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Baldur's Gate 3 > Guides > D Dog's Guides
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Pickpocket Proficiency
By D Dog
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Information about how to pick pocketing with what works and what doesn't.

WIP - publishing unfinished because the game is so new and people need information. Check back later for more.
   
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Created by
D Dog
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Category: Classes, Loot, Multiplayer
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
4 Aug, 2023 @ 8:56pm
22 Aug, 2023 @ 9:06pm
3,561 Unique Visitors
34 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Basic Concepts 
Bonuses 
Spells 
TL:DR Best Methods 
Testing Methods 
Credits 
Comments
Basic Concepts
  • Use the Hide action to enter stealth. Rogues also have an alternate version as a bonus action starting at level 2.
  • Stay out of sight lines. Entering stealth will show you these but you can also hold the 'shift' key to see them without attempting to Hide, thus avoiding suspicion.
  • You can distract NPCs with your other characters OR block their sight using spells.
  • Enter Turn-Based Mode: this is a life saver so that you don't feel rushed. You can pick pocket as long as you want and as much as you want, on a single target so long as you don't get caught.
  • If you fail an attempt, they will attempt to apprehend you.
  • When you finish stealing, run away from the NPC and probably anyone near them for a while. About 2-3 turns or 15 seconds is how long I've seen the NPCs wander and search for you. As long as you don't get found, they won't know it was you.
  • If you DO get found, you can weasel your way out with skill check rolls. The NPC is still going to suspect you and you may lose rep with them.
  • ONLY the thief character is at risk. Any other PC that gets approached can just tell the truth that they didn't steal it and just walk away.
  • If you get caught and end up going to prison, you have to break out. I haven't seen any way to serve your time. You get about 15 turns of Fugitive when you leave so just wait it out. People may not like you in general but won't be hostile. All your inventory will be in a chest labeled Equipment Chest.
  • You can exit turn based mode and then click return to camp before you get noticed. Effectively making a safe getaway. Just detach from the party so they can watch the guards search pointlessly.
  • Sleeping targets are safe to steal around, but if the sleep is not magical in origin, they WILL notice you on a failed roll. Magical sleep they won't notice or anything.
Bonuses
Below are sources of Slight of Hand bonuses you can acquire.

Character Features:
  • Dexterity Modifier
  • Proficiency Bonus (if taken)
  • Expertise (Rogue 1 OR Bard 2): doubles the Proficiency Bonus
  • Advantage (Spell - Enhance Ability: Cat's Grace), listed on the 'target roll' as situational, will display in the combat log breakdown as "(1d20, Advantage)". OR item The Graceful Cloth
  • Race: Halfing
    Lucky: "When you roll a 1 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll."
    (Unsure if this works for each advantage roll or functions at all with advantage.)

Items:
  • Gloves of Power: Absolute's Bane: On a melee hit, possibly inflict a -1d4 penalty to the targets Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. Slight of Hand +1
    (I found them on a Goblin during the initial encounter outside Emerald Grove)
  • Smugglers Ring: Slight of Hand +2, Charisma -1, Stealth + 2
    (on a skeleton hidden in some bushes along the river. Find Scratches the dog and then go north and jump across the river. 2 jumps total. Then walk left, should be super close. No roll required to find it, just mouse over the bushes.)
  • Gloves of Thievery: haven't found yet but they supposedly exist in the Zhentarim Hideout. Gives Slight of Hand advantage.
  • The Graceful Cloth: 10 AC clothing, gives Cat's Grace and +2 Dex(max of 20), Nimble As a Cat: +1 to Dex saves and increase jump distance by 1.5m.
    Sold by Lady Esther.


Items that DON'T work but sound like they should:
  • Hedge Wanderer Armour: Balance: Gain a +1 bonus to Dexterity Saving Throws and Checks. Nature +1
    Did NOT lower target roll when attempting or appear in the roll breakdown after attempt.
    (purchsed/stolen from a vendor in Emerald Grove)
Spells
Cantrips
  • Guidance - +1d4 definitely affects your roll and helps you.
1st Level
  • Fog Cloud - Failure will still result in the thief being apprehended. Will block sight lines if between the searching people or thief is within.
  • Sleep - If seen performing the spell by bystander(s), results can vary. Combat or Apprehension or warning will ensue. If target is alone and no bystanders notice then you're safe. Target must have 24 hp or less to perform. Target will not even search for missing items nor attempt to apprehend you on a failed attempt. No rep loss. Does NOT affect pick pocket roll. Best spell so far. Can be upcast to increase hp pool allowed.
  • Tasha's Hideous Laughter (Prone) - target will go prone but still apprehend you. Does NOT affect pick pocket roll.
  • Hex (Warlock Spell) - turns target hostile in all situations tested except while target is affected by Sleep. Lasts until long rest. Does NOT affect pick pocket roll.
2nd Level
  • Invisibility - used a scroll (I think it's a level 2 spell), doesn't seem to affect roll. If you fail you will still be caught. After you steal one item the spell will end and you won't be hiding anymore. Nobody will have seen you unless they have some feature that negates it.
  • Enhance Ability: Cat's Grace - Gives you advantage on Dexterity checks. Listed on the 'target roll' as situational, will display in the combat log breakdown as "(1d20, Advantage)". Also lasts until long rest but IS concentration.
3rd Level
  • untested
4th Level
  • untested
5th Level
  • untested
TL:DR Best Methods
Have good character features.
Don't get caught.
Use sleep if target is alone and it will work.
Use turn based mode. (crucial)
Teleport back to camp after you get your haul for a safe getaway.
Get advantage(Enhance Ability: Cat's Grace OR item The Graceful Cloth)
In theory: halfling is the best race because of the Lucky feature being a shield against nat 1 critical failure. I assume a nat 1 would fail you even if your bonuses would still succeed, but I can't say for sure.

You can try and save scrub. I'm 100% sure that even with the Karmic Dice feature turned off, they had something in place that messes with the randomness. I tried to steal ONLY Arron's gold stack with a roll target of 12 and I failed over 20+ times in a row. I finally succeeded when I stole something else first and then the gold. Perhaps a seeded system or something so mix it up if you struggle with failure.

Yes some items like certain keys have a low enough DC that your roll target is 0.
Testing Methods
Initial testing done in Emerald Grove with only the level 1 spells + cantrip Guidance.
NPCs used:
  • Kaldani: sits in a chair alone near the front gate but patrols over to the gate now and then.
  • Arron: the lightfoot halfling guard/trader at the entrance to the cove, stands in front of a shrine.
  • Dammon: the blacksmith.
  • Elegis + Rikka: guards overseeing the gate.

Natural sleep tested on drunk/sleeping bugbears+goblins above the goblin camp.
Credits
O_O
For Smuggler's Ring and location. I actually already found it but didn't check the comments. Still posted before I would've found the ring the next day.
RMS_Gingermonkey
For Gloves of Thievery. I haven't found yet but will add anyways and update when I do.


14 Comments
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D Dog  [author] 6 Sep, 2023 @ 6:48pm 
BungaBunga is correct. The steal window displays the roll you need to make, not the total DC. You can see the DC in the breakdown window on the right after you make the check though.
BungaBunga 4 Sep, 2023 @ 1:06am 
@Daniel_USA and @Naked Granny - the RNG may seem off because it's not obvious what the number shown means - you may think it's plain DC, but when you try to steal something and it shows a DC of 20, that's the DC AFTER they subtract your bonuses.

So for example if you have +9 to sleight of hand, if you see a DC of 20 it basically means you need a 29 to steal that item. - nothing short of a nat 20 without taking into consideration variable bonuses if any

Only things that don't get subtracted are roll (variable) bonuses (e.g. guidance) but also advantage, since there's no way to calculate the new "min dice roll needed" after subtracting bonuses so they wouldn't be able to show a single number.
O_O 23 Aug, 2023 @ 5:21am 
Start trade, let them show their wares. Split scrolls/arrows/gold in their inventory but don't buy it.
D Dog  [author] 22 Aug, 2023 @ 9:02pm 
How does one split it while in their pockets? I've seen it but can't replicate it.
O_O 22 Aug, 2023 @ 11:13am 
Tip: trade with NPC and split stacks of gold first. Like split 1000 gold to 10 stack of 100. Examine pockets after. :eldust:
Beefeater1980 13 Aug, 2023 @ 9:26pm 
Should add: disguising your thief after theft can help too.
Naked Granny 10 Aug, 2023 @ 5:39am 
Well. Yes and no. It's technically true that any classical processor (i.e. non-quantum computer) is deterministic. But that isn't an impediment in this application. Suffice to say that modern computers and algorithms are more than capable of producing a number which is, so far as human end users ever will be able to tell, completely random in the sense that it will approximate an arbitrary probability distribution to an arbitrary precision within the limit of memory capacity.

If the programmers of BG3 decided to write their own RNG algorithm, they are guaranteed to have done a worse job of it than if they just used any of the existing libraries for the language they're writing in. Larian bolted on some custom code to keep track of the history of results in your game so far, and then it will step in to provide numbers according to some desired outcome. What they aren't telling players is that turning that option off still does not give you a true flat probability distribution.
D Dog  [author] 9 Aug, 2023 @ 10:14pm 
@Naked Granny
computer generated numbers are always technically not random/fair. They're often an algorithm based on system clock. I'm not an expert on them, I just know it's one of those fantasies like load screen bars. Not truly what you think it is.
O_O 9 Aug, 2023 @ 7:16am 
I think Critical Miss works with pickpocketing too.
If you roll Nat 1 then you fail even if you have basic value from items.

Additionally you can use hireling to safely explore NPC inventories.
Naked Granny 8 Aug, 2023 @ 10:04pm 
Players need to be aware that this game categorically does not generate random results of 1d20 with each result being equally likely. The dice in this game are absolutely, definitely not "fair" like that, whether you have the karmic dice setting toggled on or off.

It seems to have been an intentional design decision by Larian, but they should have communicated more clearly to the players about this decision.