Imagine for a moment the following scene(s):
A Glitch, skilled enough to travell all over the world, with pockets full of every treasure and knick-knack you can think of, strong enough to have fought and survived a Rook atack, is facing a creature half his/her size, looking like it's made of jello that has the nerve to announce it will steal "the precious" (whatever that may be at the moment) ...
What would the proper response be ? running away, jumping like a scared rabit ? or breaking out a big spoon and a wide grin ?
A similar situation :
The same world-weary, Rook-fighting Glitch is faced with a green little bureaucrat, declared enemy of Imagination (de-imaginator, right ?) intent on grabbing a private package worth diamonds ... Since deimaginators are the (name-identified) minions of the Rook, wouldn't it make sense to have a more ... active attitude against them ?
What I'm proposing:
For glitches with enough experience/badges/items, in case of imminent Juju/Deimaginator capture, instead of getting robbed "on contact", an option to challenge/defend should be offered. (for those without the required skills, or dedicated pacifists, running and jumping would still be an option)
It could take the form of a mini game, or Rube-trade like dialogue (where you would have to use a specific item or skill, or a sequence/combination of them); it could also activate the Martial imagination use of the Focusing Orb (think hadouken ;) )
I realise this might not "fit" with the general theme of the game (in which case ... why have Rook attacks at all ?) and it would replace/supplement one of the "jump&run" events in the game , but it would restore the balance between glitches and the rest of the world. After all, when it comes to interactions with the world, a glitch is ... touchy-feely helpless pacifist.
(except for the Rook, and the trees; it's ok to break out the big guns against the enemy of the Giants, turning shrines into planetary cannons and we're all used to killing trees with poisons, but protecting one's pocket ? Nooo ... )
It could also be played for fun, with wacky uses for things like heavy gas, sneezing powder, rainbow potions ...
Or it could be played like a moral choice, with an options to use a potion of animal youth to return the "enemy" to a younger, innocent self (to be returned to the nearest Bureaucratic Hall, or a friendly smuggler), or to just leave it behind.
It would make sense to have a "Smuggler's Run" quest, or a region with a higher incidence , or an item that signals availability for such events.
Anyway ... ideeas/comments welcome