What to do when the PC Rogue picks the pockets of the other PCs

[Thanee]

I make sure, that it is handled in a fair way, that is spot rolls and also the chance to notice, if the thief is not really, really careful. Especially magical stuff might be found with a stray detect magic, and there are spells like locate object, too.

And once, stuff starts to be missing, the other PCs will probably make precautions... the thief will not always know of these.

And yeah, that will most likely result in the punishment of the thief by the hands of the other PCs, eventually.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Yeah, murder or crippling is always the best response to having your pocket picked.

Glad you agree with the consensus! Thievery is a very bad thing.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Ya, but you're probably used to running an evil party that is used to killing party members over a few gold. Never mind any of his other actions and that time he jumped into the middle of battle along side you the last few combats. To an evil person, I can see how that doesn't amount to anything compared to a handful of coins.

For good characters, which many of the people on EnWorld seem to want to play, that might prove a little more difficult. Theft might not equal killing in their eyes and life might not have such a low price. Such theft might make for a trust issue however and a good party will be left with either putting up with it or kicking him out of the party (making the character start a new character).

Or have the thief imprisoned. Medieval times were quite harsh in their punishment of thieves. Even good-aligned characters could make a reasonable justification of execution for thievery (especially LG).

I do not allow inter party stealing. It's just that simple. You steal from your party memebers and you are not welcome in the group anymore. I've gone through enough s*** with my D&D group over the last 4 years that I will no longer allow anyone to wreck it.

 

[Sir_Syco]

I play a barb that had his pockets picked by another party member.

I caught him once and cut off his hand in one movement.... soon after that he left the party.

I think my barb was being merciful

 

[CountPopeula]

If it's disruptive to the group, I'd give him an experience penalty. Something like 5XP for every gp worth of treasure he steals from a party member. Character power is a careful balance of level and treasure, after all, and he's swinging that balance in his favore, so it will need to be corrected.

If the other players aren't bothered, let them deal with it in character. Consider having them behead him and have him re-incarnated as a kobold or something.

 

[Thanee]

If it were disruptive to the game, I'd tell the player to stop right there.

Bye
Thanee

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, I think most of the highlights have been covered.

It seems to boil down to a few things for many people.

1. We're experienced gamers. Stealing from the party, when there is a whole wide world of NPC's to be robbed, is just not smart in character or for group politics.

2. It's not good for group cohesiveness.

3. Rogue characters should not expect to get away with it just because it's their 'specialty'.

4. The player of such a character may find himself uninveted from the game.

For me, it's because I've played for a long time. I've seen the rogues, assassins and other 'kewl' types of characters and frankly, they're a bit boring. Part of it may be the GM's fault for making the other player a 'mark' but often times it's just poor decesion making on the rogue player's part.

 

[Brian Compton]

I'd talk to the player first. Maybe their larcenous behavior could be turned to good use. For example, he/she could use her pocket picking to show the PC's how easy anyone could do the same, and then show them how to avoid having it happen. A smart pickpocket should also know how to avoid such handywork. Rather than wanting to blast him, the PC's might appreciate the heads up.

This, BTW, is why every DM I've ever played with forbids kender in their games. Eventually, this is what the character turns into- a pick pocket with no discretion.

 

[devilish]

In many ways, it doesn't make sense -- does a pickpocket nip someone's purse
in a city and then follow them around? No, they get the h*ll outta Dodge.
It's insane for a thief to join a party, pick their pockets, and then stick around; maybe
the player will get this concept. Unless he's playing an insane character (let
Party Justice ring!) or he's comical about it - "Forget this?" said the thief, holding up
a wand, to the wizard -- but that gets annoying real soon.

Now, skimming off the top while opening chests is a different matter -- that, to
me, seems more thief-like and, while annoying, I *expect* it from thieves in
the party.

 

[cmanos]

I make sure the player knows what he is doing and that it will probably not be good for him if the others find out. I make sure he knows that if they kill him, he's dead and there is no way around that. I make sure he knows that if they cut his hands off he''s still gonna have to play that character untiul he dies. I make sure he knows that, while it isn't unacceptable to me as a DM, as he is doing it in character, I also won't find it unacceptable if the other characters, acting in character, decide he needs to be punished. As longas he knows the possible repercussions, I let him do it.

And make sure I roll everyone's spot checks