Stealing

Many items in Baldur's Gate 3 can be stolen from their owners. This includes free-standing objects in the environment that can simply be picked up, and objects held by creatures that can be stolen via the pickpocket mechanic. This page tries to explain all mechanics involved in stealing.

The explanations below are based on in-game experimentation, and may be inaccurate or incomplete.

Picking pockets

While  Hiding and being out of view of any creatures, a party member has the option to pickpocket. Clicking (or right clicking and selecting pickpocket) on a creature opens a dedicated pickpocketing UI. Merely opening and closing this window can be done without consequence as long as the party member remains unseen.

In most instances, in the pickpocketing window, any item the creature carries can be targeted for stealing. The window shows the roll target of stealing that particular item, which depends on its weight and value. The roll target is not the Difficulty Class (DC) of stealing, but rather the raw roll on the D20 needed to meet the DC. Selecting an item and clicking steal triggers a  Sleight of Hand Ability Check.

Variable bonuses from  Guidance and the  Shapeshifter's Boon Ring are not applied to calculate this roll target, but flat item bonuses to Sleight of Hand e.g., from the  Gloves of Power,  Smuggler's Ring, etc are applied.

An unsuccessful attempt results in the creature catching the party member stealing. Depending on the creature, they either attack immediately, or confront the party member and give them an opportunity to explain themselves, prompting a  Deception,  Intimidation, or  Persuasion Skill Check. If the stealing party member fails this skill check they are usually arrested. On a success, the creature takes no further action and returns to normal behaviour, except for typically observing the offending party member more closely (e.g., "Yes, I'm still watching you."). However, if they are caught pickpocketing again, they are arrested or attacked immediately without another chance to absolve themselves.

However, a successful roll on the pick-pocket action does not guarantee the party member gets away with the goods either. After the successful theft, the affected creature soon notices something has been stolen and starts investigating. They wander around their area looking for the thief for a time, and if during this period they spot the thief or anyone else from the party, an accusation of the crime is made. If a non stealing party member is accused this way and they do not possess an item stolen in from that session, they can convince the creature of their innocence with no negative consequences.

If the party members stay far away enough during the investigation period, the creature ends their investigation and goes back to normal behaviour. After this point, all party members are safe from negative consequences, even if they walk right up to the creature and are wearing and / or wielding an item stolen from and talk to the crteature.

Stealing free-standing items

Items in the environment which belong to another creature are indicated with a red outline and text.

To steal such an item, the party member must make sure they will not be noticed in the moment they pick it up. This means not only being outside the field of view of the owner and their allies, but also not being heard.  Hiding party members cannot be heard while picking up items.

What happens after successfully picking up an item that is owned by a creature is similar to what happens after a successful pick-pocketing roll: The creature notices a moment later that something was stolen, and begins investigating. This is indicated by an overhead text such as "Thief!" or "Something has been stolen!" and the creature runs to the place the object was stolen from. They then begin to walk around looking for someone to accuse. All this only applies to items in the open and not those inside a container.

Party members must stay away during the investigation period to ensiure they are not accused. Once the investigation period ends, and the creature the party stole from goes back to its normal behaviour, party members are safe from consequences.