Just out of interest, can you be any more specific on the mechanics of this? I've noticed a little red icon appearing sometimes when I pickpocket, but I've also seen creatures 1-hit KO me (early character levels) even though it doesn't have the little red icon!
I like the idea of monsters getting stronger at every failed attempt, since it prevents you from just pickpocketing forever until you get a success, and I generally prefer the current implementation of pickpocket in pre 21/22, but it would be nice having a little more idea just how dangerous a monster becomes when you pickpocket it, without losing many more characters!