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

[Ferret]

I sit and watch the other characters eventually kill the rogue. Then I turn to him and say "Told you so"

Yup.

 

[IronWolf]

I make the rolls for the player being pick-pocketed. Eventually someone in the party will notice if it is ongoing thing. From there the characters can figure out how they want to deal with it IC. If they decide to kill the rogue, then that is the fate the rogue has to live with.

If the same player continues to make "annoying" characters just to rile the party up then there may be a deeper issue that deserves a little more DM attention.

 

[Conaill]

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.

Great suggestion!

I think pickpocketing in-party can work occasionally, but I've rarely seen it done well. The PC in question would have to be a team player first and foremost, meaning that whatever they do is not going to disadvantage a party member, or bring the mission in danger.

For example, let's say the party needs to pass through a locked portal. The Paladin in the group has an item that can open the portal but is unwilling to use it for moral or legal reasons. The thief could "borrow" the item from the paladin, open the portal without anyone noticing, and put the item back where he found it in the paladin's posessions. "Hey guys, looks like this thing was open after all!"

Sure, if the paladin ever found out, he might be quite annoyed. But probably no more so than if he found out that the party cleric got that scroll of Raise Dead from the local friendly necromancer. The crucial thing is that the pickpocket did what he did for (his perception of) the good of the party, rather than trying to enrich himself at the expense of other party members.

 

[WayneLigon]

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.

Nope, I've only ever played on evil character in my life, and a small handfull of neutrals. Usually if the rogue is going to steal from the party, he's not going to wait until we've fought together. In the few times it's ever happened, it's happened the first couple of game sessions. Usually that player was soon invited to seek sucess elsewhere for his in-game disruptive behavior.

 

[maddman75]

Then maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't tell a PC that he's supposed to kill a party member...

Or did he come up with "hey, if I kill the party cleric, they'll be sure to let me in!" on his own?

I explained that this was a heroic campaign and evil characters were not acceptable. But that didn't matter to him. And it was common knowledge that assassins were after the cleric. The cleric's backstory was that he was a high priest of Iuz that betrayed him, turning to Pelor. He got docked several levels in the trade (making him the right level for the party). But the old man was not happy with this betrayl and constantly sent assassins after him. *These* were the assassins that he contacted and said he wanted to join. I didn't expect him to say "okay, sure", take the poison, go back to the party, and not even try to deny it when they told him they knew everything.

Plus they were lords of the kingdom, and this wasn't just betrayl, but treason.

For added kicks, when they visited the Abyss they ran into his spirit, made into a vampire. They got to kill him *twice*.

 

[Sandain]

Before my Dm days, I usually played Clerics. We had a new guy to the group a few years younger than us who tried this stunt.

Next fight after defeating some Wraiths he was near death and missing all but 1 of his levels. As the only Cleric I refused to heal or restore him.

He honestly couldn't understand why not, and ended up curled in fetal postion on the floor shaking. Every few minutes we'd poke him, but otherwise we carried on playing.

His next character was a Priestess of Heironeous who turned out to be a real asset to the party.

Now 13 years later this player is my best friend.

Wierd huh.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I explained that this was a heroic campaign and evil characters were not acceptable. But that didn't matter to him. And it was common knowledge that assassins were after the cleric. The cleric's backstory was that he was a high priest of Iuz that betrayed him, turning to Pelor. He got docked several levels in the trade (making him the right level for the party). But the old man was not happy with this betrayl and constantly sent assassins after him. *These* were the assassins that he contacted and said he wanted to join. I didn't expect him to say "okay, sure", take the poison, go back to the party, and not even try to deny it when they told him they knew everything.

Plus they were lords of the kingdom, and this wasn't just betrayl, but treason.

For added kicks, when they visited the Abyss they ran into his spirit, made into a vampire. They got to kill him *twice*.

In that case, good on you. Evil characters (especially stupid-evil characters) in a heroic campaign deserve nothing better. I'm surprised you let him survive as long as you did.