Preventing Theft of Worn Item

[Dastis]

An NPC wears a Necklace that if taken would be an absolute disaster. We will be attending an event next session that also has a thief attending who has tried to take it before. What can I do to protect it? I'm specifically looking to prevent it from being taken NOT recover it after it is.

I'm a mystic theurge with lv5 spells and can invest theoretically invest up to 30k

Found Theft Ward which while nice only gives a bonus to notice it being taken. Similarly for Stone of Alarm.

[DeathlessOne]

Easy enough. Cast a permanent invisibility on the necklace and have a duplicate made that looks just like it with a fake magic aura on it. You look like you are just the right level to pull it off.

[Dastis]

DeathlessOne wrote:

Easy enough. Cast a permanent invisibility on the necklace and have a duplicate made that looks just like it with a fake magic aura on it. You look like you are just the right level to pull it off.

Thats actually fairly perfect. Forgot invisibility could be made permanent on objects. Guess I will have to see if the DM will let me fudge the permanency level.

[OmniMage]

You might want to put the real necklace somewhere else. You don't want the thief to grab 2 necklaces when reaching for the neck slot item.

[DeathlessOne]

OmniMage wrote:

You might want to put the real necklace somewhere else. You don't want the thief to grab 2 necklaces when reaching for the neck slot item.

It would be exceedingly hard to lift two items from a person, especially one in which you cannot see to unclasp properly, without the other person immediately noticing DURING the attempt to do so. However, if the thief is going to grab and dash, it would be wise to conceal the other item where it cannot be lifted.

Dastis wrote:

Thats actually fairly perfect. Forgot invisibility could be made permanent on objects. Guess I will have to see if the DM will let me fudge the permanency level.

Have someone help you with the casting (or cast it for you). You've got more than enough cash to pay for such services if you are able to spend 30,000gp on the attempt.

[Taja the Barbarian]

You could always try Sovereign Glue: It's a crude solution, but it should stop most theft attempts cold...

Also, a simple Magic Mouth with the instruction to yell 'HELP, I AM BEING STOLEN' if touched by anyone other than the wearer could ruin the thief's evening.

Extra points for also using these options on a decoy, just to add insult to injury...

[Claxon]

Does it need to be worn as a necklace 100% of the time?

If not, could you instead find a way to attach it to a bangle? Closely held items (like rings) aren't subject to the steal activity. If you can recraft the necklace to be something closely attached (maybe even a choker instead of necklace) you can make it ineligible to be stolen.

And by steal, I'm referring to the combat maneuver which has specific rules.

[Dastis]

Afraid yes. Neck slot disguise magic item. Secret identity. Hence why if its removed in a public setting it doesn't actually matter if we recover it.

Edit: Not trying to start a discussion on disguise. Its a polymorph disguise not illusion. Layering illusions wouldn't be helpful.

[VoodistMonk]

Make the necklace permenantly invisible, and glue it to the NPC...? Ask if you can cast Arcane Lock on it. Find ways to raise the NPC's CMD against Steal combat maneuvers...

[Pizza Lord]

Some really good ideas from others. The best way is either concealment or misdirection. As a polymorph effect, the easiest thing would be to transform into a creature without a neck slot (not necessarily no neck, but no neck slot), that would have the necklace just be absorbed into the new form. Obviously that doesn't seem to work here, since the wearer is likely disguised as a person or other thing that does have a neck slot.

Otherwise, there's no reason a necklace has to be visible (unless that's a specific power or property of this necklace. You can keep it under your shirt unless its appearance is important to the wearer's ruse (like the necklace is a symbol of state or power or obvious identifier to the form/identity they're in). Just like you can wear a magical ring under a glove or over it (unless the design of the ring would obviously make that impractical, like a big ol' gemstone set into it).

For invisibility unless you make it permanent, it's not going to last long enough (I am assuming at least an hour for the event), even with Extend Spell from a metamagic rod. As others have said, you can have multiple similar copies of the necklace made (non-magical) that look the same, thus requiring a thief to guess or get lucky unless they go with a more brute force method of just getting them all. Making a bunch of jewelry might not be feasible in the time until the event. A minor phantom object spell could work instead to make copies (non-magical) and it have a much longer duration than invisibility, especially if you can extend it. Each decoy necklace is an additional layer of defense, but obviously if they're visible it might look odd to anyone else seeing someone with 3 or 4 copies of the same necklace unless they're Mr. T.

Magic mouth or sovereign glue would be pretty hard to get around, and an obscure object spell could prevent a detect magic or other effect from finding the necklace (if amongst decoys).

Less feasible ideas might be object possession or possess object. You'd have to leave your body somewhere nearby in a closet or something. You'd be able to basically guard the necklace yourself and resist attempts to grab it. Can't speak or cast spells, so you'd likely need a telepathic bond or a familiar to let people know.

Otherwise, aura of inviolate ownership would be perfect except for its short duration, and a contingency to trigger it if the necklace is touched by anyone but the wearer is probably just out of your power range.

[Claxon]

Honestly, given the circumstances it sounds like wearing clothing that will cover the necklace and neck will be useful. And for extreme measures, using sovereign glue to attach to the body of the person.

[Ryze Kuja]

Detect Thoughts could be helpful in identifying the rogue prior to the theft (because he will almost certainly be disguised). Once you've identified the rogue, hit him with a Heightened Hold Person. Rogue-ish types typically have low Wisdom scores and poor Will progression, same with Fortitude and Con scores, so whatever you try to hit this guy with, make it a Will or Fort Save. Heightened or Persistent Hold Person would be perfect for this.

[Mudfoot]

You could put a Glyph of Warding on it with something like Hold Person. It'll go off when someone opens it. The GM might of course object, given the difficulty of writing the Glyph on something so small.

Depending on your reading of Perception, the thief might automatically get a chance to find the Glyph as being a magical trap, but that arguably applies to anything. And he's still got to disable it.