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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tzarevitch" data-source="post: 840689" data-attributes="member: 1792">Cultural norms for the setting can take care of this problem. I run a Rokugan game where is is cultural tabboo to touch the dead much less steal from them. Society shuns you for doing it and the ghosts of the ancestors DO return to haunt those responsible. The PCs in my game have never done it (I explained the cultural tabboo when I started the campaign) but the means I had planned to use include:1) The dead person's ghost returns and plagues him. It appears by him in a particularly public place and accuses him of theft. This causes the character's personal honor to be called into question and NPC reactions plummet. 2) Have the ghost curse (like the old Ravenloft dramatic curses) what was stolen to cause sorrow for the thief in equal measure to the benefit the thief would have received. (i.e. a +2 weapon becomes a -2 weapon and the character automatically draws it whenever he would reach for another weapon). The curse lasts until the character receives absolution from the ghost and either returns it or gets the ghost's permission to keep it. Note in both this case and #1 above, the ghost should not be permanently destroyable. It should return every night/week/few days until it is put to rest by the PC asking its forgiveness and either returning the property or getting the ghost's permission to keep it. 3) If the setting has a God of the Dead, have him and his agents start punishing those who defile the dead. He can send an agent who can substitute for the ghost in either 1 or 2 above or assign some other more appropriate punishment. This one should not be personalized unlike the above two because it looks like DM is conspiring against the player. Have the deity's agents publicly take several NPCs to task and give the PC time to get the hint before they come to him. 4) If the setting has an authority with advanced laws (either temple or state) unless the dead PC had a will that specifically states that the party members are entitled to his stuff, the relatives of the deceased can start a legal claim for the property as the deceased PCs legal heirs. Honestly, the relatives can start a legal proceeding even if there IS a will by claiming it isn't legitimate (not his signature, signature wasn't witnessed, not properly certified by the local authorities etc.) A probate proceeding requires the authority to make an accounting of the property before it can determine the owner. They can demand that the character turn the property over to them for safekeeping until the proceeding is concluded. This option can be interesting and allows for opportunities for roleplay as the PCs have to defend their interest in court if they want to keep the property.  The Rokugan setting avoids this problem because most magic items are "nemuranai" (sp?), temporary items that work ONLY for the person who owns them. They become magical on their own because a hero (or anti-hero) owns them and they can turn themselved off just as easily. Stealing these magic items is pointless because the kami (elemental spirit inside of it) that makes it temporarily magic won't do anything for anyone other than its owner. So stealing that +5 vorpal nemuranai from its owner only gets you a masterwork sword.Tzarevitch</blockquote>

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