One of the primary complaints on the boards seems to be that dipping is perceived to be sort of all or nothing. The thief has a lot of incentive to get in and out, and while fishing for items they're never sure if they're going to whiff, or hit something and either get caught or have the item. I feel like this encourages a lot of lightning fast play for dips, given the risk reward. Slowing this process down a bit into two stages could lead to better scenes for the mark and the dip.
A failure could be something like "You catch X feeling your medpak" or "You catch x feeling for something in your pockets".
I think something like "feel player for medpak" would be really cool. It would count as an attempt with a stealing skill but I think would be easier to land than a full steal.
It would give lower-level dips something to do, as they could feel up certain players for items and have better thieves come in for the kill. It also just makes sense that a newer thief would feel for items before trying for them wholesale.
I know that dipping is very strong, but I don't even think this is a buff really. With this command it would be easier for a dip to play out a scene where they chat with the victim, feel for the item, then do a pose and go for the steal.