Just in case you aren't aware, raiding in the vanilla game has a loot table taken from the village market. You can only grab a portion of whatever they were selling. That means it is generally more effective to simply buy the food (even at inflated prices) rather than raid for it, if you're low on food. That doesn't make sense.
You should be pulling from the village's seed grain, their breeding stock, the supplies of individual farmers, the tools they've stored, provisions set aside for winter, etc. In other words, more than what can be found on the market.
Otherwise it makes more sense to buy it and move on.
I agree. raiding should be more profitable and not only be based on the village marker. Maybe prosperity levels is a better base. Role playing as an evil bandit character needs improvements is general.
It could make for different play through.
I like to add the following suggestions:
- recruiting bandits from streetgangs and hide-outs
- take over gang locations in cities. Be the rival gang that is alway mentioned in the quests. After taking over, the gang generates income from protection money and a small percentage from every villager party and caravan. Other gangs will try to remove you.
- slavers to buy your captives. Sea camps on the shore, or linked to the Aserai mamluk troop tree (slave warriors), sell your captives to traveling Aserai caravans. I would like for Aserai to have a slightly different troop tree, it doesn't make sense that slave warriors are recruited from peasant.
- Get contracts to hunt down caravans from rival merchants( or other kingdoms) and to raid villages.
- Get contracts to hunt down specific characters for political leverage by other powers or to kill them.
- If your renown/roguery is high enough you can dispose a bandit leader by way of duel and take over the hideout and install a companion/clan member on that position. After that you can call on the bandit parties connected to the hideout to join your army.
- If you renown/roguery is even higher you can convince other bandit parties to follow you. They stay with you if there is enough plunder. They will leave if you do not have enough succes.
- Now and then you get challenged by an aspiring bandit to replace you. Could be a cool way to introduce some wildly different characters and fighting styles. This would give dueling a bigger role in the game.
- After your relations with a faction deteriorate enough. they will actively try to hunt you down. A ambush mechanic with a lower visibility zone in forrest would be very helpful here.
I know I made most of the above points in other treads, but I hope the more people read it, the bigger the chance a developer or modder sees it.