PC Rogues stealing from other PCs

[EOL]

I think lots of things about an "adventuring party" must be of a necessity un-realistic generally the level of personality conflict between six people who spend every minute of every day with one another is much higher then the level of conflict you would allow in your party because other wise the game would slow to a crawl. So perhaps your CN rogue would always be looking for ways to scam the party, but as players and as a DM you would want to discourage it to a certain extent other wise the rogue would be constantly getting killed by the other players.

 

[Rashak Mani]

One of my DMs as a player had a kleptomaniac thief who usually didnt steal from other PCs... but if a chance was too good he couldnt stop himself.... it happened after a hard combat where he saved the Paladins life... after they got the Paladin up and running again ... the Naive Paladin gave Mr.Theif a hug and embraced him thankfully for saving his life... well the thief pickpocketed some stuff... not much... but he did... couldnt help himself poor fellow....

Besides hiding treasure found in Scouting expeditions its very rare for thieves to "steal" directly from the group... I myself have in the middle of combat slipped a dagger or two from their scabbards if needed... but nothing of value. A good in game reason should be presented to justify this unteam like atitude... bad in game and bad out game...

 

[DnDChick]

Wow I really stirred the soup with this one! Great discussion!

In my first ever AD&D1e campaign as a player we had a guy running a fighter/thief named Boltar...named after the treacherous Boltar from Battlestar Galactica (just gave you an idea of how old I am, huh? LOL).

This guy was the worst when it came to stirring up mischief, causing trouble, and being an ass. But...it was all roleplaying...his character had a Charisma of 5, and he really played that! I guess thats why we tolerated Boltar being such a jerk...we were all having fun and were forgiving of the problems he caused.

Thats what it all comes down to...if everyone is having fun, and good roleplaying is involved, have at it!

 

[reapersaurus]

In retrospect, most of the problems with thief-players I encountered in 1E and 2E was stemmed from the fact that the class was NAMED "thief".

"A Fighter is one who Fights."
By extension, "A Thief is one that steals."

I couldn't believe the surprise and loathing a thief player exhibited when we played a one-shot adventure in 2E:

I was given a character, kind of an animal-man, who had NO memory.
All he woke up with was a map and some tools and a locket, I think.

So the map ends up being the way to a Temple in the desert, he meets up with the party, and they're off. (but not before I had to endure the thief role-playing her stealing from my PC while he slept.)

In the middle of the Temple, he finds out she has his stuff (including the map and the locket - his ONLY link to what his true personality really is) when she goes "Oh - I've got the map!"

He went ballistic, and tried to strangle her, all the while, she's defiant like she didn't do anything wrong.

 

[birdboy2000]

It depends on the setting. In a setting I played in previously, my character didn't feel close to the others and traveled with him do to circumstance. Also he was evil. That character stole from one PC and sold what he stole to another in the same game who knew how I got it. In my current game, I am neutral leaning closer to good, and as one PC is a close friend and the first human I get, another is a close ally and high level mage who I really don't want to invoke the wrath of, and the third would hear me sneaking away, I don't steal from PCs. But if I had a good reason to I would.

 

[Mark]

I think if a rogue can justify it within their alignment, as a DM, I shouldn't prevent it. OTOH, I do not encourage it nor give any help to the player trying to do it, so I do, in essense and by default, discourage it Meta-wise.

This means I do not brook a lot of "note passing" and "other room conversations" to help it along. I'm also a big fan of requiring players to play only on their character knowledge, so a player of a rogue could simply say that they are stealing outright, though it seldom would seem like a good idea to them to do that.

Therefore I voted the last option in the poll of discouraging even though I do not disallow it or suggest it is a bad idea.

 

[Vaxalon]

That's the way I do it, too.

Any theft from other PCs has to be done 'above the table' where the player can see it.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Well its not exactly about stealing from the Party but did involve my Paladin telling the Rogue too behave in the city we had just arrived...

The group had been in the wilderness like a whole year real time... and the rogue players wanted to backstab and steal... I told the DM I was going to keep an eye on him... but alas Paladins arent the best watchouts... so he got away. I told him...

He tried to garrote/strangle a poor farmer just for the kick of it... he choose the weakest victim possible and MISSED !! Worse he got captured for the thieving (not murder) attempt... they wanted to brand him on the forehead and whip him 50 times... plus some gold penalty....

As a Lawful Character I said the branding was a little too much to be correct... but that he should take a 100 lashing not 50 and a temporary brand of thief !! Never seen a Rogue complain so much !!! The group did pay up a lot in order to avoid his getting whipped... much to my concern...