15.4.1 THIEVERY
THE THIEVERY (THEFT, STEALING) RULES
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1. You may steal from anyone for any reason at any time, barring any
exceptions noted in this file.
2. The above does NOT mean you can do anything to your intended victim in
the name of theft, unless you have PK cause on the victim, or the victim
is open/free PK to you. If you have no such legitimate reasons, then you
are forbidden from using any attacks* in the course of your theft, and only
those force abilities that do not cause the victim to lose equilibrium or
balance (mind force, soulmaster, minuet, hypnotism, etc) are permitted. The
only exceptions to this are noted in FAQ #1 further below. The stripping
of any defence** is forbidden. Furthermore, you may not knowingly block or
hinder a victim for the purpose of theft.
* For our full definition of "attack", see HELP PKCAUSE section 2,
paragraph 1.
** A defence here is defined as something that would show up when using the
DEF command, but excludes selfishness.
3. In the event that your victim fights back, others do NOT gain cause to
assist you. Further, the victim's act of self-defence does not grant you
any cause on him (even if he successfully slays you), so you cannot start
using attacks if you didn't have cause before, such as stripping
defences.
4. Theft against anyone under level 30 is not permitted, unless the target
is infamous. See also item 10 below.
5. Theft while in an Arena is not permitted.
6. Theft during worldgame events (foozles, bandersnatch, and egghunts) is not
allowed, if either the victim, the attacker, or both, have joined
the game.
7. Con jobs, deceit, trickery, and the like involving gold are illegal (see 8
for credit-related con jobs). If, for instance, you promise to exchange
gold for services or the other way around, accept the other party's half
of the deal, and then refuse to follow through on yours, that's considered
a scam. See HELP SCAMS for further information.
8. Con jobs and credits. Something like a credit transfer at an unexpected
price is a con job. We safeguard you in this way: you have to AGREE to
such transactions, or else you have to type out the entire TRANSFER x
CREDITS TO person FOR y GOLD command. If you get fooled, or if you
put in the wrong command, then you've been conned, and you have nobody
to blame but yourself.
Con jobs relating to paying credits for things (whatever: shops, bulk
herbs, etc) are definitely forbidden and will be handled strictly.
Don't do that!
Please refer to HELP SCAMS.
9. Taking things from a stockroom that you do not own, and without prior
permission, is theft.
10. Whether you succeed in your theft or not, if you attempt it, it is
theft. This is also explained in HELP PK CAUSE. So, for example,
theft -- attempted, successful, or failed -- against anybody under
level 30 is forbidden (unless he or she is Infamous).
TIPS TO PROTECT AGAINST THIEVERY
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1. Run away. Remember, the thief isn't allowed to restrain you.
2. Keep your gold in the bank!
3. Put flame sigils on your pack(s) and keep your important items in your
pack.
Frequently Asked Questions
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1. Is it permitted to force throwing items and removing armour?
Yes, these are the only two situations where a thief may force an action
which removes your balance.
2. Is it permitted to force eating herbs, if you secret them the herb
beforehand? (To cure things that may prevent theft)
It is permitted if the herb that the victim is being forced to eat does not
strip a defence. Thus, a thief cannot use this to strip blindness or
deafness.
3. Is it permitted to icewall one exit as long as you leave every other exit
open?
The rules here only require that the victim has a way to escape; so as long
as a single exit is open, this is permitted.
4. Is it permitted to force wake?
Yes, waking a person, on its own, does not count as an attack in theft, as
long as it's done through a method that does not harm the victim, strip his
defences, or attack him in any other way. For example, you could use a force
command to make your victim awaken, but you couldn't kick him in the gonads
to wake him up.
5. If someone is in a stockroom, is it permitted to icewall the down exit
from their shop them prism to them and rob the shop?
No. Even though the property being stolen may be on the ground, rather than
in an inventory, this counts as theft and thus you may not use blocking.
6. Is it permitted to rob someone who is being blocked from one exit
(possibly without cause) by someone other than you?
This would probably be okay, so long as the thief wasn't being completely
unreasonable about it. E.g. no specifically setting situations like this up.
But if it happened to have occurred and a thief genuinely didn't realise,
it'd be fine.
7. Is it permitted to strip phase in order to steal?
No. Phase is a defence, and you cannot strip it, nor anything else that shows
up in DEFENCES for the victim.
8. Is it permitted to dig, if on snapping someone, they burrow underground?
No. This would be forbidden, since by digging you would be moving them.
9. Is it permitted to kick someone who auto-qq's on snap?
It is not permitted for a thief to kick a victim for ANY reason, unless the
thief has PK cause on the victim or the victim is open/free PK. However,
QQing to escape from theft would be completely OOC and a serious breach of
HELP HONOUR on the victim's part. If someone does do this, just inform us
via issues. see HELP FILING AN ISSUE for more information on that.
10. Ok, so if I steal from someone who is open PK, and I do not have PK
cause on that person, I can use attacks on them. How does this work
with PK cause?
In this scenario, your victim would gain normal PK cause on you for any
attacks PLUS whatever PK cause they are warranted from the theft itself.
Got a question which isn't covered here? Either file an ISSUE ME or email
lathis@achaea.com.
(See also: HELP PK)
