Backstab is a very old skill, and despite its iconic status, it was always a little bland for both the thief and the victim. A few updates:

1) The 'suspicious' threshold has been loosened for PCs with unusually large numbers of hit points. Someone who has, say, 1400/2000 hp is less worried than someone with 700/1000. Edit: Fixed previous sentence.

2) More factors can come into play as far as success and failure. It's not quite the guarantee than it used to be, especially if your DEX is low. It's still a very high-percentage skill under most normal circumstances.

3) There is a small chance, which builds a little bit with level, of various 'special' successes which do more than the usual.

4) There is a small(er) chance that something goes quite wrong for the thief.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com