Binder/thug used to seem viable as an option but nowadays I am met with this:
You hit the bard in the back of the head with a blackjack.

13320tnl (civilized)> hid
sn
You step out of the shadows.
You stuff a gag in the bard's mouth.

13320tnl (civilized)> You grab the bard's legs and begin wrapping rope around his ankles.

13320tnl (civilized)>
Your rope breaks as you try to cinch it about the bard's legs.

13320tnl (civilized)> You wrap a blindfold around the bard's eyes.

13320tnl (civilized)>
You are hungry.
The bard wakes and stands up.
The bard rubs the lump on the back of his head.

13320tnl (civilized)> He isn't sleeping... he'll catch you!

OR

You attempt to hide.

13320tnl (civilized)> You hit the valley elf in the back of the head with a blackjack.

13320tnl (civilized)>
You are hungry.

13320tnl (civilized)> You step out of the shadows.
The shoddily done gag falls out of the valley elf's mouth.
13320tnl (civilized)> You grab the valley elf's legs and begin wrapping rope around her ankles.

13320tnl (civilized)>
You are hungry.
The valley elf wakes and stands up.
The valley elf rubs the lump on the back of her head.
13320tnl (civilized)>
She isn't sleeping... she'll catch you!

These are just two example of what appears to happen to me more often than not. Now truss and cheapshot were seen as overpowered and thats fine because the thief points made it impossible to have them now without immortal intervention but the reduced timer on blackjack reduces the effectiveness of your thief tremendously. As a thief you are not the strongest combatant so need either your bindings or scrolls or steal or cheapshot invariably. With this short timer, I cant even get the bindings on, let alone steal a return/teleport potion or sleepingdisarm. It just appears to have made thieves limp. Any chance it can be put back to normal????

-----Abernyte