bookmarks Master of Shadows   by   Yomli

Would be ghosted in Perfect Thief if it was possible (mainly due to property damage).

Master of Shadows is my own set of rules, a bit more flexible based partly on the Lytha way (http://www.lytha.com/thief/lythaway/index.phtml) and Master Thief (https://web.archive.org/web/20151017092934fw_/http://foru...).

They are more restrictive than the most restrictive way to play Thief 2014 or Dishonored, but a bit more flexible than Supreme Ghost.

Rules are as follow:

1. Highest difficulty level available, usually Expert, although it might be renamed by the author.
1.1. On Thief 2014, that means Master.
1.2. On The Dark Mod, AI vision and AI hearing must be set to Hardcore.

2. Get all available loot and secrets in the mission.

3. No damage taken. No falls or incidental damage from lava, loss of health from being underwater too long, etc.

4. No damage dealt, no kills or knockouts. The player must not cause suicides of AI or melees that intentionally cause AI to attack each other.
4.1. Gas arrows, gas mines or sleeping darts are allowed only if the body is left untouched, will not be damaged in any way and is not discovered by another AI.
4.2. If the use of a gas/sleeping weapon deal any damage directly or indirectly to the enemy, its use is prohibited. Examples include fire elementals being attacked by gas weapons or any use that results in an enemy falling from a roof or into the water.

5. No second level alerts, that is recognition or hunting alerts, of human or any other intelligent adversaries who might conceivably report noticing an intruder.
5.1. Zombies, haunted, ghosts, fire elementals, craymen, apebeasts, bugbeasts, infecteds are included, even if their intelligence is low. Devices such as cameras, automatons, periscopes, golems or robots are included.
5.2. Rats, spiders, burricks and others non-sentient animals are excluded, as they won't be able to report seeing you, unless they alert humans to your presence.
5.3. On The Dark Mod, the stealth score must remains at 0.

6. Complete the mission without leaving any incomplete (unchecked) objectives, including optional objectives. Objectives declared irrelevant (a red circle) do not matter. Also, it is acceptable to bypass objectives by not triggering them as long as the mission completes.

7. No property damage: no doors bashed in, no things burnt or destroyed.
7.1. Broken glass and banners cut are allowed only as a last resort if the alternative is to use quirks of the game engine (see rule 9) or if it's the only way to get all available loot in the mission (see rule 2).
7.2. "Property" is defined as something that is fabricated by humans or other intelligent creatures. Natural objects like foliage, boulders, cobwebs, etc. are not considered property.

8. The use of potions, such as speed, breath, invisibility or mana is allowed, but frowned upon.
8.1. The use of food, health potions or any kind of item restoring health is not allowed.

9. The use of quirks of the game engine is allowed, but only as a last resort.
9.1. Examples include techniques such as "banner transmigration" (going through a banner without slashing it), "nudging" (moving an AI by applying pressure to its body), and "items stacks" (stacking inventory items such as holy water vials or food in order to climb).
9.2. Stacking boxes is allowed since it isn't a quirk, but must be done outside the patrol path of an AI so it can't notice it.

10. No loot cheats or walkthroughs are allowed – a point of honor that cannot be enforced.

11. It is not necessary to re-shut doors, re-light torches, return keys, etc. There is no time requirement, no Ironman type requirement, etc. Just finish the mission clean, damage free, alert free, with 100 % loot and secrets.
11.1. It is recommended to keep minimal clues of the player's presence. When it is possible to do so without breaking another rule, gas mines, roping arrows or scouting orbs must be recovered.

12. Any mission objective that explicitly requires that one of the above rules be broken, such as "Kill the Haunts" is OK to complete and does not bust the Shadow so long as no AI are alerted in the process and no alternative is present (in Dishonored, you don't have to actually kill the key targets). Unavoidable consequences triggered at the same time as completing a required objective are also excused.

13. AI behaviors caused by programmed scripts and not caused by the player's being seen or heard are allowed. Melees that occur beyond the player's control, as part of a game script are allowed. Some alerts that are caused as a scripted reaction to meeting a mission objective are allowed (silent alarm, etc.). Scripted loss of health, such as the one in the final mission of Godbreaker, is allowed, but beware rule 8!