Burglary System

[Barbamaus]

Behold the Burglary System 1.0!
The new way to steal, without needing a battering ram.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present to you my idea.
Let's start with what we need to make this system work. Two new things are necessary:
- A new liftable item, which we'll call Burglar Ladder™
- A new buff, which we'll call Burglar Buff

With just those two little things, we have everything we need. But HOW do they work?

The Burglar Ladder™ works somewhat similarly to the Wrecking Ball, but with some key differences:
1. The alleged criminal -the guy or girl trying to gain illicit access to the claimed area- places the ladder adjacent to a Palisade or Brick Wall. After a set amount of hours (eg. 12 for the Palisade, 24 for the Brick Wall -real timers TBD), the ladder allows any character with Theft to use it to climb past the wall.
2. Once inside, the thieves can "reposition" the Burglar Ladder™ on the inside of the wall: this becomes their escape point (assuming they don't find the keys or open gates). Once on the inside, the Burglar Ladder™ can not be repositioned again, it can only be disassembled (which will reset its timer) just like a Wrecking Ball.
3. Climbing the Burglar Ladder™ only requires a short time (eg. 2 seconds) both when going in and going out. This should allow to use it fast enough, hopefully without making it a weird pvp tactic.

Once on the inside, the thieves gain the Burglar Buff. The buff works similarly to the Visitor Buff, but rather than preventing all crimes from being committed, it allows unlimited rummaging*, and a limited amount of Theft (eg. stealing 10 items). [*normal crime rules apply, leaving scent and taking damage as normal]
Why a limited amount you ask? Well, because the goal of this whole system is to give a way to steal some valuable stuff and make thieving a viable option, not give a way to severely grief someone by dumping to the ground the content of all their container.
Unlike the Visitor Buff, the Burglar Buff does not reset immediately after leaving a claim, but rather lasts for a set amount of time (or until red-handed?). This is to prevent tactics like placing multiple ladders to jump in several times in a row to grief as mentioned above.

While I'm sure there's room for improvement, I believe a system like this one would be a great addition to the game. It would bring back the option to play a criminal other than a murdering barbarian, make safepalis only slightly less safe -risking a few items, not lives or lots of progress-, and give a real reason to build brick walls again.

I hope you'll support the idea. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

[Oldimaru]

Still affect only small groups, where no guard bots staying around

[Fostik]

In general I’m against any mechanics I couldn’t pronounce

[SnuggleSnail]

real people: jorb PLEASE I'm fucking BEGGING YOU let me attach the hammer to the anvil somebody keeps walking away with it this is killing my village


hermits: what if you had to alt vault the hammer after every time you use it

[vatas]

Some form of wall climbing has been suggested several times over the years. I can't imagine an implementation that would be a positive addition to the game.

If there's even a possibility that someone can just sneak in and steal 10 items in your base, you basically have to alt-vault anything valuable.

If there are "counter-measures" against burglars, that system turns into more complex and convoluted version of "oh no I didn't know I need to Renew my claim Bond, now someone else owns my entire base!"

[Barbamaus]

Still affect only small groups, where no guard bots staying around

I see your point, but doesn't this apply to everything in this game? Large groups with bots are rarely affected by anything... I'd say it's time to get rid of bots, but that will never happen.

In general I’m against any mechanics I couldn’t pronounce

Not my fault if English has a weird word for "gaining entry and stealing". Call it what you want.

Some form of wall climbing has been suggested several times over the years. I can't imagine an implementation that would be a positive addition to the game.

If there's even a possibility that someone can just sneak in and steal 10 items in your base, you basically have to alt-vault anything valuable.

If there are "counter-measures" against burglars, that system turns into more complex and convoluted version of "oh no I didn't know I need to Renew my claim Bond, now someone else owns my entire base!"

Fair point. Although I think a well-timed timer would make it easy enough to counter for anyone who plays daily. Just like the wrecking ball was (anyone who got sieged with a wreckingball was either inactive or completely oblivious to how the game works). Some hermit might be at risk, but I don't think there's sytems that work both for hermits and large villages.

Unfortunately it seems infinite alts / bots are the main issue to implementing almost any change. Everything usually turns into "I can get around it with spamming alts" or "I can make a bot to deal with it".

[Jenno]

+1 for gamification of the crime system. It's a good idea.
Actual valueable items are stored on alts anyway.

[Halbertz]

Completely countered by second layer of palisade. It will be used only to rob lazy and retarded people (hermits). Into the trash it goes.

[Lao_Bao]

Let's make HaH more interesting
a ditch with crocodiles, pits with stakes covered with branches, just stakes placed under the fence inside, and other traps

[Barbamaus]

Completely countered by second layer of palisade.

Fair point.
What if -after getting inside- the Ladder could be moved by lifting it -no disassemble required, avoiding a new timer- (as long as you don't leave the claimed area)?

In case of multiple layers side-by-side, it just allows to jump both.

That should allow to go past any other layer, solving the issue.