Felon said:
Well, going strictly by what Anthro said, the NPC was probing his mind and trying to steal from him (although he is conveniently light on specifics). Maybe it's just me, but having my mind penetrated without my express permission is a pretty volatile action to take. Telling someone "don't do that again" by way of some furniture obliteration might not be so out of line.
Someone who doesn't seek to immediately flush the concept of mutual trust down the toilet. I mean really, what do you gain here? Either you find out they're untrustworthy, so you don't do business with them, or you find out they are honorable, but they won't do business with you because you are despicable enought to probe their minds without their permission.
Of course, if we're just talking about the spell detect thoughts, then it's a moot point as there's no way for the PC's to know for certain he's reading their minds anyway.
Felon,
As you note, we are remarkably light on the specifics. Indeed, I fail to see how the NPC Wizard could "mind probe" the characters, and the 1st-level characters could become aware of it. And what, really, do 1st-level characters have that is worth their patron stealing? Honestly, now?
I think it is far more likely that the DM said, "What are your characters currently thinking? The Wizard is detecting your thoughts." and the
players decided that somehow the
characters could act on that knowledge. I further suspect that the behavior of the PCs led directly to the behavior of the NPC in question. It would be nice to hear from the DM, wouldn't it?
Now, here's my take on patrons:
Some people in the world are more powerful than the PCs. Occasionally, they want to hire muscle to do the things they either don't have the time for, or don't want to do themselves. Maybe they don't have the requisite skills. So, they hire someone to do those things. The first time the PCs meet with the patron is like a job interview. Either you want the job or you don't. Either you get the job or you don't.
Patrons have cash and other stuff...that's why the PCs are bothering to listen to them. They also have enemies who might hire, say, a stone golem monk, a yuan-ti pureblood ranger, a thri-keen barbarian and a human warlock to assassinate them and/or take their stuff. Heck, a group like that might take the patron's stuff anyway, if given a chance. After all, most yuan-ti and thri-keen you meet are not exactly on the best of terms with regular people.
Most patrons also have a higher social standing than most 1st level PCs. That means that they are allowed to do things that the PCs may not like. Society often says its okay, and they have the power to back it up. Which is why, in this case, the PC ends up in prison swearing to kill the NPC's family. "Mind probing" ala
Detect Thoughts might be invasive, but it is a tactic that few PCs think is unethical when they are doing it. Passing through Customs when you get off a plane might seem invasive, too, but I assure you that setting fire to the furniture in retaliation is a bad move.
Now, if the PCs are dumb enough to threaten the socially and mechanically more powerful patron...
and the patron's family...they deserve what they get. I have no more sympathy for them than I would for you if you did the same in the airport.
If I suspected that you did the same, not because you found Customs to be invasive, but because you were trying to undermine the enjoyment of other airline passengers, I would have even less sympathy for you.
RC