malefactor could benefit from stealth more

[lmfao]

i was watching oscillascape's video about the classes and it brought to my attention how weird the malefactor is for having an exclusive craftable ranged weapon while also being nerfed in ranged combat. i feel like they could have the range penalty negated if they are not detected by the target OR keep all penalties but the first hit on an unaware target could have a high critical hit chance. malefactors give off major assassin/ninja vibes to me and itd be cool if stealth was worked into their combat more. if this affects the balance then i dont mind the wild crop and foraging bonuses being eliminated in favor of making the sling less out of place in the class.

[LadyWYT]

I don't think they're meant to be ninjas or assassins, as much as they're meant to be the classic thief archetype. Rummaging around everywhere for goodies, living off scraps, avoiding combat when possible and improvising weapons from the environment when the need arises. The sling might not be terribly impressive at a glance, but rocks are plentiful, so a malefactor should never really run out of ammunition.

What I would do instead is just boost their stealth a bit more, perhaps, with no added bonuses to combat and the same combat penalties they currently have. Being able to sneak around undetected by hostile wildlife and monsters can be very useful, depending on the situation, especially since it's ideal to avoid combat when possible in many cases.

[AzraelWalker]

I'm going to have to agree with Lady here; the malefactor class always struck me as meant to be a burglar or pickpocket, not a D&D Rogue.

Personally what I would do is give them a new crafting recipe for a soot-blackened set of leather armour (made out of black and grey dye) that when worn by a malefactor increases their stealth bonus, at the expense of locking them into a lower tier of protection. When given to someone else it provides them with a lesser version of the malefactor base stealth, which gives the malefactor a bit of party utility and allows you to create a squad of sneaky cheeky beekys

[LadyWYT]

11 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

Personally what I would do is give them a new crafting recipe for a soot-blackened set of leather armour (made out of black and grey dye) that when worn by a malefactor increases their stealth bonus, at the expense of locking them into a lower tier of protection. When given to someone else it provides them with a lesser version of the malefactor base stealth, which gives the malefactor a bit of party utility and allows you to create a squad of sneaky cheeky beekys

I'd actually add a new mechanic to armor in general, instead of adding a new armor set. Let armor and certain other pieces of clothing(such as jingly belts) apply noise penalties when worn. The more overall noise you make, the larger the range that entities will detect you. Going unarmored or wearing gambeson/leather would apply no penalties, encouraging malefactors or those who otherwise want to be more stealthy to pick these armors as opposed to something more protective. Likewise, wearing plate, chain, or other heavy metal armor would make you quite noisy, alerting more things to your presence. Which could be very useful if enemies are made to prefer attacking the noisiest target, as then you could have your dedicated fighters don the heavy armor and keep the enemies occupied while the damage dealers opt for lighter gear and plink away from the back lines.

[VaelophisNyx]

as far as the class ranged damage malus goes, it does seem really weird? melee would make more sense for it

[AzraelWalker]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

I'd actually add a new mechanic to armor in general, instead of adding a new armor set. Let armor and certain other pieces of clothing(such as jingly belts) apply noise penalties when worn. The more overall noise you make, the larger the range that entities will detect you. Going unarmored or wearing gambeson/leather would apply no penalties, encouraging malefactors or those who otherwise want to be more stealthy to pick these armors as opposed to something more protective. Likewise, wearing plate, chain, or other heavy metal armor would make you quite noisy, alerting more things to your presence. Which could be very useful if enemies are made to prefer attacking the noisiest target, as then you could have your dedicated fighters don the heavy armor and keep the enemies occupied while the damage dealers opt for lighter gear and plink away from the back lines.

I considerably approve of all of that - its means not only is there never a "best" armour it would also create a psudo-threat system and allow people to work as tanks or damage dealers.

It is however more of a suggestion for stealth mechanics then something to do with the malefactor - post it as a separate thread and you will have my vote