Why is theft impossible?

[Skungis]

I swear it's physically impossible to get away with theft in this game (or really any crime tbh) without having the person you stole from find out and immediately know it was you. I was invisible, on another floor, sneaking, and the person I stole from ran right up to me and accused me of stealing.
It just gets worse when you get into the actual city and the omniscient guards will turn you into a fugitive for accidentally picking up someone's junk or know every crime you commit regardless of stealth. Getting arrested is also a joke since the guards will still confront you for theft or damaging property (even if it's all done with mage hand) but then they just throw you back in the same cell. I had a guard accuse me of damaging property when I blew up my cell wall, and he "arrested" me which just moved me 5 feet to the left with the wall still blown up.

Edit: Guys I swear I'm sneaking and invisible when I do this. I'm not just walking up and grabbing things and then wondering why people are mad at me, I'm stealing something completely invisible and away from everyone and get caught the next day or a few hours later. I stole from Felogyr's Fireworks and now that whole area of the map is off limits to me unless I want to get instantly arrested.

[AzureTheGamerKobold]

just got camp, and wait till they stop paroling i steal CONSTANTLY not really an issue...

[DragynDance]

Two tricks for stealing that make it way easier then it was even in original sin 2. First, use turn based mode. And go invisible AFTER stealing then end turn based mode. Even if NPC's bump right into you, they won't notice you, and they won't ever find youand eventually stop looking, 2. Intentionally get caught stealing, then go to jail. Breaking out of jail is easy as hell, and the stuff you stole goes to an evidence locker, doesn't count as stolen anymore, and is painfully easy to retrieve after you break out, free of consequences.

[Phishfood]

I get away with it all the time. Go into turn based mode, pick pocket to your hearts desire, quickly run far away.

Even better is if you have a ranger with the hide in plain sight ability. Turn invisible, pickpocket and just don't move. The victim will run up to one of your party members and accuse them of stealing, they can then convince the victim they didn't do it without a persuasion check.

[Cappy King]

Whaaaaaaaaat? Stealing is so easy in this game. I literally clean out vendors left and right.

I got out of the first act with 55k gold from stealing. Didn't get caught a single time. Maybe you're doing it wrong?

A few tips - Crouch, then turn on turn base mode. Steal and then run as far as you can in TB mode. Run AWAY not above. Put actual distance between you and your mark. Also, get a few of your other party members to stand around near your mark so that they talk to them first. Just be like, "Whuh? Who me?" Then turn off TB mode and keep running.

A good place to practice this is in the grove. Steal from Arron, then dash away to Dammon and sell him the stuff you just stole from Arron. Easy peazy.

Use Fog and Darkness spells. If you've got a bard in your party, have them perform so passersby don't see what you're stealing.

Crouch. You gotta have them creaky knees when you're stealing stuff out in the open. Use shadows, use things that obscure you. Put things into containers then take the whole container.

[xxx RIP xxx]

I have been stealing from every Traders i encounter so far. Even those traders with guards standing near them and staring right at me. I have not spend a single gold piece till now except on Gale learning new spells. Just remember stealing is an art.

[Antearz]

Originally posted by Skungis:

I swear it's physically impossible to get away with theft in this game (or really any crime tbh) without having the person you stole from find out and immediately know it was you. I was invisible, on another floor, sneaking, and the person I stole from ran right up to me and accused me of stealing.
It just gets worse when you get into the actual city and the omniscient guards will turn you into a fugitive for accidentally picking up someone's junk or know every crime you commit regardless of stealth. Getting arrested is also a joke since the guards will still confront you for theft or damaging property (even if it's all done with mage hand) but then they just throw you back in the same cell. I had a guard accuse me of damaging property when I blew up my cell wall, and he "arrested" me which just moved me 5 feet to the left with the wall still blown up.

Its not Impossible at all.
Actually its quite easy if You ask me.


But You need to know the System.

1.
The Checks.

Putting it Simple.
There is 3 Checks here. Two You make and thus See.
And One that is made Hidden from You because its made by the Victim.

Your First Check is Staying Hidden. This can be Circumvented by being Invisible or Cloaked in Shadows. Or by not crossing anyones Line of Sight.

The Second if You Succeeding in actually Stealing someting.
This is only done for Pickpocketing. And decides wether You manage to Snatch the Item.

And the Third. Is someone noticing that something is Missing.
This Check You dont get to See.
If this Check Succeeds for the Victim. He will Call the Guards and the Guards and him will Look around Searching the Area for a Thief for a While.


2.
And the Third Part is the other thing.
Not everyone that Sees You Thiefing will Attack You.
Only Guards and some Guarding Characters will do that.
So if some Bystander from outside the Window or across the Street Sees You Stealing.
Even if the Victim himself does not Notice.
He will call the Guards and they will Search for You.


3.
Sound Exists.
Yes even if You are Invisible or not in Line of Sight.
If You are not Sneaking. You can be Heard. And if Guards Hear You Searching through Chests etc. They come Running.
So make Sure that even if there is no one in the same Room from which You are Stealing and thus Nobody can See You. That You are Sneaking so nobody Hears You either.


4.
Your Companions are will be Seen as well.
And might end up Questioned etc.
Make sure to move them out of the Area so they dont Expose You.
While they might be able to talk their way out of it and not get attacked etc due to them not having any Stolen Goods.
Them being there can sometimes mess things up and its also annoying.
So just move them away from the Place You are doing Crime at.





Now.
How to Thief therefore.
Knowing the System Thiefing actually becomes very Easy.

The Easiest Way in most cases is Invisibility.
If You are Invisible and Sneaking. (Yes You need to be Sneaking to avoid Sound) Most Thiefing Actions will Succeed as even if the Guards are Called. They dont Find You.

Now if You dont have any way to become Invisible.
You should Always Immedetialy Leave and Hide after Stealing something.
So that if the Victim notices something is missing and Calls the Guards.
The Guards dont Find You.
Small Sheds, A Covered position in a Side Alley, Inside of a House etc etc.
There is usually enough Hiding Spaces to Escape to and wait for the Guards to Disperse again.

[Skungis]

Originally posted by ⓀⒾⓦⒾ‰:

you need to plan it ahead, disguise yourself and snatch it as you move past and gtfo the area. dont hang around crouching and looking sus asf

a lot of times ill be walking away in a completely different disguise and see a patrol runnin to the store i just robbed. especially dammon in act 3 lol, i rob him blind

See this is why I feel like my game must be bugged because it never reacts the way you guys are describing. I did exactly that, came back a day later and got arrested. For me it's like if I steal from someone that entire area becomes off limits unless I want to get arrested.

[Skungis]

Originally posted by DragynDance:

Two tricks for stealing that make it way easier then it was even in original sin 2. First, use turn based mode. And go invisible AFTER stealing then end turn based mode. Even if NPC's bump right into you, they won't notice you, and they won't ever find youand eventually stop looking, 2. Intentionally get caught stealing, then go to jail. Breaking out of jail is easy as hell, and the stuff you stole goes to an evidence locker, doesn't count as stolen anymore, and is painfully easy to retrieve after you break out, free of consequences.

Yeah while I'm sure this works these feel more like workarounds than actually functioning systems. Also when I steal if I'm not invisible, the person it belongs to instantly loses attitude towards me. I did have that experience with prison though where I just walked right up to my stuff, took it, and left.

[Skungis]

Originally posted by Antearz:

Its not Impossible at all.
Actually its quite easy if You ask me.

Followed by 4 paragraphs is not easy my guy.

[Skungis]

Originally posted by xxx RIP xxx:

I have been stealing from every Traders i encounter so far. Even those traders with guards standing near them and staring right at me. I have not spend a single gold piece till now except on Gale learning new spells. Just remember stealing is an art. :LIMBO_run:

Bruh what is wrong with my game? I did exactly that and then came back the next day with a different character and got arrested.

[Jonsson]

Haha stealing is so easy, i got like 100000 gold from just stealing

[LeftPaw]

Yes I found pickpocketing to be useless. I think they must have nerffed it in a patch or something. You can steal it successfully, creep a half mile away and soon as you come out of stealth, boom, your caught. You can go lock yourself in a cupboard but they will still spawn there to arrest you. Its utter BS. Why don't they remove it altogether rather than leave it in such a broken state? It's shame I love going on the rob.

[Skungis]

Originally posted by Cappy King:

Whaaaaaaaaat? Stealing is so easy in this game. I literally clean out vendors left and right.

I got out of the first act with 55k gold from stealing. Didn't get caught a single time. Maybe you're doing it wrong?

A few tips - Crouch, then turn on turn base mode. Steal and then run as far as you can in TB mode. Run AWAY not above. Put actual distance between you and your mark. Also, get a few of your other party members to stand around near your mark so that they talk to them first. Just be like, "Whuh? Who me?" Then turn off TB mode and keep running.

A good place to practice this is in the grove. Steal from Arron, then dash away to Dammon and sell him the stuff you just stole from Arron. Easy peazy.

Use Fog and Darkness spells. If you've got a bard in your party, have them perform so passersby don't see what you're stealing.

Crouch. You gotta have them creaky knees when you're stealing stuff out in the open. Use shadows, use things that obscure you. Put things into containers then take the whole container.

Again, did all of this and it doesn't work. Also idk what you mean by just saying "huh who me" because the person stealing can do that too and if a guard confronts them you just have to go to prison even if it wasn't that character that stole. And despite doing all of this they'll just accuse me if I ever come near them again.

[Fluffykeith]

Mechanics wise, invisible doesn’t mean there’s no way to be seen.

What it does, according to the BG3 wiki, is grant you advantage on your attacks and disadvantage on enemy attacks against you. This seems different from base 5e where it explicitly states you become impossible to see without magic.l, as well.

[Sharkinbear]

So just adding to how easy it is. Separate your party, and have your non thief talk to a vendor that you are stealing from. Once you have successfully stolen what you want, have your theif run like 50 yards away. Your party will be question but since your thief has distance, your party auto passes being checked. The party member talking to the vendor locks the vendor in place facing whatever direction.

Same thing works for looting anything nearby that is red. Just have the 3 other party members distracting with conversations. And if you don't have time to run, have your thief warp to base solo and leave everyone else behind. Same results.