I'm DM'ing a Player Who Just Announced his Bard is a Kleptomaniac Pickpocket. Crap.

[Simm]

d6 role

1. rusty razor blades
2. ring coated with contact poison the fell through a portal from 1e. Save vs. poison or die.
3. coin of opposite alignment, and how does your lawful character justify stealing.
4. Live scorpion.
5. Rot grubs.
6. Mirror of opposition. So this guy is just like you but has the opposite personality. So he doesn't steal compulsively and also hates your guts? just like the rest of the party then. I think we just found its new rogue.

Seriously I'd say don't do it my current 4e campaign has this guy in it and the only reason he's still alive is that my character (now deceased) had a +21 diplomacy check that my DM let me use to calm other players down.

 

[SiderisAnon]

Just in case this hasn't been done yet, you did sit the player down and explain to him clearly that going around picking people's pockets all day is soon or later going to get him hurt, arrested, or dead; right? OP said he was a new player. Maybe he doesn't understand that there are any real consequences of his character idea.

If he's willing to pay the price, then let him do the crime until it backfires.

 

[Umbran]

What has it got in it's pocketses?!?

Here's a note for you - in the real world, European Medieval clothing did not have pockets. People wore pouches on belts, or occasionally hanging around the neck under clothing. Sometimes these were accessed through slits in an outer garment, but they weren't "pockets" as we know them today.

For the purposes of determining what's in them, this is important. Belt pouches can carry a whole lot more than the typical pockets in modern trousers. You can have a great many mundane items in those pouches.

By the way, this is where the term "cutpurse" comes from - the idea wasn't to get into the pocket and back out again. It was either to cut the purse/pouch fully free from the mark, or to cut a slit in the purse, so choice items would fall out into the thief's hand.

 

[joethelawyer]

Just in case this hasn't been done yet, you did sit the player down and explain to him clearly that going around picking people's pockets all day is soon or later going to get him hurt, arrested, or dead; right? OP said he was a new player. Maybe he doesn't understand that there are any real consequences of his character idea.

If he's willing to pay the price, then let him do the crime until it backfires.

i did. he understands it might be a short lived character. so be it. it will be interesting if his newfound companions, i.e. the other players, will let him hang alone at the first sign of trouble.

 

[TarionzCousin]

IIRC, in the boxed set about Waterdeep that was titled "City System," there was a nice large table broken down by victim: noble, peasant, etc.

That would be worth finding online (or in my garage!)

 

[gizmo33]

i did. he understands it might be a short lived character. so be it. it will be interesting if his newfound companions, i.e. the other players, will let him hang alone at the first sign of trouble.

Ok, so it works like this:

Wandering into the astral sea and killing githyanki and their dragon pets - sensible.

Stealing rolls of twine and copper pieces from city folk - deadly and stupid.

I guess a DM can rationalize anything in his world, but this seems odd. The bottom line here I think is that you, as the DM, just don't like the choice of "adventuring" that this player is making. You'd rather him destroy the One Ring or Save the Princess or what-have-you. Your choices of what constitutes "adventure" shouldn't be considered any more silly than his. Frankly, I think you should be grateful that your player takes enough of an interest in the campaign world that he's actually motivated to do *something* with his character other than sit around and wait to be sent on a mission by an NPC.

Granted, swiping things from NPCs can be a little puckish and juvenile - but I'd give it a fair shake. There are plenty of adventure hooks, maps and stuff, that this can lead to. Heck - if his fame as a pickpocket gets out, he could be hired by people to get things back for them. The best thing is probably just let it run it's course - the NPCs aren't real people so no one's getting hurt. I think it's good practice for a DM to not be too judgemental about how players want to play the game. (Of course inter-player conflict is another issue - I'm assuming his targets will be NPCs.)

 

[Montague68]

Ok, so it works like this:

Wandering into the astral sea and killing githyanki and their dragon pets - sensible.

Stealing rolls of twine and copper pieces from city folk - deadly and stupid.

I guess a DM can rationalize anything in his world, but this seems odd. The bottom line here I think is that you, as the DM, just don't like the choice of "adventuring" that this player is making. You'd rather him destroy the One Ring or Save the Princess or what-have-you. Your choices of what constitutes "adventure" shouldn't be considered any more silly than his. Frankly, I think you should be grateful that your player takes enough of an interest in the campaign world that he's actually motivated to do *something* with his character other than sit around and wait to be sent on a mission by an NPC.

Granted, swiping things from NPCs can be a little puckish and juvenile - but I'd give it a fair shake. There are plenty of adventure hooks, maps and stuff, that this can lead to. Heck - if his fame as a pickpocket gets out, he could be hired by people to get things back for them. The best thing is probably just let it run it's course - the NPCs aren't real people so no one's getting hurt. I think it's good practice for a DM to not be too judgemental about how players want to play the game. (Of course inter-player conflict is another issue - I'm assuming his targets will be NPCs.)

And what of his fellow player characters who may actually want to Save The Princess or slay the Githyanki? They have to play along with the Thief's "adventure" because he has to pickpocket everyone who comes along?

 

[gizmo33]

And what of his fellow player characters who may actually want to Save The Princess or slay the Githyanki? They have to play along with the Thief's "adventure" because he has to pickpocket everyone who comes along?

I agree - good point to keep in mind for the DM. But this is no different than a player wanting his paladin to join a party of thieves. Attempting to punish the player with in game situations that aren't based on versimilitude wasn't really a good use of the DMing role IMO and I think the situation is better handled from the perspective I've described. A DM who allows a PC into his game best serves himself and the game by being enthusiastic and interested in the exploits of the character (which doesn't mean that you pull any punches). That being said, if the other PCs aren't compatible with this character, this is something IMO the group should handle outside of the game.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

As has been brought up by Dragonhelm... google "Kender pocket grab".

I got these two neat lists:

The Advanced Kender Pocket Grab Table

Kencyclopedia - Kender - Cartography -

 

[Doug McCrae]

Something else to consider - will he be stealing from the other PCs? He is a kleptomaniac after all, it would be odd if he didn't. That's your kender right there.

Tbh it does sound like a pretty boring and juvenile character concept, the sort of thing we did in our teens and early 20s.