Thieves Guild Bug

[alexdoerofthings]

Hi y’all, I’m trying to join the TG, I do what Brynjolf asks, the ring thing, collecting the 3 debts, then he tells me to follow him to the cistern and he attacks me when I enter, or he’s nowhere to be found and the others in the cistern attack me. I’m not sure what to do. Thoughts?

[Nabinkemper]

You have a bounty in Riften. Go back up stairs and talk to a guard. If no dialog option comes up, punch them and pay the fine. This will clear the bounty and make the Thieves Guild neutral again.

[alexdoerofthings]

Cool. Thanks!

[alexdoerofthings]

That didn’t work.

[Lady Aeleanor]

Originally posted by Nabinkemper:

You have a bounty in Riften. Go back up stairs and talk to a guard. If no dialog option comes up, punch them and pay the fine. This will clear the bounty and make the Thieves Guild neutral again.

Sometimes you need to talk to the guard, and he will say, "Wait! I know you!". When you deny it, he will ask you to pay a bounty. Once you've done that, you should be good to go.

[alexdoerofthings]

I did that. It didn't work.

[Nabinkemper]

If you don't have a bounty, or punching the guard and paying the fine doesn't seem to work, you may have killed or been involved in the death of a member of the Thieves Guild and have incurred a debt that will need to be payed. Enter the Ragged Flagon (the tavern area before the Cistern) and speak to Vex (blonde thief lady). If there is a debt, she will have dialog that will allow you to pay the fine restoring your good standing.

EDIT: If none of the above works, you can leave Riften hold (go to Whiterun or another place) and wait for 30 game days. This may allow time for them to calm down.

[alexdoerofthings]

Ok. I punched a guard, paid the bounty, went to Elysian estates for 30 days, and the cistern didn’t work, so I talked to vex, paid the fine, and! It’s still not working…

[Mr. Monday]

Post your load order.

[Shadow Wizard Fluffy Gang]

I remember my Mom experienced a glitch like this. I did some googling and found out she had to add her character to the TG faction using console (the one for the cistern specifically, maybe both). I don't remember where I found it, but hopefully with that information you can find the solution.

[Nabinkemper]

Before you try console commands (removing then adding yourself to the guild faction), which can lead to buggy AI interactions, travel to the hold capitals and repeat the interaction with a city guard. Somewhere you potentially have a bounty. Only use console commands as a last resort.

As Mr. Monday indicated, this can be caused by a potential mod issue as well. We would need to know your load order to verify.

EDIT: I did find the following potential fix -

https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/487876568234998819/

[diegovbl]

Disable all your mods.
Specially the unofficial skyrim patch, if you have it.

[Rez Elwin]

Originally posted by diegovbl:

Disable all your mods.
Specially the unofficial skyrim patch, if you have it.

You can't disable or uninstall most mods during a play-though, and the Patch actually fixes bugs.

[Lady Aeleanor]

Originally posted by Rez Elwin:

You can't disable or uninstall most mods during a play-though, and the Patch actually fixes bugs.

Agree 100%. Don't uninstall mods mid-playthrough.

[smr1957]

What Rez and Lady Aeleanor said - 100%! It cannot be emphasized enough that you should never disable mods mid-playthrough! For full and definitive information regarding this, see:
You CANNOT Remove Mods Mid-Playthrough - http://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1520386297681801135/

As to the Unofficial Patch, unless you are an experienced player, and have been playing for a long time and know all the consequences and accept all the liabilities of NOT having the Patch in your game, it is an absolute MUST HAVE. See the PINNED TOPIC regarding the Patch and why it is essential:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1741090847739345133/

[alexdoerofthings]

I haven’t disabled anything mid play through.

I’m going to try that cheat code at this point.