Pickpocket Skill Overhaul

REQUIRES:
OBSE 21+
Fundament
AddActorValues
MenuQue 16+, with X-Skills functionality enabled (it is by default)

After so much time, here I am again, trying to do just a little more justice to the amazing gift that was MenuQue. This mod will separate the Pickpocket skill from Sneak, overhauling it a bit so that you might find it a fun skill to use, or at least not such a completely backwards feature.
To put things into perspective, in vanilla just looking into an actor's inventory can be considered a crime, which is a major deterrent to having any fun with pickpocketing. There's nothing to indicate the chance to succeed at pickpocketing an item, which tends to be on the low end no matter your Sneak skill. What's funnier is that you get the same amount of Sneak experience for any "successful" pickpocket attempt, even if you don't pick anything (just not getting caught is enough). And you can reverse-pickpocket stuff, but only 0 weight stuff that is. Why, maybe it's for balance, but where's the fun in that?
Needless to say, how pickpocket works in Skyrim was a major inspiration for tackling all these issues in this mod...

Pickpocket is now an actual skill you can increase like any other... almost. Its scripted nature means that it cannot be taken as a major skill, and mods not designed to recognize extra X-Skills will not affect it (OblivionXP), but will work fine regardless. The skill icon included is an upscaled graphic from the Thieves Guild faction, but you gotta admit it was quite "handy" (hehehe).

You are now totally free to look through the inventory of any actor without incurring a bounty, like in Skyrim. Only actually trying to pick something can trigger a crime, and raise your Pickpocket skill. Success chance and skill gains are based on the weight and gold value of what you manage to pick, and on your Pickpocket skill vs. the target's Sneak skill, with customizable parameters in an ini file. The success chance formula piggy-backs on some vanilla game settings which you can also modify to your liking and/or understanding in the included ini file.

When in pickpocket mode, a new menu element is added in the form of a hand icon at the bottom left of the menu. This hand icon will be clear-colored if your target isn't detecting you, and red if he is. But note that's just direct detection when you enter pickpocket mode. The target can still detect you and kick you out of pickpocketing if your attempt fails. When hovering over the different items in his inventory, you can now see the chance to successfully pickpocket each of them next to this hand icon. Isn't it just HANDY?!

You can now reverse-pickpocket ANY item, no matter its weight! This is ripe for abuse, and the only limit I've added is not to surpass the target's current encumbrance limit. Other than that, go crazy, or don't.

Pickpocket also includes 5 perks, based on the ones from Skyrim, where the most interesting features lay. You can customize at which skill levels they come into effect, or even disable them in the ini:

• The first perk can eliminate the chance to fail when picking keys, gold and 0 weight & value items.
• The second perk can eliminate the chance to fail when pickpocketing sleeping targets. These two make the Apprentice perk by default.
• The third perk replicates the "Poisoned" perk from Skyrim. Poisons you reverse-pickpocket onto the target will be applied to him sequentially. A limitation is that if there's another actor nearby enough (almost directly touching), the poison can be applied to it instead. Consider it as the poison "spilling" onto someone else, and just be sure to stand a little back. This makes the Journeyman perk by default.
• The fourth perk improves on the idea behind "Extra Pockets". All your stolen items will be weightless, allowing for crazy fencing rampages! This makes the Expert perk by default.
• The fifth perk replicates the "Misdirection" and "Perfect Touch" perks from Skyrim, in all their craziness. Pickpocket (non-scripted nor quest items) equipped weapons, armor and clothing that your target has, even leaving them naked! Hey, you made it to master Pickpocket after all, right?
  

You can use another included ini file to set NPCs as trainers for the Pickpocket skill, including the level up to which they can train you, and books to serve as Pickpocket skill books. I've only included a pair since I lack good ideas, but feel free to suggest me and I may include them in a later release.


Straightforward installation/deinstallation, just place/remove the package's files in your Data folder. Take a look at the files under the 'Ini' folder, if you want to customize the mod to your liking. You can also alter and translate the text used by the mod by editing the MigPickpocket_strings.xml file, under 'Menus/Strings'.

In memory of kyoma, JRoush, and all the people who enjoyed my mods through the years. Long Live The Elder Scrolls.