Stealing

[Barmy Army]

Does stealing ever catch up with you later in the game? Or, is it a case of, if you get away with it at the time then you're OK?

Reason I ask is that I've only just got the game for the PC, I got out into the city and went to find that Jauffre. Whilst in that area I found a guy selling horses, but they are like 3000 gold a time or something. But when it got to night time, i went into the stable and just got on one and rode it out of the place. No-one saw me, so I think I'm laughing. But, if a guard sees me later will he know if the horse is stolen or not? Or, have I got away with stealing 3 grands worth of mount?

[Felinoid]

Is this Oblivion rather than Morrowind? It sounds like it from the mention of horses.

[Barmy Army]

Yeah Oblivion.

[Alavin]

I think you got away with it. But stolen horses wander back to where you stole them from when you're not riding them, so you may not have it for long.

[Barmy Army]

Oh, lol gutted!
Thanks for replying mate.

[Felinoid]

So Oblivion doesn't have one of those oddities like in Morrowind where when you've stolen something, everything you ever touch (even buy) of that type is considered stolen?

[Trellheim]

Humm... I stole a horse, guard saw me riding it, he didn't react, so I got of the horse and climbed back, then he did the all "pay with your blood" thingy WTF?

[Felinoid]

Heh, sounds like he saw you "re-stealing" the horse.

[Barmy Army]

I don't think so, Fel. But anything you steal can't be sold. Unless you get involved with the thieves guild I reckon, otherwise nobody wants to buy. So I only steal stuff I'll use.

[Sir Fink]

I think it does, Fel. I know there's a plug-in for Oblivion called "No Psychic Guards" as in they don't take everything you've ever stolen when they catch you stealing an apple.

They added "realism" to the game in the sense that shopkeepers take a dang lunch break and close up shop at night to go to bed, but kept silly, unrealistic things like guards and shopkeepers knowing which items you stole and which you didn't.

[Sydax]

I just had to restart because my autosave and quicksave were after I get into a house (didn't even know where I were) and even that I found a guy inside who didn't said anything because I just got in instead he had some dialogs where he gave me directions and rumours; but when I got outside the house, a guard was there to take me to jail, pay or resist the arrest even though I didn't steal anything in this particular house, I must admit that I stole some fruits from another house where nobody 'saw' me. I'm sure this is something never happened before: used lockpick to enter the house, game autosaves when in; walk around, found the man, talk to him, I steal nothing, walk outside, the guard is outside and I had the 3 choices; for some reason, when I click, the pointer jumps to "resist the arrest", so in just one second I somehow turn around and get into the house again, so the game autosaves again when in, then thinking that I could get away with it quicksaved!...
Anyway, I got into a shield shop and I thought that I could 'see' the goods, so in a table there were this shield and when you point it it states price, weight, life, etc. so I clicked on it to see if it was magic or something and instead of some dialog box just took the shield and then the stupid shopkeeper shouted at me thief!
Guess is not like a supermarket where you take the stuff and then you go to pay for it...

[Alavin]

If you block while activating someone attacking you, you surrender, and he might stop attacking, particularly if he's not normally hostile (like guards). Yielding is a very useful ability.

[Felinoid]

but when I got outside the house, a guard was there to take me to jail, pay or resist the arrest even though I didn't steal anything in this particular house, I must admit that I stole some fruits from another house where nobody 'saw' me. I'm sure this is something never happened before: used lockpick to enter the house, ...

That's called Breaking and Entering, and it's a crime in the game as well as in real life. Of course, if you do it from concealment (Sneak, Invisibility) or there's noone around to see you, then you're scot-free. But if you pick the lock on someone's front door in broad daylight with guards on the streets, you'll get a small fine.

If you block while activating someone attacking you, you surrender, and he might stop attacking, particularly if he's not normally hostile (like guards). Yielding is a very useful ability.

Does that work in Morrowind too, or just Oblivion?

[Alavin]

Just Oblivion. It would have been a great feature in Morrowind too.

[Pac man]

For some reason, guards from other cities will recognize the horse as being stolen. Just to be on the safe side, you should check your character stats, somewhere inthere it mentions wether there's a price on your head or not. If so, than you can bet your ass you're going to be arrested sooner or later. And should you at the time of your arrest be in the possession of other stolen goods, they will all be confiscated too.

What bothers me most is when you're breaking into someone's house, completely in stealth, wearing special clothes that improve your thief and stealth skills, guards can sometimes spot you from outside, as if they can see right through the walls. I can't help thinking this is some kind of bug.

[henkie]

The almighty UESP answers all your questions about stealing and more specifically, stealing horses.

I'm lazy, so I'll just quote what it says over at the UESP about stealing horses:

Stealing a horse is simple; simply get on one that doesn't belong to you. Stealing one without getting a bounty for theft is only slightly more tricky. You just have to not be SEEN mounting a horse that isn't yours. I expect that activating the horse to mount it would cancel invisiblity, but stealth and chameleon would both work. Stolen horses are generally only good for one-way transportation, because as soon as you dismount, it will start walking back to where you took it. Remounting it before it gets there can get you another bounty if you are seen, so be careful of that too.

The horse you're stealing can catch you and report you to the authorities (!), just like a regular NPC. Always steal a horse by approaching it from the rear in Sneak mode. If you approach from the front you will be detected more easily, and you can get a bounty. You can be alone with the horse in the middle of the woods, but if the horse sees you climb on, you will get a bounty. If you successfully mount a horse without being detected, you won't get a bounty, no matter what you do afterwards. You can parade a stolen horse in front of its owner, and you still won't get a bounty.

If you are caught stealing a guild horse, you will get kicked out of the guild, same as if you stole a static object. As usual, the horse can catch you stealing, and it can instantly kick you out of whatever guild it belongs to.

[Wordplay]

Stealing, in Oblivion, is just one of those neat features no one ever uses due of the reasons said above. Simply too much of a bother if you do not get any mods (which you really should).

But don't you get a horse at one point of the story, when you need to escort Jauffrey from the manor to the Cloudtemple? I had this "Call Horse" -mod installed, so it was a simple matter of tagging the horse to make it summonable instantly every time you need it.

[Dice]

Stealing, in Oblivion, is just one of those neat features no one ever uses due of the reasons said above. Simply too much of a bother if you do not get any mods (which you really should).

I disagree. I use stealing all the time and I don't have any mods installed. I find it particularly useful for increasing the alchemy skill because you saves a lot of time walking around the wilderness picking flowers.

One thing I found that was a little strange. You can go into peoples gardens and pick their fruits and veggies and the farmers don't seem to mind. In my opinion that is stealing but apparently not the case in Oblivion.

[Felinoid]

One thing I found that was a little strange. You can go into peoples gardens and pick their fruits and veggies and the farmers don't seem to mind. In my opinion that is stealing but apparently not the case in Oblivion.

You can do that in Morrowind, too. You pick people's entire fields and noone cares because the 'containers' (AKA plants) aren't marked as owned. Even specific times when you think they might code for it, they don't. Doing the Imperial Cult quest where you need marshmerrow, I picked that guy's field clean. Took 35 and gave 5 of those to the quest giver. To say nothing of the corkbulb and comberry I could have taken. And he doesn't say boo.

[Barmy Army]

I still find it annoying that stolen goods can't be sold. How the hell is the vendor meant to know what is stolen and what is not? It's a bit silly, really.

It should be a case of, if you get away with it at the time, then you're OK. You can then use it or sell it to a vendor, without worrying about repercussion. All this should affect is your alignment.

[Felinoid]

Well, there is the issue of some things turning up missing, and then you strolling right into the store with the very items that turned up missing. But they did take it too far by making everything stolen unsellable.

[Dice]

I think that you should be able to sell the goods that you steal at any vendor that is not in the town you stole the goods from. That would make good sense to me.

[Faraaz]

May be a little off-topic..but on the whole stealing thing...I was randomly wandering in the Colovian Highlands and an Imperial Guard (wearing the armor and everything) was running down a Deer. He shot it and then started walking back to his horse. I went up to the dead deer and took the Venison from it (Restore Health AND Feather?! Yes PLEASE!)...only, he immediately runs to me and says "Stop right there Criminal SCUM!"

I'm like...WTF??

[Spliff Krieger]

Seems to me that he thinks that you stole "his loot" although he doesn't loot the mob himself...

Basicly, you didn't kill it, but you're taking the loot so... maybe that's counted as stealing too...

I must admit, stealing could have been better implemented in the game...

[Dice]

Thats pretty strange. I know that everytime I come running back to one of the towns with a couple of baddies in tow (cause they would have stabbed the crip out of me if I didn't go running for help), the guard are the ones who kill the bad guys. I always loot the corpses and have never had one of them complain. I even loot the corpses when the guards are standing right over them looking like they are doing the same.

I wonder if maybe you didn't accidently pick a lock or steal something in front of someone earlier, Faraaz and not run into a guard until that moment. Maybe you just didnt realize you had a price on your head.