How can I steal items without being put in jail and keep the item?

Question

Can I steal items without being put in jail and keep the item? What is the name of the skill for it?

Asked by Chibox

Answer

To steal something without being prosecuted, you have to be in sneak mode and undetected (the "eye" symbol must be closed).

So the skill you are looking for is Sneak. However, even with a low sneak skill stealing is very easy when no one is around who could detect you. You still have to enter sneak mode though.

The item you took will still count as stolen, so if you go to jail later for another crime, it will still be taken from you. It may also happen that the owner of the item sends some thugs after you who will try to kill you, even if no one saw you committing the crime.

Answered by least_significant_bit

Check more discussion of this question.

How do I determine how much I could steal before I die?

Question

I recently had a whole town that was angry because I stole their stuff -- it seems that I went a little too far. I have some stealing questions about this:

• In what way can I limit my bad attitude so that I don't get in trouble?

• Should I avoid stealing on the main road, and instead steal from behind or in a building?

Asked by Tom Wijsman

Answer

The only thing that matters is making sure you don't get caught: to that end, you either need to make sure there aren't any witnesses around or you need to "silence" them before they report you to the others.

So stealing on the main road, when people are around, is a patently bad idea. Stealing when people aren't looking or when they're asleep would work better.

Answered by Mark Trapp

Check more discussion of this question.

Where do confiscated items go?

Question

After getting caught stealing a few things in skyrim, I noticed that most of the stolen items got confiscated. However, when I went back to the original place of the item, it was gone.

So my question is, does the confiscated items get stored somewhere specific, or are there no way of getting them back?

Asked by mordi2k

Answer

When they're confiscated, they're placed in an evidence chest. These chests can be found in the jails themselves and in guard houses.

If you have the chutzpah, you can re-enter the jail once you serve your time and seek it out. It's usually around the same area as the belongings chest: the location is different depending on the jail, but checking the barracks or the entrances (or even sometimes right next to your cell) are generally a good bet.

Answered by Mark Trapp

Check more discussion of this question.

After I murdered/robbed people, how do I get rid of the bounty?

Question

I thought it would be nice to steal some useful stuff from people. However, the whole town got angry for me doing so. Seems someone did spot me doing so, I survived the first people by walking back out of the town and had to murder three man where I used up all my potions. When entering the town again I entered a building but the immediate moment I enter the building an angry person also enters right behind me and is much stronger than me. I don't seem welcome in this town anymore...

Here are my questions:

• What should I do to survive from him and get rid of the bounty?

• Can I run out of the town for a long distance so I lose aggro or bounty? Or will he keep following?

Asked by Tom Wijsman

Answer

If people are angry enough to attack you, your best bet is to run and hide. Eventually, they will give up the pursuit, but if you try to go back right away, they'll attack you again.

If your bounty is less than a few thousand gold (i.e. you just stuck to non-violent crimes, or you "only" killed one or two people), spending a few days in hiding should cause everyone to cool the heck out.

If you've done some seriously heavy stuff (a heck of a lot of theft or you killed a bunch of people when they caught you), game over man. They'll never forget.

Answered by Mark Trapp

Check more discussion of this question.

How long do people remember failed pickpocket attempts?

Question

If I go to pickpocket a person who's recently caught me, I get an error saying I can't do it because they've already caught me.

How long does this last? Is it indefinite, or will they "forget" after a certain amount of time?

Asked by Iszi

Answer

The pickpocket flag will never reset afaik. When I was testing the answer to the other question, waiting multiple days in the area did not work. I didn't test the super long wait periods (2+weeks) to see if they would eventually reset. And frankly, if anyone's loading times take longer than waiting for 2+ weeks, they probably have bigger issues on hand.

I think you have to force the area to unload and reload before the flag is reset for you to be able to pick pocket again.

Answered by yx.

Check more discussion of this question.

Can followers be used to keep stolen items from “the law”?

Question

In Skyrim is your follower able to carry stolen items for you? If so, will they still be carrying the stolen items if you pay a bounty or go to jail?

Answer

NPCs cannot go to jail unless it is part of a specific quest. If they participate in the crime (assault, for example), they will be approached by the guards. They then either have to pay the fine (if they have the money) or resist arrest, which will probably get them killed. Either way, stolen items in their inventory will also disappear.

However, if they have not participated in the crime (ie; your pickpocketing), then the stolen items are safe.

Check more discussion of this question.

What are the consequences of stealing?

Question

There is quite a lot of nice stuff just laying around, useful and valuable items that their owners are not actually making good use of. I'm currently saving the world in sub-standard equipment, so I was thinking of just taking what really should have been mine in the first place.

What are the consequences of stealing stuff in Skyrim? Are there only consequences if I'm seen stealing anything, or do I get something like "bad karma" even if nobody ever sees me take anything?

Answer

Generally, when nobody's looking, you're safe: on the other hand, stealing—and getting caught—will place a bounty on your head for half the item's value.

There aren't any permanent consequences for stealing in front of witnesses, but they will eventually report you to the authorities, which will start the bounty and alert the guards.

There is a small chance that you rob from someone who can tell when you stole something from them, even if nobody's around. The consequence of doing that is a set of hired thugs sent after you. This seems to only happen once: if you defeat the thugs, you're safe until the next high-value theft.

Check more discussion of this question.

Are the bedlam quests bugged?

Question

I'm doing a bedlam job in Windhelm, and I think I should be done by now. I've stolen in excess of 1500 gold, mostly in jewelry, by pickpocketing in and around Windhelm, and the quest hasn't updated yet. I have successfully done this in other cities before.

Does "500 gold in goods" refer to the raw value of the items, or the amount I'd get from selling them to a fence? If that's not the problem, is this a known bug?

Answer

The total value of the goods should be 500 (the raw value), not what the fences will pay.

Interestingly, if you do a sweep job in the same city, those items will count (and they're usually pretty valuable) even though you can't tell how much they're worth.

Here is a note from the UESP entry that may be of interest to you:

Note, stealing from the various NPCs and locations in the city may not work. Much of the time, to advance the quest, one must steal from the Keep of the the specified city, rather than its inhabitants.

As a last resort, if you are playing on the PC, you can finish it via this command:

setstage TGRNT 200

Check more discussion of this question.

Do shops/NPCs/houses replenish their contents after an act of thievery?

Question

I have started funding my alchemy addiction by stealing from shops and pick pocketing from NPCs. I am wondering if they ever get any contents back after I have stolen from them.

Answer

Yes

• Shop Inventory and money gets Restocked after 48 hour. (This affects only the trader itself, not the whole cell.)
• Cell Contents reset 240 hours after last visit. (This affects items on shelves and tables.)

This happen with EVERY SINGLE Shop and EVERY Location except for your homes.

Check more discussion of this question.

Can you pick-pocket someone who has already caught you?

Question

So I was simply taking some weight off an NPC when he caught me...helping lighten his load. The problem is, he still has some stuff that I am sure he would rather have me hold on to but he has "already caught me" and won't let me hold onto any more of his stuff.

Is there a time after someone has caught you pick-pocketing where the option to pick-pocket them becomes available or will you never be able to steal from that individual again?

Answer

So I tested @Mr Smooth's recommendation and it is indeed true.

If you have been caught, then you need to trigger a load* by doing a large zone transition. A small one (such as going from the ragged flagoon to the ratway) was not enough to cause the flag to be reset. However, transitioning from the cistern to Solitude was enough to cause the reset and I was able to immediately attempt to steal again.

In short, if you are in a town with a gate, then exit the town and go back in. Simply going into a house in the town is probably not enough to reset the flag. If you are not in a gated town, just fast travel to somewhere far enough that requires a load.

Check more discussion of this question.

Why can't I pickpocket Babette?

Question

So I have seen on in several places that it is possible to pickpocket trainers after training with them. Is there a list of pickpocketable trainers? I tried to do this with Babette in the Dark Brotherhood... but when I go into sneak mode... it seems I am unable to pickpocket her as when I place the crosshairs over her it shows nothing. Are there only certain trainers this works with?

Answer

Children are not valid pick-pocket targets in Skyrim - Babette isn't pick-pocketable because she's a child vampire, not because she's a trainer per se.

Pick any other trainer, and you'll be able to recoup your expenses.

Check more discussion of this question.

What do I lose when serving time in jail?

Question

When you serve your time in Jail, do you lose stats like in Oblivion? Also, can you get your stuff from the chest back after serving your time without having to sneak in and steal it?

What negative effects has serving out your sentence in jail?

Answer

When you serve time in Jail you can (depending on the time you serve) lose some or all of your experience towards the next skill level.

You don't lose whole skill levels.

So if you're, say, level 49 and one strike (or pickpocket or spell,etc.) away from level 50 you'll get bumped back down to the start of level 49 for that skill. Got it?

Check more discussion of this question.

Can I rob my own stores for challenge completion?

Question

In the Saintsbook, there's a list of challenges to complete throughout the game. Pierce wants me to rob 15 stores for one of them. However, I'm wondering if this is a challenge I need to complete earlier in the game rather than later, before I have purchased most, if not all, stores in the game.

To that end, I'm wondering if I can rob my own stores after I've bought them and have them count for the challenge, or if I have to rob the stores before I buy them?

Answer

Yes you can! What I do at my stores is rob the clerk, then after the alarm sounds I step outside, then go back in to clear my notoriety. After that, I can go about my business unmolested by the cops.

Check more discussion of this question.

Why has the innkeeper put a price on my head?

Question

So, I was just assaulted by a trio of fairly well armed thugs while walking out of Riften. Before attacking me, they informed me that they were 'here to teach me a lesson.'

After dispatching them in due course, I found this on the body of what I can only assume to be the leader, given his vastly superior armaments:

Orgnar is the innkeeper in Riverwood. Now, I admit, I've stolen a fair amount, but I pride myself on having never been caught. My total bounty to date is at zero. So, how did he figure out that I stole something, why is he taking the law into his own hands, and if I go back to Riverwood, am I going to get shanked?

Answer

Certain characters are more shrewd than others and can figure out if they've been stolen from and who did it. One of my favourite examples is Anise (the lady with the shack near Riverwood). She's sent guards to all 3 of my characters.

There's no penalty later on if you decide to talk to them, they'll act like it never happened (I think, or maybe they'll dislike you more, but it's basically the same).

I've also only ever had one set of thugs from each person, even if I continue to steal from them.

Check more discussion of this question.