1) Gentle Walk was only checking level in certain, limited circumstances, which essentially let thieves with the skill mastered wander past much, much tougher NPCs with no real chance of failure. This is now fixed, and the skill properly accounts for relative level.
2) Gentle Walk checks for improvement when it averts (or fails to avert) an attack, not just for spamming the command in a corner.
3) NPC bards that can sing will choose from a few more songs. If they lack an instrument (or have it disarmed, etc.), they will choose from more of their bard skills such as Roundhouse, Flourish, etc.
4) Some shifter forms have been rebalanced slightly; generally speaking, when evaluating a form's balance we now consider higher end HP regen more valuable and higher end normal dodging less valuable. Ergo, this set of changes is good for you if you're a mongoose and not so good for you if you're a crocodile.
5) STR's bonus to damage has been increased for very high (23+) attributes, with the magnitude phased in as characters increase in level.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com