Stealing when no one is looking?

[RedBeard]

Hello,

 

I was wondering that what bad things will happen if I steal when no one is looking.

 

I am specifically talking out the keep of Ellhrah's Keep down where he kept that wand hidden with one lazy guard. I am talking about the room that after triggering the traps give you massive loot..but you have to steal it. So if I get tempted and I do... (please check the image below so that you will get idea of where i am talking of)

• will it make my reputation go down?
• will it make people hostile?
• will it make some choices in conversation disappear or option to talk to some people will be blocked?
• will it make it harder or impossible to join factions?

Basically How will game penalize me if I steal that treasure (and no one is looking)

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by RedBeard

[TriRodent]

 

***

 

As long as you aren't seen you can take anything not nailed down (& some of those if you can find the crowbar with +2 stealth)

 

Generally a good idea is to quicksave before stealing anything.  In the inventory box down in the lower left will be a message letting you know if anyone saw you take their stuff.  Some places you can get away with taking a few things, others will immediately attack you.

 

No impact on reputation (if nobody sees you, perhaps if they turn hostile & attack).  No angry posse looking to string you up the next time you wander into town.  It's a very forgiving society really...

[alhoon]

Wait, when you say they're a forgiving society, if they turn hostile and then I return, would they be fine? Or it requires a long time before I am forgiven? 

 

As for stealing that wand, which I plan to do and haven't yet, the game practically tells you to steal it. 

[Judanas]

"Hmm, this shaper turned up and all of a sudden everything we own has gone missing, then they started throwing shaped creatures into landmines...but they also said nice things so I think they're good."

[Randomizer]

The funny part about that particular lazy guard is if you kill Ellhrah for a quest, this is the only one in the place that doesn't go hostile 

[googoogjoob]

1 hour ago, RedBeard said:

will it make my reputation go down?

Geneforge (or at least, this Geneforge) doesn't really have a reputation system. The game tracks how pro- or anti-Servile you are, and whether you've joined a particular faction. But there's no reputation system to be affected.

 

1 hour ago, RedBeard said:

will it make people hostile?

Possibly. The way stealing in Spiderweb RPGs generally works is- Taking items that are not marked "NY" isn't stealing per se; taking items marked "NY" has no effect unless an NPC sees you doing it- and the inventory screen will indicate whether you were seen or not. If you are seen stealing enough times within the same zone, then the NPCs there will turn hostile. How many times is "enough" may or may not vary by location (someone will have to test Mutagen to find out if it does). Note that 1) this is tracked by-zone, rather than by-faction- Vakkiri and Ellhrah's fort will track how many items you were seen stealing separately, although making one hostile will (presumably) also make the other hostile; 2) this should be tracked consistently across visits to the same zone- you can't pop in, be seen stealing a few things, and then come back later to steal more; 3) a zone made hostile this way will remain hostile, even if you leave and come back. There's often a cheat to make hostile towns turn friendly again; I don't know what it is for Mutagen.

 

1 hour ago, RedBeard said:

will it make some choices in conversation disappear or option to talk to some people will be blocked?

Once a zone is made hostile, you cannot talk to anyone there again (without having cheated to pacify it... which is cheating). I don't know of any cases of this affecting dialogue choices elsewhere, except insofar as potentially making other zones hostile. Being seen stealing less than it takes to make a zone hostile doesn't affect any dialogues either, as far as I know.

 

1 hour ago, RedBeard said:

will it make it harder or impossible to join factions?

If you eg make Pentil hostile, then you obviously can't talk to Rydell to join the Obeyers. But it wouldn't affect the other factions, and stealing fewer items than required to make Pentil hostile shouldn't affect his dialogues.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

In Exile, visiting four different town/dungeon levels before returning would reset hostility and raise anyone you killed, except in certain circumstances. Also, stealing from certain places will set off an alarm. Visiting four other towns in Geneforge would be laughably easy though, so you just have to deal with the consequences of your actions.

 

Do the livestock hunt you down when a town goes hostile in Geneforge, like in Exile?

[RedBeard]

So I had to grapple with moral dilemma, I have never stolen any stuff ever in Avernum or Avadon.

 

So was it ok to be a thief or be just a cheat?

 

in the end it was ok for me to set my ego aside, press Shift+D and type in "iampoor"

 

no shame in that, I really am @RedBeard  has fallen on hard time after y'all exiled me

 

better be a cheater then a thief!

[Mechalibur]

Since I didn't see it mentioned, I want to point out that the game will tell you if your thievery was seen or not in the inventory window after picking up a stolen item.