
James Pepe |
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I'm in a game right now with a number of people who are playing characters that are really good at not being seen, especially a wizard who uses invisibility in addition to his ridiculously high stealth score. I, however, am playing a LG pally. Now, as a player I know this wizard has been going through my kit and taking stuff out of it for his own use. My character, however, is only beginning to have her suspicions. That being said, I'm looking for advice as to how to keep his grubby mitts off my stuff! I am pretty sure he is able to pick locks, hes very good at sneaking around and keeping quiet, and I am pretty sure he makes use of the knock spell. Currently I am keeping all my gear in a handy haversack and we have been making use of a magically extended rope trick to sleep in and recoup. So, any advice on how to keep him out of my bags would be greatly appreciated.

MeanMutton |

Deal with it in-character as your character would. It really depends on how your character deals with things. That said, I'm not convinced that most any paladin would simply be content with trying to "keep him out of my bags".
The best way to deal with it - catch him, take it back. Give him a paladin's speech about him having a single chance at redemption. If it happens again, smite him because he's clearly an irredeemable evil.

Dave Justus |
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First off, are you as a player ok with this sort of minor PVP, and has your group discussed it at all? If those questions are not both yes, than it is a player/group issue not a character issue.
Assuming it is all good from a player perspective, a LG Paladin probably won't be able to be effective at preventing theft. However, punishing theft is another issue all together. Punishment could range from expelling the offending character from the group to turning them in for theft at the next town. Obviously you will need evidence, but most likely once you have determined something is missing, a search of your companions would turn it up, providing the evidence you need.
For the most part, most people will consider these solutions to be 'unfun' which is why most group have an agreement not to pvp....

BigDTBone |
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Pass a hidden note to your DM. "I replace all potions in my bag with poison mixed with indelible ink. I keep all gp, pp, and gems in a purse and at night I place that purse between my thighs and tie a string from it to my left nut, during the day that purse is inside my cod piece."
That should help to bring about a swift resolution.

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Well the first suggestion I have would be to talk to the player out of the game and ask them to stop.
If both parties are ok with the stealing in game (if you both are having fun) then confront the wizard and ask him if he is taking your things. This may only work if you have a decent sense motive and his bluff is low.
If he denies it place bell on the flap of the bag so when it is opened it will awaken you. (assuming this is done while you sleep.)
I may be mistaken on this but I think that a handy haversack would not be able to be opened in a rope trick spell.
Otherwise try these methods:
Bell on the bag
Pretend to sleep but stay awake and watch the bag (remove the fatigue with lesser restoration)
use paladin spells to detect lies
Detect evil (just in case)
Detect magic (find out if illusions have been cast recently)

Puna'chong |
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What? A paladin wouldn't (or shouldn't) go straight to "CUT OFF YOUR HAND STREET RAT!!!" mode. That's getting into lawful evil, or at best lawful neutral, territory. Forgive the wizard. Forgive them every time, until they see that what they're doing is wrong. If they don't, that's their path. You'll persevere without all of your material stuff, knowing that you're crushing evil (real evil, not wizard taking your snacks evil) with the raw power of your righteousness.
Too often, it seems, we have this perception that Paladins have to spank everyone that does something wrong, or what they perceive to be wrong. Maybe practice your MLK or Gandhi tactics when it comes to party members, get a little more Buddha and a little less Old Testament. In character it might be effective to drop hints that you know things are missing, but no matter: you will prevail. If that doesn't guilt the wizard who doesn't (probably) take as many hits from huge monsters or cast paladin's sacrifice as often as you do into giving things back, then that's their problem, and it's on them for weakening the party. Benevolence looks good on paladins, I think.

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Puna'chong, I disagree there. A paladin is LG yes and benevolence is good, that does not mean he is a pushover. He can forgive the wizard if he admits to his crimes. Second chances are a great thing, but if the paladin forgives and then the next night the wizard steals again the paladin should be less nice. Lawful good is not nice or a pushover.

kestral287 |
It's a little hard to get Gandhi with a Paladin when his default response to evil is "Smite the wicked one!"
Strictly speaking the response to such things should depend on their Paladin Code, which is in turn determined by their deity. Paladin of Abadar? The Wizard is upsetting the very mechanism of trade. Getting your due, with interest, is very Paladiny for them, as you're merely educating him on the ways of trade and financing. Paladin of Torag? Warhammer to the face might just be a valid response. Paladin of Desna, yeah, probably a little more Gandi.

DM_Blake |
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Forgive the wizard. Forgive them every time, until they see that what they're doing is wrong.
No, no, no.
That is not what Gandhi or the Buddha would recommend. You forgive them AFTER they see the error of their ways, or at least, while they're learning the error of their ways (with the help of your exemplary forgiveness). But you don't just let them keep doing it. You talk to them, discourage them, educate them, train them, legislate them, perhaps even punish them, all as a means to correct their bad behavior, and while you do, you forgive them.
But you don't just forgive them and let them keep doing it. That's just passive enablement and it will escalate the problem rather than resolve it.
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For me, I go get a wizard in town to whip up a few well-place explosive runes and leave them as fake scrolls or inscribed on other things in my pack and wait for the wizard to get nosy again. For suggestions, see Vaarsuvius in the Order of the Stick.

MeanMutton |

What? A paladin wouldn't (or shouldn't) go straight to "CUT OFF YOUR HAND STREET RAT!!!" mode. That's getting into lawful evil, or at best lawful neutral, territory. Forgive the wizard. Forgive them every time, until they see that what they're doing is wrong. If they don't, that's their path. You'll persevere without all of your material stuff, knowing that you're crushing evil (real evil, not wizard taking your snacks evil) with the raw power of your righteousness.
Too often, it seems, we have this perception that Paladins have to spank everyone that does something wrong, or what they perceive to be wrong. Maybe practice your MLK or Gandhi tactics when it comes to party members, get a little more Buddha and a little less Old Testament. In character it might be effective to drop hints that you know things are missing, but no matter: you will prevail. If that doesn't guilt the wizard who doesn't (probably) take as many hits from huge monsters or cast paladin's sacrifice as often as you do into giving things back, then that's their problem, and it's on them for weakening the party. Benevolence looks good on paladins, I think.
Too often, it seems, we have this perception that Paladins all have to have the exact same personality and code. Here's the thing - there's a huge, wide range of paladins with a wide variety of codes of honor. For instance, for a Paladin of Abadar their code includes:
Bandits are a plague. Under my will they come to justice. If they will not come willingly before the law, where they can protest for justice in the courts, they will come under the power of my sword.
In that case - yeah, you get caught by a Paladin of Abadar, you either submit yourself to authorities for theft or they will force you, killing you if need be. If they don't do these, they lose their powers.
Another option, Paladins of Sarenrae. Their code includes:
I will redeem the ignorant with my words and my actions. If they will not turn toward the light, I will redeem them by the sword.
Sarenrae's paladins won't turn you in of you actively repent. If you don't repent, they flat out kill you. Period. If they don't do these, they lose their powers.
The codes for Paladins of Erastil or Iomedae, though, don't seem to have anything applicable. In those cases, they'd have more freedom with how to deal with it.

Puna'chong |
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Puna'chong wrote:Forgive the wizard. Forgive them every time, until they see that what they're doing is wrong.No, no, no.
That is not what Gandhi or the Buddha would recommend. You forgive them AFTER they see the error of their ways, or at least, while they're learning the error of their ways (with the help of your exemplary forgiveness). But you don't just let them keep doing it. You talk to them, discourage them, educate them, train them, legislate them, perhaps even punish them, all as a means to correct their bad behavior, and while you do, you forgive them.
But you don't just forgive them and let them keep doing it. That's just passive enablement and it will escalate the problem rather than resolve it.
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong."
Yes, you let them keep doing it. Both Gandhi and MLK marched while they were beaten and kept on marching. Reprisal turns into revenge, turns into escalation, turns into "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." If you suddenly turn to underhanded tactics to punish the wizard surreptitiously with explosive runes, you're then almost literally attacking your party member, in the same vein as replacing an ally's potion of restoration with poison. That's pretty not-good, I would say. Sure, you can talk to the character, that's fine. I didn't say you couldn't. You can tell them what they're doing is hurting the party, but it isn't about you as the paladin, it's about the success of the group.
Puna'chong, I disagree there. A paladin is LG yes and benevolence is good, that does not mean he is a pushover. He can forgive the wizard if he admits to his crimes. Second chances are a great thing, but if the paladin forgives and then the next night the wizard steals again the paladin should be less nice. Lawful good is not nice or a pushover.
No, lawful good is nice, and if not a pushover, then lawful good has the capacity to be benevolent. There are dozens of studies that show that overwhelming force doesn't solve problems, because overwhelming force doesn't legitimize authority. Forgiveness and compassion does. Lawful neutral might not forgive, but lawful good definitely would. Even chaotic good is merciful, and you have plenty of characters who fit that alignment (like Robin Hood) who refuse to kill, or let their enemies go despite the terrible things they've done. Batman does it all the time, and he even catches flack from other members of the Justice League, and Superman is a paragon of lawful good. He never kills; ever. That's benevolence.
It's a little hard to get Gandhi with a Paladin when his default response to evil is "Smite the wicked one!"
Strictly speaking the response to such things should depend on their Paladin Code, which is in turn determined by their deity. Paladin of Abadar? The Wizard is upsetting the very mechanism of trade. Getting your due, with interest, is very Paladiny for them, as you're merely educating him on the ways of trade and financing. Paladin of Torag? Warhammer to the face might just be a valid response. Paladin of Desna, yeah, probably a little more Gandi.
Back to Superman, sure. His response to everything could be throw it into the sun. But it isn't. Because Superman doesn't just smite the everloving buhjeezus out of everything, he fights it and locks it away and gives it a chance. Batman does too. Even Caesar (both the historical Caesar and the one in the recent Planet of the Apes movie) forgave, and he's known for being a historical badass. Smiting all of the things ever forever always might be lawful, but it isn't good. It also doesn't earn you much respect or admiration, because it's easy to just slay everything that pisses you off. Most classes do that. Paladins aren't just Judge Dredd: The Class!
I will agree that it can depend on the paladin's god. A paladin of Ragathiel would be all over smiting everything, and yes, a paladin of Desna or Sarenrae would be pretty lenient. But at risk of this just turning into a paladin thread, I'll stop here and just point out that always roleplaying every paladin as a vengeful a-hole all the time does little credit to the opportunities you're provided by being a paragon of good. Not just a paragon of justice, a paragon of good. A fighter might not forgive. A barbarian or a ranger or an inquisitor or a wizard or a slayer or a rogue or a bard or a sorcerer or an arcanist or a brawler or an investigator or a bloodrager or a warpriest might not forgive. Even a cleric might not forgive. In most cases they have little to no reason do outside of backstory stuff. But a paladin has the unique opportunity to forgive and also beat the snot out of evil with the same hand.

Gregory Connolly |
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Currently I am keeping all my gear in a handy haversack and we have been making use of a magically extended rope trick to sleep in and recoup.
I'm pretty sure this should be enough to stop it while you are sleeping. You can't access the contents of an extra dimensional space (like a handy haversack) while it is inside of another extra dimensional space (like a rope trick.) I have had to remember to unpack my spellbook and bedroll before using rope trick on multiple characters, I am always surprised at how many people don't realize how this has changed and still think it goes astral (which still happens with portable holes, which is why you rarely see those anymore.)

Claxon |

Beat his ass into unconsciousness after you have proof that he did it. Such as searching his bag. Offer him the chance to surrender and be imprisoned in the next town before you do so. When he refuses, beat him into unconsciousness.
When the rest of the party cries how a paladin wouldn't do that, remind them that you didn't kill him and you are now taking him into the custody of the next town you come across.
Don't forget to take his spell book, bind his hands, gag him, and put armor on him (spell failure chance).
Once his character is effectively out of the campaign, bring up out of character the topic how this sort of activity isn't fun for the campaign and that you suggest in the future a policy of zero tolerance for PVP action, including things such as theft.

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Next time you are in town have your bag enchanted so that whenever anyone but you tries to open it it starts screaming its head off and trying to hop away (making it into an animated object should do it). Alternitivly use it as your pillow from now on, or get a duplicate bag and put used and unwashed chamberpots in it.

DM_Blake |

Dave Justus wrote:And the Irish civil war would disagree with your disagreement.Puna'chong wrote:There are dozens of studies that show that overwhelming force doesn't solve problems,Carthage would disagree with you.
Overwhelming force definitely solves problems. That terrorist is holding hostages? Shoot him in the head, hostages go home, problem solved. That dictator is killing innocent people? Start a war, invade, kill the dictator, people are saved, problem solved.
It's just that overwhelming force solves the surface problems without solving the underlying root of the problem. Terrorists still exist, evil dictators still exist. For a long term solution, we need social change such that the reasons for terrorism and dictators are solved. That cannot be solved by force.
But, in the short term, the surface problems can and will be solved by force. Including douchebag wizards stealing from party members.

DM_Blake |
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OK, social engineering and OOTS references aside, this is how I handle this when I'm a player.
I tell the whole group the following:
(this assumes we are not in an agreed PvP kind of group)
1. I like to roleplay. I like to explore who my character is, why he does what he does, and how he learns and grows while adventuring.
2. My character recognizes that he's taken the most dangerous career in a very dangerous world: Adventurer. He knows that he will probably not survive. He also knows that, if he has any chance to survive, he needs good, competent, trustworthy companions. Failing that, he dies. Period. He FIRMLY believes this. (every one of my characters has always believed this because, really, it's true in every campaign that isn't a solo campaign, and even most of those have DMPCs, multiple PCs for the solo player, cohorts, etc., so it's still true).
3. My character CANNOT possibly trust a party member who steals from anyone in the party. Without trust, he CANNOT consider remaining in such a party. Doing so means certain death (see point #2).
4. Either the untrustworthy party member must IMMEDIATELY stop being untrustworthy or the party must must break up - either my character or the untrustworthy one must go. There is no alternative.
5. I also make it clear that if MY character is the one to go, my next character, whoever he is, will have the same beliefs. Point #2 is inviolate. Every character in this group should also believe in point #2 because it is a universal truth, or as close to one as there can be. Which means my next character cannot adventure with this group, nor my next one after that, etc. Which means I cannot continue playing with this group.
It's not a threat, it's just a statement of opinion that what this group wants is not what I want. Or, maybe the group DOES want what I want and it's just one disruptive player. In that case, we need to figure out, as a group, how to fix it.
In any case, I'm not willing as a player to just ignore the roleplaying side of my character, nor am I willing to take an idiotic RP assumption that any adventurer, ANY ADVENTURER, would ever deliberately jeopardize their life, repeatedly going into the most dangerous places and facing the most terrifying odds, again and again, with a "companion" that they dislike and distrust. Nobody would ever do that, and I cannot roleplay an adventurer who would be such an idiot.
I find that this has opened up some dialog between players on several occasions and it's always worked out that the disruptive player stops being disruptive.

Puna'chong |

Killing a terrorist doesn't stop terrorism. Stopping a dictator doesn't stop dictatorship. Killing one evil thing doesn't stop evil. It's my opinion that Paladins are concerned with destroying evil as an idea or a byproduct of actions. A paladin can certainly be concerned with winning the war rather than winning every single battle, which can definitely fall under forgiving something with the intent that it won't have the desire to commit evil anymore, and instead might even want to do good. What is the bigger win? Killing something evil, and setting the record to zero? Or converting it to good and allowing it the chance to go on and continue being good and performing good actions? Redemption is powerful. And redemption comes from forgiveness.

Ross Byers RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32 |

Currently I am keeping all my gear in a handy haversack and we have been making use of a magically extended rope trick to sleep in and recoup. So, any advice on how to keep him out of my bags would be greatly appreciated.
This on its own will do it. Bags of holding (and thus handy haversacks) stop working in an extradimensional space - like a rope trick.
If the wizard wants to go through your back while you sleep, he has to take it outside of the rope trick to access the contents. If you make sure the bag is securely attached to your body, he'd have to wake you to do so.

Simply Gabriele |

Killing a terrorist doesn't stop terrorism. Stopping a dictator doesn't stop dictatorship. Killing one evil thing doesn't stop evil. It's my opinion that Paladins are concerned with destroying evil as an idea or a byproduct of actions. A paladin can certainly be concerned with winning the war rather than winning every single battle, which can definitely fall under forgiving something with the intent that it won't have the desire to commit evil anymore, and instead might even want to do good. What is the bigger win? Killing something evil, and setting the record to zero? Or converting it to good and allowing it the chance to go on and continue being good and performing good actions? Redemption is powerful. And redemption comes from forgiveness.
Well, I invite you to apply to the church of Sarenrae, since you'd clearly be great there. One half of it, at least, since the other would agree more with the others in this thread that after polite but stern confrontation, a paladin would not let thieving continue unabated.
A paladin is both lawful and good, not simply good. His vows and goals are to both uphold righteous order and to spread love and benevolence. A paladin could and often would forgive personal transgressions against him, but he cannot simply ignore it and wish the known culprit the best without even addressing it. Help him find "the light" and understand the wrongdoing. If not, the wizard is a criminal. And criminals must see the court, as that is what law commands. It is not "wrong" or "un-good" to insist that unlawful actions see consequences. It is to show the criminal that they do indeed carry those, and hope that it corrects his thinking and actions.
See, the problem here is twofold: The wizard is stealing while presumably not in need; and by turning the blind eye the paladin could encourage it, or fail to protect more vulnerable people from similar depredations. There's no real justification in the wizard pilfering the pickets of his comrades. He can't be notably poorer or more 'worthy' than the rest. As already stated in the thread, it undermines cohesion and trust in the party and is simply "wrong" by any LG measure. Moreover, to what extent do you think the paladin should ignore it? Oh, it's but a potion and some gold, no worry. But what if the wizard steals your equipment? Or the money you were saving up for a shield? What if it starts climbing up into high numbers of gold lost and impedes your ability to spread good and fight evil? Or what if it becomes obvious that the thief only goes for valuable personally important to the unlucky? That breeds pain and is evil. Shall it be ignored then?
A paladin should approach this with equal measure of benevolence and desire to maintain righteousness. You concentrate on the good, gentle and forgiving, to the point where it can be evil/chaos abiding. While chopping hands and screaming bloody murder is not the way to respond to lost beer money, swinging the other way and throwing yourself at the thief all "Partake of me, oh bretheren!" is not paladinic either.

Onyxlion |
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I'm going to have to side with Puna'chong on this one. You could even go so far as to set it, the pilfered things, out for him. The easiest way to the teach someone is through your kind actions, punishment and words mean little to one who doesn't choose to listen. If him stealing is them problem, give him permission then he isn't stealing. You show him that you respect him in order to teach him respect. This could be a very nice in character roleplaying opportunity.

mourge40k |
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So let's get this straight. Instead of going invisible during your 15-minute workday to play hell with the various gribblies, this wizard is instead doing a bad rogue impression. Be sure to congratulate him on putting that high intelligence and phenomenal cosmic power to good use.
Now onto the actual point of this thread. I personally believe that hurting the "wizard" is very much an un-paladin thing to do. This does not mean he gets off scott free, however. Instead, you're just going to have to be creative.
Step 1: Buy that one elixer that changes the gender of the person who drinks it, and remove label.
Step 2: Wait.
Step 3: Enjoy as the rog- errr, wizard gets the best punishment of all: Everlasting shame. Even better, if they want to go back to normal, chances are that they'll have to explain to somebody what happened. Add in that the people who saw it will never let him/her live it down, and it's pretty much the punishment that keeps on giving, all without doing an iota of damage.

Ashram |
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I'm going to have to side with Puna'chong on this one. You could even go so far as to set it, the pilfered things, out for him. The easiest way to the teach someone is through your kind actions, punishment and words mean little to one who doesn't choose to listen. If him stealing is them problem, give him permission then he isn't stealing. You show him that you respect him in order to teach him respect. This could be a very nice in character roleplaying opportunity.
...Wha... No. You don't enable thieves. What you just described is probably the most passive-aggressive thing I've read in this thread so far. If the player playing the wizard is actively trying to be the sneak-thief mage, enabling him isn't going to make him change, it's going to escalate things.
That sweet potion that the paladin got that would be totally useful when his guts are hanging out? Yeah, wizard drank it when he got a scrape. That rare religious treasure the paladin recovered and intends to either donate or sell to his church for a fair price? Yeah, that baby's going on the black market and the proceeds are going to the wizard. Anything of value or note? Wizard took it.
As mourge40k mentioned, this wizard is doing a bad rogue impression, and needs to learn the #1 rule of being a thief: DON'T STEAL FROM THE PARTY.

Create Mr. Pitt |
Also as the paladin is themselves a person protecting their right to property seems well within the paladin code. You might need to resort to putting all of your property in a chest with some form of bell on it that will awake you as his doing it. Perhaps as it opens flour dumps on the wizard.
This will serve two purposes:
1) A straight confrontation from your party to this wizard;
2) Send an indicator to your GM that this is fun running and needs to be stopped.

Cavall |
Simply buy a few items that you think are tempting
Then when he could use one in combat stand behnd him and go through your pack. Then just spend combat going through your pack for something that doesn't exist.
Then do it again.
And again.
And why not... again. When people get annoyed just shrug and say hold on
..it's here somewhere.

Lord Twitchiopolis |
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It sounds like the wizard is relying on the fact that your character knowledge to protect himself. This makes me think that it is a PLAYER problem.
On a less serious note, fall and kill the party. The new characters will have a nice new Antipaladin to pursue.
No no no. Fall, kill the party, keep playing the antipaladin. Kill all the things ALL GLORY TO THE ROUGH BEAST!

Faelyn |

I'm going to have to side with Puna'chong on this one. You could even go so far as to set it, the pilfered things, out for him. The easiest way to the teach someone is through your kind actions, punishment and words mean little to one who doesn't choose to listen. If him stealing is them problem, give him permission then he isn't stealing. You show him that you respect him in order to teach him respect. This could be a very nice in character roleplaying opportunity.
[sarcasm]In fact, while you're at it... Go ahead and give the wizard everything you own, and you need to ensure the rest of the party gives the wizard everything they own as well.[/sarcasm]
If you guys think that hacking the offending wizard to pieces with Smite Evil is off the deep end (which I agree with), then your suggestion is way off into the shallow end. That's how you deal with a child, not an adult who understands the concept between right and wrong.

Cap. Darling |

... Currently I am keeping all my gear in a handy haversack and we have been making use of a magically extended rope trick to sleep in and recoup. So, any advice on how to keep him out of my bags would be greatly appreciated.
i dont Think you Can open a extradimentional backpack in a extradimentional campsite like a Rope trick. Remind the ha that spell casting at nigth Will compromise the rest the wizard need to regain spells.
And talk to the involved parts out of game. And if this turns out to be the Way they paly. Leave the game or reroll as a character that Can be part of the game they play.I would properly leave.

James Pepe |
Wow, thanks everyone for chiming in on this, ive really been enjoying reading this. I think the course of action that was suggested that would best suit the situation would be to put some kind of magical alarm on the backpack that made a lot of noise when someone other than my character opened it. one of the problems is that we are all deep inside a dungeon right now that is far below the earth. I do have a few spell-casters in the party other than the problem wizard however. so, how would I go about getting my bag enchanted in that way?
a lot of people have suggested talking to the person playing the wizard and maybe putting a stop to his shenanigans that way. I could understand why in some situations that would be a good idea. in this case, however, I really want to find an in-game solution. I don't really mind him stealing my stuff because that is how he wants to play his character and the other players (not characters) in the game are aware that hes doing that and seem fine with it as well. he has told us many times that the motivation of his character is simply to become more powerful. all of that is fine with me because, to me, it offers fun RP opportunities. it has actually been quite fun to see my own characters development as far as her relationship with this wizard has been. as a LG pally she wants to give people who are good aligned the benefit of the doubt. I mean, most people in the world you bump into in the world who aren't enemies are probably something like chaotic or neutral good, and that is the moral alignment of most of the party as well. however, as time goes on and my character and this other persons wizard interact more, my pally is becoming more and more distrustful and wary of this wizard even thought, as I said, she hasn't really caught the wizard red handed in anything, mostly because hes so sneaky and my perception rolls are no match for his stealth checks. the wizard has a reputation within the party of appearing and disappearing basically at will, so when he does that no one really blinks an eye. the reason the party keeps him around is because he supplies the party with enough positive things, like finding hidden stuff, identifying magical things, being really stealthy, to keep the party happy, while he is clearly just using the party for his own gain. for example, lets say he finds a cache of items that we probably would have bypassed. he will find it, go through it, keep what he wants, and pass out whatever is left\he cant use.
anyway, the reason i decided to post about this is because our party came across a number of protection from good potions. now, as i said my character is starting to understand that this wizard is really only out for himself and would probably abandon the party after picking all our pockets if he got the chance. the party, as a party, gave me the potions to keep because they knew they could be used against me most effectively, being the pally. so, i then put two and two together and realized that it was really important for me to keep this wizard from getting his hands on these pots. this is why i am suddenly more concerned with protecting my stuff! yet, as i said we are deep in a dungeon with no prospect of seeing home again for quite a while. so i need to macgyver something up with the resources i have available to me in this dungeon.

Rynjin |
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Killing a terrorist doesn't stop terrorism. Stopping a dictator doesn't stop dictatorship. Killing one evil thing doesn't stop evil.
But you know what it DOES do?
Stops THAT guy in particular.
Since only one guy is f!**ing around with him this solves the problem.
This isn't some grand system of organized crime, it's one guy being a dick.
You cut his off and let it flop in the breeze for a bit, and he'll think twice before doing it next time.

Bacon666 |
So many options:
First off... Decide as a group if this type of PvP is ok...
In game options:
Report him to local authorities
Change his chosen loot into something else (potions into spirits - goldcoins into yellow painted lead etc.)
Wait for a combat, state out loud "I appear to have been robbed of a needed item, I must go find it", and leave the party
Explains your doubts to the rest of the party, and demand the wizard leave the group
Smile and forgive - at the next inn, pay for the wizard saying "you obviously need it more than I"
Detect evil -> smite evil
If your deity allows, bash in his door, and take back what you need!

Nohwear |

Here is the thing though, By allowing this to continue, you are weakening the party because you lot will start investing resources into things that are mainly meant to work against other party members. Not just money either. Also, feats and stuff. I would also let the other players know that you plan on letting this reach its likely bloody conclusion and that things do need to stop if they want to avoid a PvP moment.

kestral287 |
Your simplest option would honestly be a nonmagical alarm system. A magical one makes it vulnerable to Detect and Dispel Magic, so all you do is marginally raise his costs to steal from you.
A nonmagical one, like a bell, some flour, or (my personal favorite, thank you BigDTBone) attaching it to your body in some way is both cheap and effective.