What if the poor person was actually evil and the gold allowed them to carry out a plot to murder their neighbor? 
It could depend on the value of the gp to the character. At higher levels a 1,000gp gift wouldn't be a significant hit, whereas at first level it would be huge. Or you could keep track of the total gold gifted and scale the alignment shift by an exponential amount given. I.e. 1 point for 10gp, 2 points for 100gp, 3 points for 1,000gp, &c.
What if the poor person was actually evil and the gold allowed them to carry out a plot to murder their neighbor?
Good point!
Perhaps leaving clues around that NPCs house would be a nice little nuance to explore. A diary page would be the most obvious, but I think many of us like the subtle hints. Leaving a picture on a wall with a knife stuck in it is too subtle.
However, perhaps during the characters training perhaps the lead burglar explains the weight of moral responsibility that comes with robbery. He might say that
"...as a thief it is easy to notice if someone is evil or good. If you decide to rob them then just know that you walk a delicate line."
Maybe he will give examples of clues in the house and then that way when a player sneaks inside they will be more prepared or sensitive to clues and then decipher the outcome of burglary.
hmm sounds fun
Guest_Iveforgotmypassword_*
There's a bit in the new Thief game where you overhear a conversation between two women and one has hidden her wedding ring from her drunken husband before he pawned it. Even though my Garret was a bit of a psycho killer with his crossbow I left it where it was.
Let's face it stealing anything be it from rich or poor unless you are absolutely starving with no other way out is a pretty low down thing to do that causes misery to all victims concerned. So if you want to go down the alignment shift route unless you're stealing something back for a previous robbery victim all shifts are heading south.
Perhaps a better way would be to take off faction points and have the general population begin to hate you for what you are with a bit put back for giving them some of the profits. Then the nobles hating you etc. That way you've also created more stealthy sneaking around to avoid fighting more enemies and make it necessary to shop on the black market or in secret underground thief run shops.
Faction changes should only be applied if they know you stole from them. A good thief never gets caught, so they shouldn't start to hate you unless you're bad at stealing. Alignment changes would make more sense, since that's what you are, not what people think of you. Though I think the issue of whether stealing should be counted along the good/evil axis rather than solely along the law/chaos axis is a bit controversial amongst those who discuss such things.
Guest_Iveforgotmypassword_*
Or you could look at it like this... Some person with no job suddenly starts getting rich and at the same time things go missing, you weren't down the tavern the night Mrs x got robbed or when Mr y's house got burgled, rumours start and next minute you're hated. People will start to put two and two together and unless you live completely in the shadows unnoticed they will get suspicious.
I think that would count as being a "bad thief", too, if you're robbing houses close to where you live and hang out. I know most of these games seem like they're tiny villages where everyone knows everyone else, but I think they're meant to represent larger towns and cities, where a thief could actually make a living. For instance, according to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book, the city of Neverwinter is supposed to have a population of 23,192 people, which is represented in this game by a population of less than 100, at best.
Guest_Iveforgotmypassword_*
23000 in Neverwinter that made me laugh ! I think the thief games I've played ( 3 & 4 ) do well with cities because it's all at night and Garret doesn't mingle at all so a few guards and some locals seems appropriate and gives the right atmosphere. 
But I see your point... What about villages where people get burnt because somebody says they saw them speaking to a cat once ? 
You should try the first two Thief games, too. Knowing that you liked Thief 3 and Dishonoured (both of which I enjoyed very much, along with Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches), I think you'd enjoy Thief 1 and 2. Thief 3 was very much a proper end to a clear trilogy, with its ending recalling the way the first one began. Although, knowing what you know about certain characters (and what happened to them) in Thief 3 may colour your perceptions of them when you see them in Thief 1 and 2. The first games also had much larger city areas, and Garrett did interact with a few friendly NPCs during missions in those as well.
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Thanks Tchos I'll have to investigate those as I'm currently playing loads of games I missed whilst being buried in the toolset and I've certainly got them all for a very good price. But I might have to pay a bit more for the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk when they come out as I don't think I'll be able to resist temptation !
23000 in Neverwinter that made me laugh ! I think the thief games I've played ( 3 & 4 ) do well with cities because it's all at night and Garret doesn't mingle at all so a few guards and some locals seems appropriate and gives the right atmosphere.
Yes, well the canon references say it's actually over 130,000; growing to 500,000 during prime trading season.
Perhaps a better way would be to take off faction points and have the general population begin to hate you for what you are with a bit put back for giving them some of the profits. Then the nobles hating you etc. That way you've also created more stealthy sneaking around to avoid fighting more enemies and make it necessary to shop on the black market or in secret underground thief run shops.
Good suggestion. Fortunately, I have a fence that the player can sell stolen stuff to. The city is also organized by a caste system. Foreign Quarter, Merchant Quarter Bazaar, outskirts, warehouse quarter, noble's quarter. Each quarter also as a single warehouse where the player can try and smuggle certain goods in and out to other parts of the city. Maybe smuggling goods in those districts can help improve the relations with the corresponding faction. Not a bad suggestion at all maestro.
Yes, well the canon references say it's actually over 130,000; growing to 500,000 during prime trading season.
Canon references also gave the smaller figure.
The canon reference I referred to is the book Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, where it lists the population as 23,192. No doubt one of the earlier mentions of the city.
It's been over a year perhaps since I last posted some pictures. I hope these aren't too lame since there is no action or dialog, but I just wanted to give some pictures of when there isn't a dust storm; since no one seemed to like my dust storm at the beginning of the adventure.
I give the player freedom to roam outside of the city, but keep in mind that outside the city it is dangerous for a rogue. Trying to con your way out of a fight with a pack of lions isn't going to happen. Lions are roaming the outskirts of Halwa which isn't normal. If you find any Al Badia desert people then they may explain the reason why, better than I can.
This is the only gate the city Pasdar will let you freely walk through. The other gates will discriminate against you if they don't like how you are dressed, or disguised. They will always charge you taxes or tolls, and they will sift through your belongings looking for anything they might want... I mean find dangerous.
These guys are corrupt because their leadership is corrupt. They are a constant hassle for the player and tricking them earns a rogue good XP. They are not however the main antagonist. Therefore, fighting them will likely get you killed and they will hunt you until you find a safe house or bribe the right person. You are a rogue whereas they are high level fighters trained from birth, get the picture?
All in all, I'm at maybe 45% to 50% completion. There are still some definite hurdles for me. I thank you all for your help in overcoming a ton of them.
Good suggestion. Fortunately, I have a fence that the player can sell stolen stuff to. The city is also organized by a caste system. Foreign Quarter, Merchant Quarter Bazaar, outskirts, warehouse quarter, noble's quarter. Each quarter also as a single warehouse where the player can try and smuggle certain goods in and out to other parts of the city. Maybe smuggling goods in those districts can help improve the relations with the corresponding faction. Not a bad suggestion at all maestro.
It might be amusing to have the fence be hidden behind a sewer grating so that you never actually see his (or her) face.. "Psst! Hey, gov', can I interest you in my wares?" says the sewer opening...
It might be amusing to have the fence be hidden behind a sewer grating so that you never actually see his (or her) face.. "Psst! Hey, gov', can I interest you in my wares?" says the sewer opening...
That is a brilliant idea on how to add color to that character! It's kind of hilarious too!
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