Randomly decided to check in after years and see talk of Doordie and Amel. Lots of fun memories! Arguably my first long time character, Narwyn, ended up closely aligned with Amel as his protege.
Doordie was one of the best RP's I ever played with. His stories, with his character Amel, were amazing. Rich, deep, complex. I hope Doordie is doing well! You have a really great Uncle!
Registered Member #960
Joined: 2:07:50 am GMT 01/22/07
Posts: 644
Hey all. So as you can guess from the title, I've got some pickpocketing questions. I tried to find some other threads about it but they seem to mostly be about how players shouldn't pickpocket players without a signed contract of consent filled out in triplicate.
But back to the question at hand: When someone pickpockets an item it is marked as 'stolen' and no one else but a fence will buy it, is this an IC element or OOC mechanic? The difference between the two would be rather important. Do the bags of stolen gold have a monogrammed initial on them? Are the gems ingraved with "My dearest Sweetie, I hope this never gets stolen"?
What happens if a pickpocket wants to trade a stolen item to another PC? Is it still marked as stolen forever and ever? Would the recieving PC know this? If it is ICly signed as 'NOT YOURS's property' and it is traded to an ICly dimwitted PC that gets caught with it, would /they/ be considered the criminal?
Can quest items be pickpocketed from Dungeon bosses if the item is small such as a gem, note, key, etc.?
Can pickpocketing be used in reverse (a.k.a) can someone /put/ something in a PC's pocket without them knowing? Of course the majority of this would be consenting RP but is it mechanically possible?
Well that's all I can think of at the moment but by all means fill in the blanks.
Registered Member #633
Joined: 3:59:33 pm GMT 10/24/05
Posts: 1173
Not that I know, but I would assume that quest items are marked 'droppable' upon a bosses' death, and are not 'pickpocketable'. Staff can tell you better than I can.
I agree that marking items 'stolen' after a pickpocketing is rather lame, if it's simply gold or gems. Then again, if you managed to pickpocket a suit of platemail without someone knowing, that would be a different story...
Registered Member #1205
Joined: 6:06:34 pm GMT 11/13/07
Posts: 1136
You can't put something into someone's inventory without bartering. That said, in the one instance where someone put something into my character's pack, they rolled Pick Pocket and I countered with Spot.
xmarksthespot Registered Member #1158
Joined: 8:24:07 am GMT 09/14/07
Posts: 587
When you pickpocket a Cure Serious Wounds potion from somewhere, you can't stack it with your other stack of potions. Gold just goes in your own pile though.
Registered Member #34
Joined: 11:01:04 am GMT 02/26/04
Posts: 2778
As has been hinted at, gold is never marked at "stolen", as it's not an actual item in your inventory... it's just a number. It doesn't even have any weight.
I didn't realize that pickpocketed items were marked as stolen, but now that I know, that's probably a bad thing for Thain.
I think the idea in the OC was to keep you from pickpocketing magical weapons and such, and then selling them for a fortune. That's not such an issue on Thain, as just about everything that can be pickpocketed from an NPC is already accounted for as such an item.
But I don't know if it's possible to keep the "stolen" flag from being set. That means, should you grab a sword or something similar from another PC, that the player would likely need DM help to get the item set back to non-"stolen" if he got the item back. Yuck!
Always Preceding Miggen Registered Member #136
Joined: 4:31:27 am GMT 06/13/04
Posts: 16130
Felix wrote ... I tried to find some other threads about it but they seem to mostly be about how players shouldn't pickpocket players without a signed contract of consent filled out in triplicate.
Pick-pocketing is a hostile action so you simply need to get permission OOC up-front to attempt pick-pocketing someone... if you get something bigger than the size of your first (stupid implementation of the NWN engine allows you to take full suits of armor! ) or if it's a quest item, then give it back OOC. It's very easy to ruin someone else's fun by pick-pocketing without mutual consent that it will be fun for both sides, so to avoide the "I win, you lose" mentality that can easily arise from those with superior PP skills, we remind you of the importance of keeping the fun of others in mind. There are an increasing number of NPCs that you can use this skill on that if you don't find willing PC targets. In particular nobles of a rich city can be profitable.
Felix wrote ... When someone pickpockets an item it is marked as 'stolen' and no one else but a fence will buy it, is this an IC element or OOC mechanic?
It is an OOC mechanic implemented by Bioware at the engine-level for the PickPocket funciton (which is not scriptable and thus not easily changeable). The best thing to do from a RP perspective is to treat it a an IC element (e.g., personal items have a low-magic aura denoting their owner, or it's engraved, or whatever you want to make up that explains why it's stolen).
Felix wrote ... What happens if a pickpocket wants to trade a stolen item to another PC? Is it still marked as stolen forever and ever?
If it's traded to another PC, the "Stolen" flag remains forever, unless changed by a DM for a good IC reason (or because of an OOC mistake).
Felix wrote ... Would the recieving PC know this?
Other PCs won't know about this flag--only NPC merchants can detect the low-magic aura of personal ownership, or detect the hidden personal engraving, or recgonize whatever it is you made up as a RP reason to justify a pick-pocketed item as being stolen. We could potentially change that in the OnAcquire script, but there seems to be no need as the flag is only meaningful to NPC merchants.
Felix wrote ... If it is ICly signed as 'NOT YOURS's property' and it is traded to an ICly dimwitted PC that gets caught with it, would /they/ be considered the criminal?
Since the Pick-Pocket engine function doesnn't let you know who did the pick-pocketing, the DMs don't really have a mechanic to track down pick-pockets... only the PC being pick-pocketed really would know, however if they spot you taking something from them, and they report it IC, then the DMs (via the NPCs) have something to act on. But passing a "stolen" item to another PC isn't going to get them any trouble due to the mechanic of the stolen flag. If it's a unique item (i.e., Jiles' Flail of the Stars), then there could be IC rationale to hunt down whoever comes into possession of that unique item.
Felix wrote ... Can quest items be pickpocketed from Dungeon bosses if the item is small such as a gem, note, key, etc.?
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Depends on the builder that designed the quest boss and what they wanted, so it's not consistent across the module.
Felix wrote ... Can pickpocketing be used in reverse (a.k.a) can someone /put/ something in a PC's pocket without them knowing? Of course the majority of this would be consenting RP but is it mechanically possible?
I'm not familiar with what Derk said, but it sounds like he's got some experience with it so I'll defer to his answer above.
💅 Registered Member #463
Joined: 1:37:12 am GMT 03/10/05
Posts: 7900
The PP mechanic on PCs is useless anyways IMO.
Since it requires consent, I would rather roll my PP score vs. their Spot Check and if I win have them hand over what I was going for (I've seen this work out nicely before). Getting permission to pick-pocket then playing "inventory roulette" doesn't really seem to have a point to me.
Registered Member #1145
Joined: 8:28:45 pm GMT 08/30/07
Posts: 823
Just Miggen wrote ...
The PP mechanic on PCs is useless anyways IMO.
Since it requires consent, I would rather roll my PP score vs. their Spot Check and if I win have them hand over what I was going for (I've seen this work out nicely before). Getting permission to pick-pocket then playing "inventory roulette" doesn't really seem to have a point to me.
I don't think it's useless, Miggen. In fact, it's just right for certain situations.
I never thought of your suggested method for getting a specific item from a PC target, but I really like it. If the PP "knows" the target has said specific item because he was told by someone about it, where the PC target keeps it and so on, or if he witnessed the target buying it, or otherwise showing it off and then putting it back in a pocket or pouch, then that is an excellent way from an RP standpoint to handle the situation.
However, if the PP is just working a crowd, cutting purse strings, sticking their hand in random pockets and pouches, then "inventory roulette" makes perfect sense, and that IS the point to it.
Always Preceding Miggen Registered Member #136
Joined: 4:31:27 am GMT 06/13/04
Posts: 16130
Thran wrote ... If the PP "knows" the target has said specific item because he was told by someone about it, where the PC target keeps it and so on, or if he witnessed the target buying it, or otherwise showing it off and then putting it back in a pocket or pouch, then that is an excellent way from an RP standpoint to handle the situation.
I'm pretty sure that if you're standing within 10m of a potential mark buying stuff at the counter, you'll see what they're buying if it your Spot meets or exceeds their PickPocket. You no longer need to be partied with your potential mark (although you still need consent to try).
[ The Island of Thain ]
Pickpocketing Questions
) or if it's a quest item, then give it back OOC. It's very easy to ruin someone else's fun by pick-pocketing without mutual consent that it will be fun for both sides, so to avoide the "I win, you lose" mentality that can easily arise from those with superior PP skills, we remind you of the importance of keeping the fun of others in mind. There are an increasing number of NPCs that you can use this skill on that if you don't find willing PC targets. In particular nobles of a rich city can be profitable. 
