[MUD-Dev] Thief skills, Dream Park and me (again)

[Richard Woolcock]

Ling wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 28 Nov 1997 coder at ibm.net wrote:
> > From: jwagner at larry.cc.emory.edu (John Wagner)
> 
> [plenty of interesting stuff snipped]
> 
> That's all quite cool but I'd imagine that the mud had better support all
> those nifty skills.  I've played a few muds where being a thief is a silly
> choice if you wanna level lots.  I couldn't fight well, couldn't cast
> spells but I was useful for rare occassions for unlocking the few pickable
> doors.  Basically, it wasn't worth it.  But if I could set up traps...
> *muhahahahaha* Dead useful on a pk mud.  Scaling buildings would be
> another useful thing, rooftop chases in the moonlight...

The problem with being a 'thief' in AD&D is that is very much a solo class,
with problems like you described about.  However, if you code into your mud
the ability to scale houses, set traps, etc, as described, then you could
have a LOT of fun playing a thief - particularly if you had alternatives to
killing for exp.  It would be nice to be able to go to your guildmaster and
ask if there are any 'jobs' (quests) available.  Simple jobs might require
you to simply sneak around the back of a house, pick the locks, get it and
grab some possession from some part of the house.  More complicated jobs 
might require scaling a nearby house, throwing a grappling hook across the
rooftop to another building, walking across the rope, then 'removing' a
skylight and slipping in through the top of the building.  Killing any 
guards before they noticed you might also be a requirement (although such
'instant kill' abilities would have to be carefully dealt with in any PK
environment because - as realistic as they are - they are somewhat unfair).

The only problem I can see is with the 'jobs' starting to get somewhat
repetative after a while.  But then its no worse than walking around
killing things over and over...

KaVir.