Rogues ...the shadowy mountains of Pieria

Disarming and Lockpicking
 

      Examining a box lets you see the trap and the lock on the box with out actually disarming or picking the
      box. Its a good way to test a box to see if you can get it.

      Before you pick a box, make sure you DISARM it first. You can get poisened and even die.
      So its not a bad idea to ask your local alchemist for some antidotes. To disarm a box type DISARM MY
      BOX. If you're successful, you will have disarmed it. A miss can be you be just missing the trap to setting off the
      trap. Disarming a trap relies on your trap and perception skills.

      To pick open a box, first make sure you have a lockpick. You can find common lockpicks on skeletons very
      easily.  If you have to buy a lockpick, buy a quality one. You can ask an elder rogue who has backroom accsess in the
      local shops to buy one for you .
      After you have your lockpick, hold it in one hand and your box in the other.
      Then type PICK MY WITH MY LOCKPICK.
      You'll get a 30 second RT. If you are successful, you'll see a number like -20 and you *hear* a  CLICK.
      If you're close you'll see the number but no CLICK.
      At worst you will bend or break your lockpick.

      Any rogue should be able to pick boxes that come from critters of their own level. Extra training in locks will
      make things easier, but isn't a necessity. And there is always a chance of missing the lock or breaking your
      lockpick no matter what your skill is.

      There are merchants around which have sold boots, lockets, cases and caps/hats in the past
      which are ideal for keeping your proffessional lockpicks in a safe and special place. Look out for those!

      Here are some which might be still available to buy from other rogues/players:
 
 

a small caduceus-etched case

some black wolf hide boots
>l in boo
Inside the wolf hide boots you see a twisted wire lockpick.

>l in cap
Inside the jaguar fur cap you see a crude lockpick.

      Typing CREATE will show you what traps you can create. By typing CREATE LIST you'll see the traps
      available to you. At them moment all we have is caltrops. Caltrops are small pieces of sharp metal spread out
      over an area so when someone steps on them they get hurt. There's a shop that sells them and it isn't in Athens.
      Caltrops come in bundles of 12 dozen.

      To create the caltrop trap, have your caltrops in hand and type CREATE CALTROP. This uses all the caltrops
      in the bundle. To us some of the caltrops type CREATE CALTROP . The more caltrops the
      better the chance the trap will work.

      Whether or not a monster will see the trap depends on the monster's perception and your skill.
 
 

      While perception will allow you to detect a trap, the trap skill will also allow you to DISARM a trap. A rogue
      interested in being able to detect and DISARM traps should look into perception and trap skills.

Perception

      An important skill for a rogue. It allows to so see things you normally wouldn't see. Helping detect traps will be
      the most obvious use of this skill. You also may or may not have noticed people hiding. Perception deals with
      anything hidden. Aside from people and critters, there are also hidden items and portals in the land that require
      SEARCHing and perception to find.
 
 

      One of the things you can do with gadgeteering skills is apply poisons. The first thing you need to do for applying
      poisons is to beg, buy or barter some poison from an alchemist. There are several different poisons that
      alchemists can make. The poison of Atropos(a thick purplish poison) is the easiest to make and the most
      common. Also keep in mind every poison has an antidote.

      To apply the poison to the weapon, first make sure you have your weapon in hand and you poison in the other.
      Then type POISON MY . If you're successful you will have poisoned the weapon. Failures are:
      wasting some of the poison or not apply it at all.

      The effectiveness of poison depends on the potency of the poison. Rogues will be the best poisoners because of
      our higher mechanical skills, traps and gadgeteering in particular, and as rogues we get a natural bonus in applying

      the poison.

Carving for fishing

      The ablilty to CARVE also comes from gadgeteering skill. For now we can carve sticks into fishing poles, and
      certain gems into scarabs for alchemists to use. To carve something type
      CARVE MY WITH MY .

Acrobatics

      Dodging is the equivalent of wearing armor. Allowing you to dodge attacks instead of letting them hit you.
      This will be very visable when you get older. My husband Zed has such a high skill that he needs no armor at all
      and rarely   gets hit when fighting on level.
      When  armor encumberance is implemented this will be a valuable skill.

      Catching allows you to catch items in combat. Things like arrows, daggers, blades etc.

      Escaping allows you to escape combat holds in combat.

      The commands to do acrobatic tricks are LEAP, TUMBLE, FLIP, and REVERSE FLIP and LEAP SAVE.
      By typing one of them you'll see a list of possible things you perform.

Hiding and Stalking

      To hide, simply type HIDE. To unhide simply type UNHIDE.
      To move while hidden you SNEAK in that direction.
      The only way I've found to attack something from hiding is using a ranged weapon. You come out of hiding when you
      throw or fire. This works pretty well for hit and run fighting.
      Changes are under way when the combat changes are implemented , so watch out for news!

      To stalk someone while hiding, type STALK . You can only stalk other characters.
      Useful when you need a rest and are hurt and are healing while staying with your hunting partners:)

      To find a hidden person, you have to SEARCH for them. Your success in finding them relies on your perception
      skill. And you can POINT at the hidden person to make them come out of hiding. But its considered impolite
      point at a hidden person, of course its also impolite to continually hide and unhide in a high traffic area and cause
      unnecessary scrolling.; this is one of the reasons hiding is banned from the Peiraic Gate.

      Injuries do have an effect on your ability to hide. Injuries affect your success in hiding and if you'll be found when
      searched for.

Stealing

      You need to learn how to steal. One of the older rogues may give you a hint to find it, it will depend on your
       level and skill if you can finish the *Quest*.
       Other professions can learn to steal too, they only need to be much older to have the required skills.
       I also don't believe in stealing for myself; it takes away the fun of hunting, but of course it opens up
       the RP possibility of a bad character; but take into account:

      Stealing from other characters is very rude and not allowed in Hercules&Xena, you can get in trouble; so I warned ya!
 
 

      With age you will notice that rogues have places that only rogues can see and enter. You might find
      some interesting things in them; some are shortcuts, some lead you to a shop for rogues.
      As you get older you'll discover more of them.

Picking boxes for others

      Start picking others' boxes when you have enough skill to pick your own. Always ask where the boxes come from: )
      This will be safe for you and also for the community, specially when you sit at the Peiraic Gate.
      Inside the bar is a special room for rogues to pick and the most convienient spot are the local pawnshops.
      There you and  your customers can at least sell most of their finds and boxes straight away.
      You should be able to do your own boxes in 1 to 2 tries most of the time. A good rule is to only pick boxes of
      what you can hunt. That way you don't get in over your head with boxes that are too hard. If you can only hunt
      skeletons and zombies don't offer to pick boxes that come from bandits and brigands.

      Precision lockpicks and claws are the best. You won't see a professional lockpicker without one.
      Use a precision lockpick when picking for others. It will save you time.

      Make sure that if you're going to pick boxes for others that you have a backup lockpick.
      You always stand a chance of breaking your lockpick no matter how good you are.

      If you're using the Wizard FE, have your name highlighted. So it will stand out and catch your eye. This comes in
      useful when you're busy and not completely paying attention.

      Use the person's name when offering to pick for a specific person.
      If you are bussy tell people who is waiting in line and use their names and always finish one person's boxes at a time.

      Try to be polite about the situation and tell the person you can get to them as soon as you're finished.
 
 

Rogues ...the shadowy mountains of Pieria Part 1