Crime

'The Cell'

Crime is a gameplay mechanic in Baldur's Gate 3. Certain morally dubious actions, from destruction of property to murder, if done in view of non-player characters, result in attitude reductions and, potentially, imprisonment or combat. With the appropriate use of actions and abilities, the consequences of a crime can be avoided.

Committing crimes

A variety of crimes can be committed during the party's journeys. Crimes are committed individually by characters and punishments are usually meted out similarly; if one character is caught pickpocketing, only that character is sought for questioning by guards and risks imprisonment, not the whole party.

A Poltergeist corpse that is outlined in red. Attempting to loot this corpse may reduce the attitude of onlookers.

Ownership is a concept interrelated to crime, as it applies to items and other non-player character entities in the game. Any object that is outlined in red when hovered over is owned by another character or entity, restricting the party member's interactions with it; tampering with these objects is considered criminal. Corpses of characters adhere to this rule as well. For example, one or more party members can potentially get away with murdering an NPC, but get in trouble if someone catches them picking up the NPC's red-outlined, "restricted" corpse.

Magnitude

Crimes vary in magnitude, and the bandwidth for NPC's to tolerate crimes varies based on area and NPC. Some NPC's are annoyed if they witness crime, reducing their attitude to the offender, but take no action. Two NPC's might have different responses to the same crime. One character might try to arrest a party member for stealing, but another might attack them outright.

List of crimes

The various crimes at the party's disposal are:

• Moving: Moving an object that belongs to another entity. Always^[verify] considered a mere attitude-reducing annoyance. A witness to unpermitted moving usually picks up the offended item.
• Vandalism: Destroying an object that belongs to another entity.
• Trespassing: Setting foot in a restricted area or opening a red-outlined door. Can sometimes be rectified by agreeing to leave the area, which instantly teleports the offending character(s) to a neutral area.
• Stealing: Picking up an object that belongs to another entity. Can sometimes be rectified by dropping the item.
• Desecrating: Moving, picking up, destroying, or reanimating a corpse.
• Pickpocketing: Looting an item from a character's inventory using sleight of hand while hiding. Can sometimes, but not always, be rectified by returning the stolen items. Being caught in a failed pickpocket and being caught in possession of a pickpocketed an item are considered separate crimes.
• Assault: Committing a harmful act against another creature. These can be attacks or spells, with some negative condition-applying spells such as  Hypnotic Pattern qualifying. Creating a harmful surface underneath a character, such as  Electrified Water, counts as assault.
• Murder: Inflicting the  Dead condition on another creature. Hostility can determine the difference between murder and justified homicide. If a party member kills a creature that is hostile to two onlookers, the two will not care; if the creature was only hostile to one of the onlookers, the other will consider it murder. Some scripted encounters are never considered murder.

Investigation

Large, populated locations, such as the Goblin Camp or Druid Grove, have guards who deal with crime. If a civilian witnesses a crime, they can report the crime one or more guards, who will run over to search for the offending character. If the culprit is nowhere to be found, they will investigate the area for a number of turns before dispersing, forgetting about the crime. Party members cannot talk to NPC's while they are investigating a crime.

However, if a party member interrupts an NPC with  Enthrall right after they notice a crime (signaled by them shouting "Thief!", "Someone's been in my pockets", etc.) but before they start an investigation, they are forcibly stopped, unable to continue the investigation, and do not call the guards or question any party members, nor are they suspicious of the caster, allowing for more criminal opportunities.

If the offending character is not able to prevent NPCs from starting an investigation and they call the guards or are searching for the complicit party member, another strategy is to cast  Feign Death on the offending party member, as this prevents NPCs from initiating conversations. The guards typically disperse before the spell runs out, so the offender is then free to wander without arousing suspicion. Note that the severity of the crime might incriminate other party members, so this strategy is best left for smaller crimes like pickpocketing – or when the criminal party member is on their own. On the other hand, casting Feign Death on a party member who is already being questioned does nothing.

Questioning

A Steel Watcher guard attempts to arrest a murderer.

If the culprit is caught by the guards, interrogatory dialogue begins. On some occasions, the criminal can try to rectify the crime by undoing it or bribing the interrogator. If one commits a crime in a location with a designated jail, the criminal can submit to arrest. Otherwise, the following options are always present: engage in combat, or try to wriggle out of it using a Persuasion, Intimidation, or Deception check. These ability checks generally become more difficult as the magnitude of the crime increases.

Imprisonment

If a party member acquiesces to their crime and is imprisoned, their inventory is removed and they are instantly teleported to a designated jail zone. They retain any equipment they are wearing, but lose access to weapons, torches, instruments, and the rest of their inventory. The apprehended character's inventory is placed, in full, within a nearby Equipment chest while any items they stole (if caught for thievery) are moved to an Evidence chest.

Each of these jail cells has methods of escape baked in so that the character can, with enough ingenuity, escape on their own. For example, the jail cell in the Emerald Grove has a breakable wall and back exit along the side of a cliff.

Fleeing from prison inflicts the temporary  Fugitive condition on the criminal. If found within a guard's line-of-sight while active, the criminal will be re-arrested or fought.

If a party member uses  Disguise Self to commit a crime while looking like someone else and then removes the condition before they escape (or vice versa), they can walk freely in front of guards without being recognized as an escapee. However, this only works once per character and per jail, any subsequent escape from the same jail with the use of this spell results in being recognized and caught immediately. This does not seem to work in Act Three's Lower City, as guards there recognize miscreant party members no matter what.

List of all Jail cells

• Makeshift Prison within the Emerald Grove (for crimes in the Emerald Grove)
• Worg Pens in the Shattered Sanctum (for crimes in the Goblin Camp and Shattered Sanctum)
• Last Light Inn - Cellar underneath the Last Light Inn (for crimes in the Last Light Inn)
• Moonrise Towers Prison under Moonrise Towers (for crimes in Moonrise Towers)
• Wyrm's Rock Prison in Wyrm's Rock Fortress (for crimes in Rivington)
• Heapside Prison under the Basilisk Gate Barracks (for crimes in the Lower City)

Related conditions

•  Fugitive
•  Enemy of Justice
•  Witness

Rewards

Outside of the material benefits of the crime itself, crime can pay with Inspirations. Characters with the  Criminal background can gain many Inspirations from committing and then escaping criminal acts. Those with  Charlatan and  Urchin benefit to a lesser extent as well.

Achievements

Escapologist

Break out of prison after being arrested - aren't you daring?