Haven’t finished game but haven’t heard him ask Henry to murder someone (hence not a death merchant)
Peshek himself could be made into someone of importance. Not important like being a lord but important in altering the Rattay social landscape. The theiving is linear. First A, then B, etc. Meh. Let Henry pick from a list. Some being trivial; others being impactful (beyond act itself).
Stealing the writ/document from Rathaus. Aside from money Henry gets, there’s no impact I can see. Not well developed. I mention quid pro quo below. So, a burgher has a ‘thing’ you’ve been asked to get by Peshek. Get it for him and you can’t do your deal with Neuhof farms ‘cause that’s the favor they want. So that option below goes poof.
Haven’t done the other Miller activities… so let’s take this bit by bit. Don’t know how many horses you’re asked to steal. For the sake of argument, let’s say 1. Does the game focus on acquiring a horse or stealing? The objective should be to get a horse from Neuhof. How you achieve that end shouldn’t matter (to the Miller that gave you the mission). So, off goes Henry. He should be confronted with different choices and paths: steal, buy, quid pro quo, win, busted.
In the NPC web, each of those should have an impact on something else.
- Steal (successfully) - Neuhof farm fails in some regard. That failure impacts another option or objective in another quest line. Or, maybe the quality or nature of goods offered fundamentally changes for the worse. Perhaps Neuhof farms is now desperate and in need of something (a new quest/activity opens up)
- Buy - the reverse in impact. some areas of impact may differ
- Quid pro quo - you do something for Neuhof farms and they give you a horse in return. That something has an impact. It enables and/or relates to a another quest line and/or alters an option/objective.
- Win - you have to participate in a tournament. That has its own prerequisite: entrance fee, skill development… Participation in tourney may enable a friendship with a rival. That friendship opens a door (figuratively) that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
- Busted (unsuccessful steal) - you get the standard punishment of the day. You lose access to Neuhof farms and maybe all the others. Not having that access impacts other quests/missions. If KCD has mounted unit battles, maybe Henry wouldn’t be able to procure them for battle (obviously only possible if death penalty isn’t the standard of the day)
It’s not really about burning bridges per se. By shifting from pure stealing to acquisition, it makes the Miller Peshek (and others’) quests/activities more compelling for more players. It puts the moral/ethical choice on you and the role you’re trying to play. Those choices should impact other choices and outcomes, and those choices and outcomes may not be evident to you at the time you make them.