Karmis's Castle: Pickpocketing Guide

The Fun Loving Criminals Guide to Picking Peoples Pockets
v1.0 - 27 January 1997

Author Unknown

Disclaimer:
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The following guide deals with a very controversial, and oft frowned upon skill: pickpocketing. Some view pickpocketing as the most vile of things you can do to someone, next to killing them of course. I view it as an integral part of life. Remember, we are not living in a world where everything is fair...people get cheated, killed and yes, robbed. This guide is intended to give hints and insider info to those who are thinking of taking up this worthwhile skill. Be advised that stealing from people can get you killed, blacklisted, or even stolen from yourself, so practice at your own risk. That being said, shall we begin?

The Mechanics:
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Obviously, to be a good cutpurse, you need to train in the appropriate skill, picking pockets. As of this first writing, pick pockets is the only thing I know of which affects your success, though I would not be surprised if perception and/or dexterity come into play as well. Makes sense, no? Needless to say, you should double train in picking pockets as often as possible to maximize your potential. I have heard many stories of thieves who have stolen successfully from people significantly higher level than themselves, so level most likely does not play a part. If I had the actual equations used, I would include them, but alas I have been unable to get my hands on them...perhaps to the well being of potential marks!

To pickpocket someone, all you need to do is type: steal , where is the name of the poor sap youd like to rob. Before doing so, make sure that both of your hands are free. It is possible to steal with only one hand available, but you have a higher risk of getting caught, and a lower chance of succeeding. When you execute the command, youll get one of the following messages:

1. You are unable to gain sufficient advantage to pick so and sos pocket.
2. You manage to get away with xx silvers!
3. You stole Marks last xx silvers!
4. Blast! Marks pockets are empty!
5. Oops! You botched the attempt significantly enough that Mark seems to have noticed!

The first message simply means you didnt get any money, and the mark didnt notice. I normally stop trying if I get this message multiple times. The second message is the one youll come to love seeing. The amount varies, but dont expect any really big scoops...theres only so much your thieving little mits can grab at any one time. The third message indicates that your target is now broke. Trying to steal any more will gain you nothing except the further possibility of getting caught. The last message is the one you dont want to see. You didnt lift any coins, and you screwed up so bad that the mark knows what youre up to. When this happens, youve got to decide on a course of action.

Getting Caught:
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What you do if youre caught stealing is entirely dependent upon the situation and locale. Getting caught in a very busy area is much different than getting caught while alone with the mark. Here are a number of different tactics you may want to remember if youre ever caught.

Walk away - Sometimes the person may be in shock that someone was actually stealing from them, and may not react very fast. Or you may be in a crowded/busy area and the message is lost in the scrollage. It could take a bit of time for the mark to read back what happened. Just walk a few rooms away, nice and casual. The mark might come after you, or he might not, depending on how much you _did_ get away with, and the temperament of the mark. You might want to get your weapon and shield while walking away, in case the mark comes charging after you swinging their weapon. Chances are this wont happen, but if it does, try the following tactic.

Hide - If youve got enough training in hiding, you can walk to an empty room and hide, and the mark will go chasing by, profanities streaming.

Denial - In most cases, the mark will start hollering for you to give her money back. If there are a lot of people around, just put on those puppy dog eyes and act like you dont know a thing. If youre lucky, the mark will get irritating and bother those around her, and thus causing the audience to ignore her. Sometimes this may backfire on you, especially if the mark isnt behaving improperly. If others start to question you, see the following tactic.

Lie - Come on, youre not being an angel by stealing from people, so why not just lie to them as well. Make sure youre convincing though.

Confess - This is one I will never ever use, but some of the softies out there may find it useful. If youre caught, just return the money, maybe even give them everything youve got, and apologise profusely. In many cases, the mark will think hes got the better of you, and start some serious saber-rattling and threats of physical harm if he catches you again. Just nod and apoligise some more. Dont let pride interfere.

Now that weve got most of the that done, lets get to the really fun part of stealing.

Where to Hunt:
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Deciding where to go for your picking spree is up to you. As you learn more about your abilities and your limits, youll come to like stealing in certain scenarios. They could be one of the following:

Public place - Lots of people walking in and out or loitering. The busy atmosphere might mask any botched attempts you make, but can also make your head hurt trying to follow the action and find a stationary target. Places around town fit this category. I cant tell you how many times Ive cleaned people out while they stood around yelling about some wand they had to sell. All the time theyre yelling, Im quietly unloading them.

Hunting grounds - Go to a hunting ground that is fairly packed with campers. You know, those people who sit in one room and mindlessly attack whatever walks in. These people probably wont take notice of you walking through and casing them, much less stealing from them.

Touch and go - This is a more risky way to do things, but can be more effective if you know the general skill level of the people passing through. Just stand in one room and steal from every person who walks through. The danger here is the possibility of stealing from another rogue or a very high level person just passing through. This is why its always safer to case your mark before trying anything.

Finding a Good Mark:
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Finding someone to steal from is harder than you may think. It takes patience and a bit of worldly knowledge, as well as quickness. Always look at whomever you plan to steal from so you can get an idea of their level and potential risk. Look at their profession flag first off, and decide then if you wish to look further. I generally never steal from rogues, clerics, empaths, and rangers who are a number of levels above me. Rogues normally have lots of perception and possibly pickpocketing skill, which will help them detect your attempts. Clerics and empaths are off limits for personal reasons, and rangers sometimes have lots of perception too, which is why I wont mark a high level ranger. If their profession isnt displayed, look at their equipment and take an intelligent guess. Also watch their combat tactics if possible, to guage their level and the type of magic they use. If they are using any type of magic, theres a good chance they are _not_ a rogue or warrior, but there are exceptions. If a mark discharges a wand, that almost always means they are a pure spell slinger, and therefore an easy target. Oodles of scars usually indicates an empath, and sanctified weapons are most frequently used by clerics.

I normally walk into a room and look at everyone in it, then leave to go over my data. Ill write down the names of those I want to hit, walk back into the room and do it. Ive even got a list of names of people who have been very generous to me in the past...they get top priority.

General Tactics:
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Dont be too greedy. The more you take from one person, the bigger the trouble youll get in if caught.

Throw suspiscion off of yourself. Turn your profession flag off if youre a rogue, or leave it on if you are a thief of another profession. To be honest, we live in a prejudiced world, and people will normally glare at the rogue in the room when they find a few silvers missing. Little do they know that its the crafty ranger in the bushes thats been making off with their loot.

Create distractions every so often. The one I like is to count your coins with the wealth command, then act as if _youre_ the one whos been robbed. This will set everyone on edge, and get them counting their coins as well. While theyre doing this, your busy picking a little from each person around the room, and counting your wealth as well. As they notice theyre wealth go down, yours will be rising, and youll all be trying to figure out whos the thief.

If you can type fast enough, do garbage runs. Go into a room with both hands empty, pick up two articles of trash, and go to a room with a garbage bin. Dump your load and go back to the room. Before you pick up more trash, steal a couple times from the people there. Theyll get so used to you blitzing in and out of the room cleaning up, they wont think to question you if they wind up several hundred silvers poorer.

Collect spells. Attend mass spell castings whenever possible. Youll be needing that extra DS if you go stealing in the wilds with nothing in your hands. Its bad form to have your head bashed in by a wandering critter while your hand is firmly planted in some players pockets.

Thats about all for now. I hope you all are able to put the information in this guide to good use. My tactics have served me well, but I am always interested in hearing about the way other thieves go about their business. Just send any comments, flames and stories to: PursSntchr@aol.com

ŇCarpe diem.
Carpe noctem.
Carpe pecuniam.Ó
Seize the day.
. . . . . . night.
. . . . . . . . money.