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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6046598" data-attributes="member: 6669384">I'll second what UnWise just said.&nbsp; If the PC becomes abusive of his gift in &quot;civilized&quot; areas, he's going to provoke a reaction.While they might not be able to identify who committed the crime, they can follow tracks.&nbsp; Dogs can follow scent.&nbsp; Someone might see him change.Other changelings might take offense to the trouble he's bringing down on them.&nbsp; Consider also that the Changeling's ability is similar to the Disguise Self spell, and shopkeepers might think that this is magical mischief rather than Changeling mischief.&nbsp; So they go to the Delver's Guild or start pressing the local mages to talk to apprentices etc.Now you have the Arcane Casters getting heat.&nbsp; Think they'll do anything about that?Over all (and not just in reference to this particular problem):&nbsp; Many players like to think that they're the first people in the world to ever consider using magical or racial abilities to rip up the world.&nbsp; Your job, as a DM, is to disabuse them of that notion.&nbsp; Every obvious trick or abuse they come up with *has* been seen and tried before in your game world.&nbsp; Magic isn't new or unknown, Changelings aren't new to the cities.&nbsp; There might be laws regulating them.Remember that while magic and racial abilities change the world, it isn't our world to begin with.&nbsp; We take racial and social equality more or less for granted.&nbsp; We take fair trials and police needing warrants as fixtures in our world.&nbsp; They don't have to be in the game worlds.Also, we live in a world of mass production, where any given item has a million identical twins.&nbsp; In historical fantasy games, every item is individually made and no two are alike.Anything this guy steals, other than cash, is uniquely identifiable.&nbsp;Now apply the same to people.&nbsp; In a world without modern transport, where 85%+ of the population is stuck on the farm producing food, in most towns everyone knows everyone else.&nbsp; Strangers are always suspect.&nbsp; And if someone the shopkeeper doesn't recognize comes into the shop, don't be surprised if he gets very, very close attention.&nbsp; Call it &quot;personal service&quot; if you like, but they're unlikely to be left alone to pilfer much.Also recall the common punishment in medieval society for thieves:&nbsp; Your hand gets removed, brutally.Nobody gets caught three times.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 6046598, member: 6669384"] I'll second what UnWise just said. If the PC becomes abusive of his gift in "civilized" areas, he's going to provoke a reaction. While they might not be able to identify who committed the crime, they can follow tracks. Dogs can follow scent. Someone might see him change. Other changelings might take offense to the trouble he's bringing down on them. Consider also that the Changeling's ability is similar to the [I]Disguise Self[/I] spell, and shopkeepers might think that this is magical mischief rather than Changeling mischief. So they go to the Delver's Guild or start pressing the local mages to talk to apprentices etc. Now you have the Arcane Casters getting heat. Think they'll do anything about that? Over all (and not just in reference to this particular problem): Many players like to think that they're the first people in the world to ever consider using magical or racial abilities to rip up the world. Your job, as a DM, is to disabuse them of that notion. Every obvious trick or abuse they come up with *has* been seen and tried before in your game world. Magic isn't new or unknown, Changelings aren't new to the cities. There might be laws regulating them. Remember that while magic and racial abilities change the world, it isn't our world to begin with. We take racial and social equality more or less for granted. We take fair trials and police needing warrants as fixtures in our world. They don't have to be in the game worlds. Also, we live in a world of mass production, where any given item has a million identical twins. In historical fantasy games, every item is individually made and no two are alike. Anything this guy steals, other than cash, is uniquely identifiable. Now apply the same to people. In a world without modern transport, where 85%+ of the population is stuck on the farm producing food, in most towns everyone knows everyone else. Strangers are always suspect. And if someone the shopkeeper doesn't recognize comes into the shop, don't be surprised if he gets very, [I]very[/I] close attention. Call it "personal service" if you like, but they're unlikely to be left alone to pilfer much. Also recall the common punishment in medieval society for thieves: Your hand gets removed, brutally. Nobody gets caught three times. [/QUOTE]

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