How to play a thief

There are all kinds of thieves. Those that sneakily enter buildings when you're not watching, those that steal everything you have and possibly even kill you after they gained your trust and those that steal your only vehicle making you stare after them helplessly, unable to give chase. Though there are certain kinds that are frowned upon, those being the characters that their whole life don't act a certain way and then with no in-game reason change and steal everything, please keep everything in game and make sure the role playing makes sense and not change just because you're bored. This article will help you understand thieves, and how to play them a bit better.

Note that you shouldn't make your thief exactly like explained in this article. Be creative!

Be subtle

Thieves are usually smooth talkers that are able to talk themselves out of any situation. A character planning a crime should try to blend in with one's surroundings, act like a normal, hard-working villager and when they realized you're not that nice, it's too late. Role-playing suspicious behavior such as sneaking into buildings and casting shifty glances at people is only likely to lead a character in trouble before he has even had time to steal anything.

Stealing

There are a lot of ways to steal, and a lot of things to steal. Varying from vehicles, keys, resources and tools.

• Stealing vehicles
  • Simply trying to enter vehicles to see if they're open can sometimes give interesting results. Note that no one can see you tried to enter the vehicle when it's locked.
  • Gaining a vehicle's owner's trust can be very useful. Once gained, it will be only a matter of time before the the right opportunity comes around, but keeping the vehicle can be as hard as stealing it, so be ready to make modifications to your new ride and expect people coming after it sooner or later.
  • Boats tend to be easier to steal than land vehicles because it is usual to have a crew, but the bigger the crew, the less the opportunity to steal, so pick your targets. One last note of advice is to be aware of other boats around because once it is found out you stole, you are bound to be chased down.

As a last resort, you can always wait until everyone is on it and then lock it and kill them. (This won't be as easy to do when they have crowbars or the tools to make one)

• Stealing resources and tools
  • There are various ways to steal in the game, specially if no one is paying attention. With all things, you have to know your targets and that you will probably be more successful with one kind of group, like sleepers, than another. It also depends on how you steal, be it walking into a room with no one in it or claiming resources on the ground, just have to develop your own way of doing things.
  • Sometimes you might be able to steal tools by finishing an abandoned repair project and picking up the tool when it's finished, but this usually works only when no one's watching.
  • Also you might borrow a tool from someone, then keep it for so long that they forget they ever gave it to you. Or just wait that they go inside, then leave town. By the time someone tells them which direction you took, you'll be long gone.

Seizing the moment vs. planning ahead

Perfect timing often separates a good thief from the dead one. If you've spent a while in a town, you might notice that some hours tend to be less busy than others. If you're going to be stealing openly, it's best to do it when most people are asleep to give you a head start. It's also good to see if many people have access to vehicles, since if you're traveling slower than your chasers, you're pretty much doomed to fail.

But there are also moments in which a perfect chance for robbery will present itself and you need to make a fast decision before the chance is lost. If you're the only person awake when someone dies and drops a bunch of keys, there's a good chance one of them is for a vehicle or at least a building. There is considerable risk involved in such an act, such as none of the keys being useful to that town or having someone wake up doing the same thing. It is best to quickly prepare a reason why you picked them up if you are backing off but if you're not, discovering quickly what you've laid your hands on should dictate how you proceed. Depending on the town, it might be best to be prepared with healing food and a fight because no one likes a thief, specially if they can do something about it.

The more crowbars there are, the smaller the chances of surviving by hiding in buildings. People might also change the lock on one of the buildings you have access to and use it as a trap. Likewise you can trick people into running after you into unlocked buildings, then lock the door after they come inside to trap them in there. However people are likely to learn fast not to follow you into buildings if you do this.

People are also likely to taunt you to make you stop and reply to them. It's better not to fall into this trap. If you have something to say, either drag a note under the door or write what you're going to say in Notepad, wait a while to let everyone think you've stopped running around, then pop out quickly to copypaste your message to the talk to all box and run back to safety.

Trust

When planning to steal important vehicles that have lots of important resources in them, or trying to get access to an important building, you'll need to very lucky or somehow gain the people that have the keys their trust.

It's unlikely that you'll get a chance to just steal a boat in the developed islands of Cantr. But if you are paying a visit to one of the barely developed islands, then you will have a good chance to steal boats and other vehicles.

This combined with being trusted will be definitely worth it. It might take some time for the people to trust you, but once they do your chances will increase. Simply work hard for little pay and be nice and active. You could even lower yourself to nothing but a mere slave of someone, and once your boss isn't looking, use that chance and start sailing away!

You could also seduce the captain of a ship. Once he's stuck in your web, he'll gladly give you the key of his boat. (If roleplayed well, of course. No one likes boring women.)

There are all kinds of possibilities! Be creative and think up your own. Make good use of the chances you'll encounter and never give up! If they don't trust you, show them that you can be trusted! They say you don't work hard enough? Work twice as hard!