Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Rogue's roleplay seems a little off

RP'ing as rogue right now is not very nice! This has been worse in earlier patches but since this is the last major revision and not much has changed I thought to start a conversation about it, maybe have other rogues out there comment on these issues and their own experiences as well in order to get Larian's attention (hopefully).

As of patch 9 I'm seeing many odd scenarios. Things that, if you think like a programmer, make sense but not as a player. Since I have played DOS2 as a rogue in it's entirety I've reached the conclusion that some of this is intended by the devs (not everything, though) and I'd rather it were different at release for a more fun experience, so here I am.

The major gripe I have is regarding triggering an NPC's "missing item awareness". You can reproduce this pretty much anywhere there is an NPC with something you want to steal! Just pickpocket whatever and in a few seconds the person will notice it is missing. Now sure this would be the case if you stole a goddamn long sword that was hanging from someone's back, but stealing a dagger from a blacksmith currently focused on smithing, few pieces of gold from drunk goblins facing walls or even something/anything from the table >behind< Abdirak should not have the same reaction. Maybe have the NPCs roll for perception? Given advantage, in certain cases.
Not only that, there have been a lot of pretty saddening scenarios (I hope these are bugs, but given DOS2 knowledge it might not be) in which I tried stealing from a chest outside of an NPC's view and the moment I click away they start checking for a theft in the area, instantly, and walk right up to me. Hells, this happened when I pickpocket a dead body near the flaming fist while the fire was still burning and possibly the Grand Duke inside! Seconds later I am approached by an npc looking for the item from a dead body with 4 guards trying to break the door in the background, hilarious.

Finally, this is regarding dialogue choices. No issues with the ones presented as of this moment, but as a rogue I will frequently say whatever someone wishes to hear just to get them on my good side and, quite literaly, as soon as they turn their backs I'll execute what I truly wish to. Backstabber's guide rule #1.

Example:
Doing this right now will prompt me approval/disapproval ratings the moment I make these choices during dialogue, but once I kill said paladins I do not get the opposite prompts, so either I get no changes to my ratings or they are hidden (I have no reason to think its the latter, honestly).

Anyways, this is what has been bothering me the most regarding RPing, but I'd be more than happy to hear your side of the story!

Also, Happy new Year!

The awareness of stolen items is WAY off atm. I steal and have to immediately “send it to camp”. What I don’t know is if it times out. Hate to bogart a sword at lvl 2 and have to deal with it at lvl 5 when I go back to the grove and get accused of stealing.

Yes, agreed there's something hokey here. I've been mulling it over since I saw this post but in case I don't get chance to do a full response I will just say now that I agree this stuff needs work. And while I find the idea of being spotted by guards and being able to lie, bribe or go to jail really fun and I'm glad Larian are trying to include it, that element is particularly wonky in practice!

With respect to NPCs noticing stealing behind them, I think I did see a post from another forum member saying they'd had confirmation that the mechanics had been changed here, and that NPCs will now hear, eg, chests opening and closing and turn to look. Which sort of makes sense if the rogue is interacting with something necessarily noisy, but otherwise I'd agree that they should roll a perception check against the rogue's stealth to see whether the rogue manages to silently open and close the container.

I agree about the stolen items. That should be handled a bit differently.

I had no freaking clue about that and it does actually make sense to a point! Maybe it is too late for an "excellence system", but it would be nice to have something like the check being 10 but anything 15+ would trigger excellence and beget better consequences. Could be applied to all classes really.


I'm pretty sure it wears off in a successful pickpocket! I've tried a few times to steal and run, then staying away for a minute. Once I got back, nothing happened! It even worked with the idol of Sylvanus after defeating the goblins and stopping the ritual.

I do not play rogues typically. I tried on my second run through DOS1. That said I liked how Larian implemented the the stealth, pickpocket and other shadowy arts that makes the class unique and to most parties indispensable. Besides his charm and appetite Astarion is kinda basic. I am not saying they have to jazz up the class but it never really feels like its worth having another stealth based character just to pick locks and disarm traps. Maybe potions are OP. Bow damage on chests and doors kinda steals the rougues role or at least I dont feel like it is a class that I would invest time in playing with. Shadowhearts Pass without a Trace makes entire party a rogue! Not a complaint but an observation. I know they will spice it up hopefully with crafting potions. They cant have all these herbs hartvestable for nada right? A couple special attacks or actions to give them more of a "kit" but Larian will get round to it.

Whilst I agree that NPCs probably react a little fast in some cases, you're meant to be a rogue. The best strategy is to, you know, not get caught.

When pickpocketing, cast Guidance for +d4, Cat's Grace for Advantage, then (and this is the important part) enter Turn Based Mode. Now you can steal as much as you like and no-one will start reacting until you end your turn.

Then, Cunning Action: Dash (twice if you are level 3+) and get the heck outta there. If you're still fairly close you can end 1 turn and move another 30+ meters away.

If they cannot see you or your party when they notice something is missing, they will shout for a guard, they will then both look around for a bit, and if they see nothing they will return to their default status.

On a further note, steal difficulty is related to weight. It's a LOT easier to buy armor and then steal the gold back than it is to just steal the armor.

When it comes down to it, the game is DnD based. You have to think about what resources you have available and then use all those tools to achieve the best result.