Stealing before first aid

elliotbay

elliotbay

Knight
Marshal
In the rulebook it suggests that if one were an immoral character, one might search bodies in need of first aid before aiding them. Has that ever been used with success? That is, when one is an immoral character, one needs to avoid suspicion on that fact. I know the victim is technically not able to remember this, as they were unconscious, but as a player, you can't just forget that information, and I imagine the thief would undergo a bit more scrutiny in their future dealings with the law-abiding player character, for the same reason that the rulebook recommends you don't brag about your exploits to other players, even out of game. How does that kind of behavior generally work out in the long run?
 
If you steal from a person who is unconcious and they treat you differently afterward then they are metagaming which is acting on infotmation their character doesn't possess. Metagaming is cheating, pure and simple.
 
Telokh_Amdo said:
If you steal from a person who is unconcious and they treat you differently afterward then they are metagaming which is acting on infotmation their character doesn't possess. Metagaming is cheating, pure and simple.
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Mike you are correct, but people will still do it. They will try and use any type of reasioning to justify there "feelings". I think that is one of the reasons that in the rule book it also says not to tell people oog too. It is also there because people would tell you OOg and then say well now you can't do any thing IG because it would be metagaming.

Its a slipperly slope Jimmy, but something similar did happen last event at HQ and im sure happens all the time. You just have to choose your who and when.
 
There is one spectacular example that I can think of. It was a MN one day event that was being run my Dave (Lurin), while Roy was busy with his business and such. There was a fairly good snow storm that had just gone through. Yes...we Minnesotans love to play in winter, it is great. So now that you have a setting. Here is what happened.

There was a large group of college students who came to play, they were friends of David T. and wanted to try out an event. One of the guys was playing a rogue (the actual thief kind, we found out later >.<). While in the heat of battle things suddenly took a turn for the worse, the spiders were wearing down all of the protectives and players. Eventually people started dropping and we had to retreat. When we got back to the tavern and got everyone conscious again we noticed some things were missing. Most notably Brisbane's (Josh C.) full spell book. We all decided not to go back and look for them, that the items were lost and could be recovered later on. Then the event ended and this guy emptied out his bag for Dave (Lurin) to ASK what he should do with it all. It was his first Alliance event and he didn't know what to do with the phys reps. He had stolen everything that was missing, and best of all he had stolen my spell packets! He wasn't sure if it would count for anything, so he jacked them out of principle! Haha, it was great. No one suspected him, and he made off like a true bandit.

So that is my story. Hope you enjoyed it. The lesson is simple, time and place...take advantage of a situation and don't be afraid to swipe the small stuff.

-Brent (Kevar Byrne, Chicago/MN)
 
A minor note to the above story, The player in question was a friend of the local MN players, not of the St.Olaf Krew.
 
ah, well I have never been known for my memory. :D thanks Dave for keep'n me on track!
 
I searched a PC once. I'm not exactly known for my night vision. At my last couple HQ events I was maybe the only person with a glow stick and that place is dark.

Anyway, 10 years ago or so I think I see a monster on the ground:

Me: "I search you."
Guy on ground: "But I'm a PC."
Me: "So what? You shouldn't even tell me that."

Actually my first reaction was to cheese it and feed the guy a potion or something. Then I realized I couldn't use the information and felt kind of trapped - now I had to search him and had no chance of recognizing IG that it was a citizen and not a monster because of the OOG info.

Then some real monsters chased me away from the dude so I never got to finish my lecture. I didn't recognize the guy and I was a regular player back then. But I also have no night vision so I don't know... I wanted to talk to the guy later but couldn't recognize him if he was still around.
 
heh, in all honesty the best way that i've ahem.. seen it used. is 1. ask the person if he minds physical role play/search and steal. (less guilt of getting their good items if you find them) also most players I find when you do this don't really meta-game it because you found it fair and square, there are several people I know that are full physical role play all time, so when they go down ... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
 
I have done this not only successfully, but eventually lost money on the deal.
See I play a fairly good guy, and a trio of brand new players walked up the hill (so its caldaria) having been taken over by the shadows. Now Ill admit it, I looked the the general level of costuming for them and my brain went 'npc' and started first aid and surreptitiously searched the poor guy for his starting 2 silver. Unfortunately after a little bit it became apparent that he was, ya know, a brand guy in town. Woops. So being the fairly good guy I healed his 2 friends and palmed a silver and a gold back into his pouch, and handed his unconscious body back. I even heard a story later about how someone was possessed and ended up with more money then he started with.

Now was this metagaming? Oh f*ck yes. Did it hurt anyone? Nope, except me, and only because I dont want to be THAT much of an *******, IC or OOC.

However, as a search & steal active npc I did have someone actually say "But Im a PC" when I searched them. I got a laugh out of it as I walked off with a silver short sword.
 
Yeah, it drives me crazy when people think something doesn't apply to them because they are a PC.

-Had a PC get killed via PvP and think it didn't count because it wasn't an NPC so it must have just been a mistake.

-Had the same thing you had "You can't search me I'm a PC"

-Had people not take alchemy effects because they were from another PC.

And I know there are others I'm forgetting right now. Where does this mentality come from anyway?
 
Wasn't first aid or stealing per se....but I did slip a necro item onto ivan drake while pretending to shake him awake from a sleep affect. Seemed to take it well.
--bill
 
Sometimes robbing people you are healing is the only way to get payed.

The secret to robbing downed people you intend to let live it be mild about it. A few potions here, some coins there. You dont empty them out, and you try and keep it under control. (Unless you have a good reason to roll them outside of cheap change).
 
Anton said:
I have done this not only successfully, but eventually lost money on the deal.
See I play a fairly good guy, and a trio of brand new players walked up the hill (so its caldaria) having been taken over by the shadows. Now Ill admit it, I looked the the general level of costuming for them and my brain went 'npc' and started first aid and surreptitiously searched the poor guy for his starting 2 silver. Unfortunately after a little bit it became apparent that he was, ya know, a brand guy in town. Woops. So being the fairly good guy I healed his 2 friends and palmed a silver and a gold back into his pouch, and handed his unconscious body back. I even heard a story later about how someone was possessed and ended up with more money then he started with.
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Yes, they have talked about this a few times in-game.. nice intro..15 mins into the their first game... :lol:

-Matt K.
 
Ezri said:
Yeah, it drives me crazy when people think something doesn't apply to them because they are a PC.

-Had a PC get killed via PvP and think it didn't count because it wasn't an NPC so it must have just been a mistake.

-Had the same thing you had "You can't search me I'm a PC"

-Had people not take alchemy effects because they were from another PC.

And I know there are others I'm forgetting right now. Where does this mentality come from anyway?
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I remember one Corn maze.....and a teammate of mine (I wont mention the hoblings name ;) ) yelled to Gaara, "Hau, no!!! Thats a PC!!....Gaara shrugging his shoulders and finishing his killing blow....that was funny and I know he wasn't trying to cheat, it was a quick reflex/reaction...

I like the 5 15's from behind, to then have them turn around and say hey.....look at you and then we proceed to wave back...."ummm your down and there was no way you turned around in time....To me thats one of the bigest cheese while yet a human reaction (because some times it is a reaction and cant be helepd).
 
I think my front running quote over the years is "you split the loot with the NPC?" He was a new player- who didn't quiet get it.
 
Elryion said:
I think my front running quote over the years is "you split the loot with the NPC?" He was a new player- who didn't quiet get it.
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PC or NPC is a distinction that a character doesn't make. I'd split the loot as well.
 
My verrrrrrrry first Ashbury event, my out-of-spells scholar decided to take a walk near the woods, and there happened to be another person doing the same- and since they were armed, I was "smart" enough to buy myself a bodyguard who happened to come with two big, strapping fighter friends as an unexpected bonus.

I was sorta shocked when:

1) They obliterated the pack of goblins we ran into in one-two swings each and said "Go ahead, loot them all."

2) Proceeded to sit me down 5 minutes later and tell me to shut up or die while they tried to kill a noble, because I'd just "hired" three NPC's playing professional killers Plot had sent out as an information hook for the weekend. Newbie scholars make excellent cover, apparently...

I've never treated NPC's as anything different than PC's since. It's been much more fun that way- including the occasional search or borrowed weapon or the like, admittedly. :p
 
dreadpiratebill said:
Wasn't first aid or stealing per se....but I did slip a necro item onto ivan drake while pretending to shake him awake from a sleep affect. Seemed to take it well.
--bill
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The great part about that was that I actually forgot that he had done that and later I'm in the tavern and I feel something in my pocket. I pull out this item that looks like a spider and I thought it was really a spider! So I toss it on the table and then realize it's a ring (or whatever it was).

I have been searched by PC numerous times and any mature player understands that that's part of the game.

--- Eric Stehle / Ivan Drake
 
One of my first events, I found some clothes on the ground. Basically someone was heading off to the Earth circle. However, he saw me coming down the path so he waited. My character had no idea whose clothes they were so he ransacked them, took what he could find and went on his merry way.

Later that day, the individual in question cornered me and told me to give him back his stuff. When I asked him how he came to the conclusion that I took it, he said, "There are only two people who'd steal from me in town, and the other guy isn't stupid enough to do it." I was so pissed at the player that I just gave him the stuff back and walked away.

There is often some metagaming going on - especially if you are a 'known' "Professional Opportunist" but you just have to move on.
 
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