Counter-Thief Tactics

This is an area all too often neglected in campaign and city design. It reflects the truism that people who have been robbed, or who know they are susceptible to robbery, will take steps to guard their belongings.

Counter-thief tactics include structural features such as locks, walls, traps and alarms; NPCs such as guards, judges and investigators; magical procedures for locating lost objects or protecting items of value; and any other steps property-owners and societies might take to hamper the activities of thieves among them.

The degree of counter-thief tactics employed in a campaign can be a useful balancing tool for the DM, as well as a source of endless challenge and adventure for the PCs. As with any roleplaying game situation, the degree of challenge should be compatible with the amount of reward offered. Not every small strongbox in a city will have magical locks and a full-time patrol of high-level guards.

However, the protections employed by a society to counter thievery will also relate directly to the amount of thievery to be expected. In places where robberies are common but wealth is valued, those who have the wealth will take vigorous steps to protect it.

Such protections do not all have to be of the common nature—extra guards, a trap built into the lock, etc. Some NPCs will certainly hide their loot in unexpected locations—the nightmare of many a cat-burglar. Another occasionally employed tactic is the substitution of some worthless object for the real thing. A nasty twist on this latter case has the thief actually stealing something harmful to himself or others. For example, the thief who has just poisoned his guildmaster with what he thought was a potion of eternal youth finds himself in a very awkward situation indeed.

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