Cunning! Thanks for the tip. Though I usually hesitate to make use of exploits that I can’t rationalise away I think in this case the game is to blame for not giving us options to get sickles by fair means!
You're welcome ^_^ I actually think it's no exploit but a cool AI mechanic that the druids notice their overconfidence when it comes to anti-theft protection and correct it by themselves.
I usually cast a mage hand and perform a throw if I need to steal something that is in sight of the NPCs. That way the mage hand gets the attitude penalty.
I'll keep that in mind when someday the custom party increase to 5 or 6 comes along. Currently I don't have a class with a Mage hand in my party.