely hope you understand and follow the rules on theft.

[Saarya]

PP from players is and never was intended to be a money making machine. Maybe a long time ago when items could still be lifted.

When you steal, you don't know what you're going to get. You suspect that most of the time, you'll get a bit of gold. But you can also be surprised.

I play one of the people that run that place, but I'm going to OOCly ignore that.

I will say that I sincerely hope you understand and follow the rules on theft.

Hence the importance of having the Spoiler option that encourages caution in what one is about to read.

That being said, your last sentence is not at all constructive in the suggestion provided.

[Cthuletta]

When you steal, you don't know what you're going to get. You suspect that most of the time, you'll get a bit of gold. But you can also be surprised.

I play one of the people that run that place, but I'm going to OOCly ignore that.

I will say that I sincerely hope you understand and follow the rules on theft.

Hence the importance of having the Spoiler option that encourages caution in what one is about to read.

That being said, your last sentence is not at all constructive in the suggestion provided.

Just so you know, it's not 'Spoiler'ed. It's just white text on a black background, no clicking required. Also please be careful admitting stuff like that, especially when it's recent/relevant!

[silverpheonix]

When you steal, you don't know what you're going to get. You suspect that most of the time, you'll get a bit of gold. But you can also be surprised.

I play one of the people that run that place, but I'm going to OOCly ignore that.

I will say that I sincerely hope you understand and follow the rules on theft.

Hence the importance of having the Spoiler option that encourages caution in what one is about to read.

That being said, your last sentence is not at all constructive in the suggestion provided.

Your spoiler isn't working and is automatically visible to me. I put that last sentence in because I honestly don't know what single item we have (well, had!) in storage is worth 300K, lol.

[Saarya]

I would add a suggestion to hide instead of surrounding with black. However, I trust the players' good faith not to metagame.

[Eira]

The suggestions forums are currently closed. This forum is for feedback only, for player discussion on current mechanics, not to propose any changes to devs. I recommend you save this for when the suggestion box is opened again.