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I was trying to think of ways to make BACKSTAB a balanced, fun kind of command, as it was recently brough up at an OOC meeting and Staff mentioned they weren't sure of a clear direction for it. I saw Prisca's post on the forums about AMBUSH and, while I like the idea, I'm not sure if I like it for what I personally have always thought 'backstab' itself should be.

My idea is this: that BACKSTAB be made a Thief Guild skill — maybe a Thief-Guild Only Command, period — as a representation of the dishonorable, shady fighting style that the less-armored ruffians of the world employ to try to level the playing field against heavily armored protectors of the law. Backstabbing someone would NOT require a player to be hidden first, but WOULD use the 'hide' and 'sneak' skill, along with the Dexterity stat, as supplements to its success. For the target, having a weapon prepared would grant a higher chance for the attack to fail, as well as having a higher WISDOM stat of the attacker, to simulate seeing their underhanded efforts. A backstab would, by default, do no increased damage but would bypass armor if successful and, depending on the location targeted, add a particular affect to the victim to give the attacker an advantage. Defense values up to the attacker's Backstab Skill Level would be ignored. Someone who has been backstabbed recently would be immune to backstabs for a long period of time, but attempting to backstab someone who has this immunity would throw-back a coded failure that does not alert the victim that an attempt was made. ("They are too alert for this techinique to work.") A failed backstab would initiate combat, apply the 'alert' affect to the victim for a reduced time period, and impose a penalty to the initiator's defenses, as they are put off-balance by their failure, along with the attack itself auto-failing and doing no damage. Attempting to backstab non-human NPCs would result in an auto-failure: this skill is reserved for humans. Backstabbing would be ICly seen as very much a thieve's action, and a failure would still be an obvious attempt at it.

tl;dr: Backstab becomes Thief Guild Skill, uses Dagger Skill, Dexterity, Sneak, Hide vs. Wisdom, Defenses with Bonus for Weapon Drawn for success. A successful backstab deals a blow that applies a certain type of affect depending on type of backstab used and ignores armor in the given location. Backstab Skill affects types of backstabs available, ignores victim's defenses equal to the backstab skill, and at higher ranks ignores the 'drawn' weapon of the victim. On success or failure, combat is initiated and victim is given an 'alert' affect making them immune to backstabs for a period of time. On a failure, a large penalty to defense on the initiator and no damage is dealt. Backstab cannot be used against non-human targets. 

To incorporate Prisca's cool idea, AMBUSH would be made its own command or skill, drawing on the Sneak and Hide skills (which are not guild skills) for its success. An AMBUSH involves preparing a moment for an advantageous attack on a target, and would have a higher than average critical-strike chance (perhaps ignoring a percentage of a victim's defense skills?) and place the combatants at the ideal range for the attacker, no matter their coded locations beforehand (making it especially potent against PCs). Attempting to ambush in public locations would be less succesful. While it would initiate combat, it would not count as the initiator's action in the first combat round; in effect a 'surprise round'. A failed ambush would deliver a normal attack but leave the attacker off-balance with slightly lowered defenses. Ambush would not ICly been seen as a strictly thief-type attack, and would be useable with every type of weapon or method of combat, including mattack.

tl;dr: Ambush draws on hide + sneak skills for success and, if successful, places the attacker at the ideal range for their weapon vs the target and deals increased critical strikes. It counts as a 'surprise round' in combat, initiating combat but not using the attacker's action for the round. Failure begins combat as normal but imposes a small defense penalty.

Deeper explanation of suggested backstab mechanics:

As a note, Backstab as described is somewhat vicious. It's meant to be! It's a special type of fighting, in this idea, where people who would otherwise not be able to take on the keepers of law might have a chance, if they get the drop on them. It's not meant to be an 'autowin this fight'; disabling it for people using metal armor should help keep this the case.

Determining Success: Backstab would take the average of a character's Sneak, Hide, Dagger, and Dexterity stats and compare vs. the victim's Combat Defenses and Wisdom stats with a bonus to the defender if they have their weapon drawn, though this bonus would become less meaningful at higher backstab levels. While all successful backstabs would ignore armor, the damage would, unless noted, otherwise be the same as a normal attack except that a degree of the victim's defense would be ignored equal to the attacker's defense skill. Also, using backstab while wearing any armor heavier than leather would not be possible. Note that the highest-skill backstabs can be mitigated with armor types that are beyond the basic minimum!

Determining Types of Backstab: precision attacks with a dagger would have very different results based on where the strike lands. As the backstab skill increases, more techniques become known. Different types of backstab might have their own methods of determining success AFTER the initial backstab check, stressing using the right type of backstab for the situation. Many of these types of backstab are designed to assist the thief in getting away. The magnitude of the affect should often be influenced by the backstab skill, so using 'backstab wrist' at a master rank would have a much more impactful result than doing the same at an unskilled rank.

inept       - backstab wrist - hand - The attacker attempts to slice the radial artery of the target's hand, creating a highly bleeding wound. During each round of combat, the victim takes an amount of bleed damage until the wound is bandaged. Outside of combat, the affect would have no impact (as the base wound would be bleeding) to simulate the victim taking some effort to pinch the wound and reduce, but not heal, the bleeding.

unskilled   - backstab blackjack - head - The attacker uses the pommel of their knife to deliver a sharp blow to the victim's head, dazing them. The victim suffers a penalty to defenses and a lowered wisdom for a long period of time. Other affects that influence the victim's mental state (drugs, spells, etc.) have a pronounced affect. Opponents wearing helmets of any kind are immune to this.

capable     - backstab kidney - body - The attacker tries to jam the dagger into a vital organ, dealing a vicious, hobbling strike. Inside combat, attempts to use repositioning commands such as step, lunge, and charge have a high chance of failure, and outside of combat there is a fatigue cost for moving between wounds, even when on a horse (as its more the act of motion which pains the body). 

competent   - backstab shoulder - arm - The attacker delivers a vicious blow to the target's Trapezius joint (the soft spot between shoulder blade and neck). This numbs the arm; each turn in combat there is a chance of any primary weapon attack failing as the arm wielding the weapon refuses to act. Opponents with a high CONSTITUTION are more likely to shrug off this affect.

proficient  - backstab hamstring - leg - The knife cuts into the back of the victim's leg, hobbling them. The victim receives a significant penalty to preventing DISENGAGE actions, and their pace is set to CRAWL and cannot be raised until the wound is bandaged. While the treated wound persists, the victim cannot move faster than a JOG. Victims with high DEXTERITY mitigate these affects somewhat, esp. the penalty to disengage.

adept       - backstab dual - body - An attack with two weapons: this enables a two-attack initiation with a successful backstab, using the daggers wielded in both hands. Note that, as code currently exists, this would give a penalty in the resulting fight to the thief as dual wielding the same weapon types conveys a pure damage nerf, but simulates the hyper-aggressive style of dirty fighting that knife-wielding ruffians could employ.

master      - backstab eye - head - An attack trying to target a victim's eye. Opponents wearing VISORS would be difficult to strike with this type of manuever. If successful, the victim loses an eye and receives a permanent debuff to all of their defenses, though magical means can cure the affect. Backstabbing a PC in this method would require a valid cnote according to PKill Policy.

grandmaster - backstab juggular - head - The attacker draws the knife across the neck of the victim, delivering a devastating injury. A SERIOUS wound is created, which applies MAJOR bleed damage each round of combat. Outside of combat, the victim cannot move (but can send messengers and mount) until the wound has been bandaged as they focus on not dying in a pool of their own blood (bleed damage is not increased out of combat). Targets wearing plate armor on their NECK are immune to these attacks. Used against an NPC, the attack has a high chance to instantly kill the target, but all in the room receive the 'alert' affect as well as a 'high alert' affect that increases their defenses and ability to GUARD the room's exits. The attacker receives a debuff that prevents them moving for a brief (~30 second IRL) time period as they 'perform' the technique, to enable others to react. Backstabbing a PC in this method would require a valid cnote according to PKill Policy.