Draft:Sneak-thief
| @ Sneak-thief | |
|---|---|
| Form | Ordinary creature |
| Attacks | 1 harmless contact; 3 defensive actions |
| Special abilities | Steals while adjacent, even if peaceful; guild recognition |
| Base level | 2 |
| HP | 32 |
| Hit | 0 |
| Defense | 10 |
| Action interval | 2 ticks; lower is faster |
| Kill experience | 20, when death is in sight |
| Generation | Ordinary and special encounters |
| Carried items | No fixed item; 0–2 random possessions |
| Immunities | None innate |
| Remains | Dead sneak-thief; 50% on normal death |
| Remains use | Human-corpse food and alignment penalty; no alchemy |
Traits
| |
| Reference | minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 73[1] |
A sneak-thief is a hostile, greedy character who steals carried items rather than dealing melee damage. Members of the Thieves' Guild can make one leave by speaking to it.[2]
Generation
Sneak-thieves belong to ordinary random-monster pools. They have no fixed equipment but start with zero through two random possessions. They can acquire additional items by theft, gifts and scavenging. Their zero damage setting excludes them from the random arena opponent pool.[3]
Theft
See Theft for the shared selection and protection checks, and recovery for ways to retrieve stolen property.
A sneak-thief's melee contact causes no damage; it has three defensive actions. Its special action can attempt theft while adjacent, even when peaceful. A nearby awake creature normally gets a special check on half its pulses, followed by the theft routine's one-third check. Sanctuary suppresses the special action.[4]
One nonempty carried-inventory slot is selected at random. Equipped items cannot be stolen by this routine, and theft immunity prevents the attempt. A level-based check can also protect you; at player level 24 or higher, an ordinary sneak-thief always fails that check. The remaining grip check is counterintuitive in this version: lower Dexterity can cause you to hold on, so raising Dexterity does not improve that particular protection.[5]
On success, the thief takes the selected object, including its whole stack, and teleports elsewhere on the current level. It then switches from theft to retreat behavior. The stolen item remains among its possessions and can be recovered through a normal drop or death; it is not automatically returned when the theft message ends.[6]
Gifts and guild recognition
This uses the ordinary greedy-recipient response.
Giving 200 Au at once, or a non-cursed item with at least that intrinsic value, ends its hostility and greed. Lesser gifts are kept without accumulating toward the threshold. Each gift accepted while greedy adds one alignment point. However, the special theft routine remains active after pacification, so this payment does not secure your inventory.[7]
Speaking to it as a Thieves' Guild member produces the recognition signal and makes it vanish. That is removal, not a kill: there is no kill experience or ordinary corpse drop. If it already stole something, this departure does not return its possessions.[8]
Remains
Half of normal deaths leave a dead sneak-thief. Eating it incurs the human-corpse penalty: positive alignment sets food to 33, otherwise eight food points are added; alignment then falls by ten and hunger limits apply. There is no alchemical transformation.[9]
Strategy
Use guild recognition before theft occurs, or avoid remaining adjacent with valuable unequipped stacks. Do not treat its inability to hurt you or a successful bribe as proof that it is harmless. Equipped essentials are protected from this routine, while ordinary doors will not keep out its initial pursuit. If recovering stolen property, track down the thief instead of dismissing it through the guild conversation.[10]
References
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 373–394; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 8–145; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 227–311; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 689–727; time.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 47–74; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 63–139. Ordinary construction, combat, timing and remains.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 73; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 638–673; mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 238–253.
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 280–395; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 55–63; guild1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 425–435; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 73.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 73; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 59–83; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 12–76; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 402–417; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 638–673.
- ↑ effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 554–567; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 638–673.
- ↑ mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 654–670; mmove.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 244–253; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 97–109; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203.
- ↑ command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 400–454; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 38–49; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 364–429; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 522–535; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 638–673.
- ↑ mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 238–253; mmove.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 228–241.
- ↑ mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 664–688; aux1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 716–748; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 73.
- ↑ util.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 93–151.