Shattered Kingdoms

Disguise currently only serves a role in terms of player versus player interactions. While that is great, I'd like to see it also hold some merit in some pve situations. Why can't a skilled rogue disguise himself, and slip past the guards? I always thought it odd that the basic skill with which one avoids detection normally -"blend in among masses of people"- can't actually do that against npcs.

However much I enjoy the idea, I ran up against a wall when I thought about it in terms of mechanics. When the disguised character walks into the room, do the present NPCs get a willpower save where the DC is set by the player's level/skill in disguise? I don't intend for disguise to copy a certain cabal spell wholeheartedly and allow someone to be virtually "immune" to the law, but I would like it to serve in that capacity in a limited fashion. Disguise doesn't last long as is, and if a player recognizes them and attacks, it will wear off even more quickly, allowing the guards to realize their mistake.

I do think this might help buff up adventure classes some, especially rogues. I've heard on multiple occasions from veteran players that any rogue who isn't in a certain faction is useless due to the unique abilities granted. This might help level that playing field. These qualities would of course not apply against law-mobs that possess innate true sight.

Can we talk about that 'note' in the help file for a minute.

What is that. Where's the rules manager!

Despite other naysayers, I still love rogues. There are LOT of things with them that need fixing, but I've always thought a buff to disguise would be nice (and yes, I know other classes get it as well). I don't think it should be foolproof, but it's already pretty dodgy (and that's OK). Sometimes I hold a disguise for thirty minutes, other times it wears off in five. I'm sure there are variables (like combat, movement, etc), though I still haven't figured out what exactly they are.

I mostly always thought it was silly if one was disguised that someone matching your exact non-disguised description was reported after committing a crime where no PCs were present. True-sight guards, I agree. But innkeepers or shop keepers? Instead of making it complicated with a will save or other variables, maybe it could just make them immune against non-guard/law NPCs. Or maybe you could at least sneak past them when wanted, even if it didn't make you immune to being reported for a crime.

Just a couple rambling thoughts.

The problem with this suggestion is........

Polymorph. Which guards also see through.

I voted no for a couple of reasons.

One is on account of polymorph as Syn mentioned. If disguise was refactored to work around the law, then polymorph certainly would have to be as well, so changing disguise would make the law even more exploitable.

Basically, disguise is meant to be used to fool PCs, not NPCs, since NPCs can't think anyway. Disguising yourself while going to steal something from someone can be a great way to misdirect their aggression once they notice something they have is missing, but if you do actually get caught, you're still hosed.