Stealing

[lovethesuit]

Stealing. A couple things about stealing.

First, what is it? Taking what is not already yours without permission. Breaking it down, what constitutes permission? Permission is given by an authority. What constitutes something being not yours? You don't have it (posession is 9/10) and no-one else has a legal claim to it.

Second, keep it IG. Now somebody in a certain situation did steal, and they kept it IG. I dig that crazy diamond and I hope our RP goes somewhere from all this. He's at no fault. But there's another guy. Pretty boy with a butter knife. Says he's going to tell the DMs what I did. What did I do?

So if I am told to collect the spoils of war, I'm going to collect them. And when it comes time to split them up, are we all going to play "Let's Pick Our Favourite Loot!" or Yahtzee? Maybe, if I feel like it. See, because that's the thing: there's no server rule that says we have to make a little game out of loot division. Often times people who expended the most are left wanting by the luck of the draw, all the moreso if somebody's a worshipper of Tyche (it has an effect).

So let's say I have the loot and I'm dealing it out. I place down what I don't need or want and keep what I do. Is it unpopular? Probably. Is it against the rules? No it isn't. We didn't all agree to make a big game out of it before hand. It's not even stealing. Why?

[size="5"]Because I'm in charge, I've got the loot, and you're gonna get what I say you can get.[/size]

Owned.

:D Now go tell the DMs how I stole from you. :D

[lakhena]

That's why... you just don't let the shady fellow collect the loot.  Duh.

[Canzah]

This does not match my expectations of an LTS post.

[Staring Death]

As long as you give a chance for the other guys to know you're keeping stuff, it's all good as far as I know.

[Capricious]

My opinion...as long as you roleplay the theft, and have ranks in skills such as pick pocket, and bluff, to support what you've done. If you ignore these things it's not a roleplayed theft, you've simply taken things in a rather OOC fashion. Maybe that's not how the DMs see it, and if that's the case then fine, but I feel if we're here to roleplay our characters then we need to roleplay their stats, and skills, and tell stories with our actions (including thefts), not just pick up stuff without any kind of roleplay attached to it.

[politoed_]

freedom isn't free

[lovethesuit]

I'm alright with someone stealing without those skills for a couple reasons. If someone doesn't have PP, then the thief mode that conceals when you pick something up won't hide that person's actions. Along the same vein, someone could just deny up and down without bluff, it's not hard to just say no, but if you try to mislead or misdirect then the skill would probably be important.

[Capricious]

Without bluff you can deny up and down, but you'd do it poorly.

The thing here that I don't like is when there's no way to catch the thief, because the game mechanics really aren't sufficient to see the theft, even with the thief mode. It becomes a no lose scenario for the thief since you literally can't prove a thing. The threat of being caught needs to be there for this to be roleplayed, otherwise you're just looking for a no-lose scenario where you can take what's been earned with no way of being caught.

If a thief can roleplay through the scenario and get away with it, more power to them, but taking stuff without even allowing any kind of opposition is really very lame.

[TheWastesAreFrozen]

It's all fair in the IC world so long as the rules are followed. Stealing from a player in front of NPCs is a pvp action and should require a DM, otherwise they can't react. Kind of goes along with what Cap said about not having any risk to your actions. However, since that's a rule anyway (I believe) then it shouldn't matter what happens ICly outside of NPC sight.

Outside of that the whole 'split everything equally' policy that's rather lame doesn't hold much weight with me either. Then again, I'm posting in an LTS thread where his primary goal is to get attention and up his post count. xD

[lovethesuit]

+1

[Capricious]

Well, its all relative, in my opinion. If someone skims a few potions, a bit of gold, or an item or two, oh well. I kind of expect that happens. It's more a problem if someone is trying to walk away with half the haul, then you need to give a chance of getting caught. To me that should be common sense.

And yeah, well how treasure is divided is really an IC thing. The party decides how to handle it ingame, there's really no one way it should be done. The characters can argue about that all they like.

[sylvyrdragon]

I agree with Cap here.  I'm not saying it shouldn't be done.  I think you need to have the stat's to back it up.

As with any class, your stat's determine how well you can do something.  If you want to be a Thief, not just a Rogue, then have the skills to back it up.

I have no problem with IC events, if it be murder, theft, or performing... just have the stats to back it up.

[Underbard]

Had a monk collecting loot once upon a time.  Accidentally forgot to lay out a couple things I had picked up.... Things I didn't even need... Got an alignment shift for it.  Draw your own conclusion.

[Equinox]

Thieving is a choatic act. if you do it fair play. Get the paladin to loot.

Don't whinge is you trust the "shady guy you've never met before" or the "nutball barb" not to decide they want/need it more and therefore aren't even going to share it with you.

If you cry about fair looting, go with a team who you can trust IC.

I have no issue with people "stealing" if you want to check all the takes and emote "takes nothing just looks".

[Staring Death]

As long as you give a chance for the other guys to know you're keeping stuff, it's all good as far as I know.

I'm mostly referring to if you're keeping a large amount of items, and/or large items. I may not have seen you pick it up, but I'd expect to notice that you suddenly have a two handed sword or a bag twice the size you started with.