This post is primarily about stealing things from other player characters (PCs). Most of it’s aimed at a fest or faction LARP context. Some of the advice here is useful for heists and thefts conducted against NPCs or monsters as part of prewritten plots, so please read on!
IC theft can be quite a touchy subject in LARP. In addition to permanently depriving a character of their hard-earned wealth, you are temporarily depriving a player of a physrep they may have an attachment to. But if everyone plays by the rules, it can create excellent game, mystery and plot for your fellow players!
Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
Your local LARP may have explicit rules for theft - follow these scrupulously and if stealing stuff from PCs isn’t OK, don’t fucking do it. Put this post down and back away.
If your LARP doesn’t have such rules, then ask a ref beforehand exactly what you are allowed to do, and warn them what you’re about to get up to. Typically, LARP theft rules will include areas such as “Don’t steal anything obviously OC” and “Return any phys-reps to a referee within 30 minutes”.
1. Honour Among Thieves
Here are a few ways to apply etiquette to minimise disruption to your victim’s OC life:
Don’t disturb their shit. If you’re rooting through an area which has mixed IC and OC kit (like a living-space tent), make sure you replace all OC kit back where you found it. Pay particular attention to essentials: meds, pants and washkit.
Don’t damage anything. Take excruciating pains not to knock over or damage anything fragile. If you do damage something, find a way to contact the player (e.g. through a ref) to apologise and offer to pay OC compensation.
Don’t fuck the infrastructure. If you unpeg floor or wall pegs to get into a tent, replace them PROPERLY on your way out. If you unzip or unlace doors, close them behind you. Never unpeg a structural guy or storm lashing, even temporarily - find a different route in.
Consider leaving an IC note or Clue!. Even if everyone knows IC theft is permissible under the rules, discovering someone’s been in your living space can be a shocking invasion of privacy for some people. Help to mitigate any OC upset by leaving a DASTARDLY CLUE or IC note, turning it into an IC roleplay hook rather than just something to be sad and anxious about.
If you find the idea of someone rummaging through your stuff horrifying, carefully check the rules on IC theft and IC/OC spaces before attending an event. All the events I play have designated OC spaces, be those bunk rooms or camping fields, where OC equipment like meds and clothing can be left secure. If the thought of someone touching your stuff bothers you, make sure it stays in those spaces (or in your vehicle)!
If you’re really upset by the idea of someone getting into your space, you probably want to camp OC rather than IC. Even if you don’t keep anything valuable in your tent, in a game where theft is permissible, there’s every chance someone will go looking through your sleeping quarters on the offchance if they’re on the IC field.
Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
2. Preparation: Risk Mathematics
So you’re all geared up to go steal a thing. Awesome! Do you know what the thing is yet?
Before you put your lootin’ trousers on, it’s time to conduct a risk assessment. Thieving is a highly risky activity (riskier than murder, in many settings) and you need to make sure the juice is worth the squeeze.
When performing a risk assessment, you want to multiply the probability of getting caught against the impact of getting caught. This isn’t a scientific process, just a heuristic for understanding and comparing risks.
Work out the probability you’ll get caught on your heist, as a score from 1 to 3 (where 1 is “no witnesses, pitch darkness” and 3 is “stealing Princess’ glass slipper from foot during dance”).
Then give getting caught an impact score, also from 1 to 3 (1 = “theft is punishable by a fine and a frown”; 3 = “Niske will remove my testicles with a soldering iron if he finds out I’m stealing from him”). Consider the reputational as well as the legal/physical impact of getting caught stealing - does your character rely on others’ goodwill for work? Would their colleagues continue working with a known (failed) thief?
Once you have two scores, multiply them together. The resulting number is your risk score, and you can use it to compare against other possible heists or jobs. You’re ideally hoping for a job which is low risk impact and low risk probability, but these golden opportunities rarely come up - so get as low as you can within reason.
3. Preparation: Reward Mathematics
Now that you’ve assessed the risk of conducting your heist, you want to carry out a quick reward assessment. What are you intending to steal, and is it really worth it?
Map the value of what you’re stealing (and that’s the relative value to you - not the absolute value) against its utility. In the case of items you intend to sell, utility = marketability - how easily could you fence this item?
For example, an antique sculpture may be very valuable but if nobody will buy it from you, it’s essentially worthless.
The Dragon’s Egg McGuffin of Plot may have no resale value, but if it heals your sick mother, it’s priceless and well worth stealing.
If you expect to find several different items in your target theft zone, roughly rank what you expect to find in order of total reward and prioritise accordingly. If you’re only after one specific target item, you can skip this step.
Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
4. Preparation: Time Spent in Recce
Time spent in recce is seldom wasted. If you have the chance to survey your target location in good light, without arousing suspicion, do so. You’re looking for:
Entrance and exit points (identify at least two if possible)
Get a good look at how the doorway to tents or buildings operates - which way a door opens, how the flap is laced shut, etc.
Noise and trip hazards (look up as well as down!)
Possible loot locations
Sleeping areas
Many thefts are conducted in the dark, so try and memorise the layout of your target. Drawing a quick sketch map while it’s fresh will help cement it in your mind and make it easier to conduct planning with allies.
Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
5. The Clinch: No Solo
If you can possibly avoid it, don’t go out on the rob on your tod. Take a thieving buddy. You can swap lookout duties between you, and two swords are better than one if you fuck it up and have to fight your way out.
Make sure you agree in advance how you’re going to split the profits, or be prepared for an ugly dispute later.
Agree exactly who’s going to do what - lookout, the initial break-in, right down to who carries the loot away and which way you walk - and rehearse it if possible. The last thing you want to be doing is having an argument about responsibilities on the target.
If you plan to murder your co-conspirator, make sure there’s no way to speak to them after death in your setting. The very first thing they will do is betray you.
These snuggling Stargate soldiers would never betray one another at the scene of a crime. Photo by Tom Garnett, from Stargate LARP.
6. The Clinch: Great In The Sack
It eternally mystifies me how otherwise sensible, rational thieves go on the rob with nothing to carry the loot in, and then get caught walking away from the scene of the crime with the swag in their hands. No no no no no!
Make sure you understand the approximate dimensions of your loot (or at least a possible min/max size) before you go in, and make sure you’re prepared to carry it out. In an ideal world you want to be able to run and fight with the loot attached to your person - so an over-the-shoulder slung bag is ideal.
I also know LARPers who have space inside flowing dresses, or pockets sewn to the inside of baggy trousers, for this very purpose.
If you or your co-conspirators use a wheelchair, a blanket over the legs can cover a multitude of loot. Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
My personal favourite for most games is the 50p sandbag. I do however own a particularly fancy pair of custom-made “looting sacks”. They’re light cotton sacks made on the same principle as a dump pouch, which fold up into a neat and discreet little package on my belt when not in use. I can whip them out in about 2 seconds, and they have a full length shoulder strap. The larger one can hold and conceal stolen LARP weapons up to 36″. Most importantly, it doesn’t LOOK like I’m on my way to rob somewhere.
If your loot comes in a container, like a bag or box, steal the whole thing. Sort out the bits you actually need once you’re in a safe location. This is akin to “don’t count your money at the poker table”. Spend as little time on target as possible - every minute with your hands in someone else’s kit is a minute you might get caught. Make sure the player gets their nice box back somehow, after you’ve stolen all the lovely coins out of it.
Voluminous pockets! Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
7. The Clinch: Sleepers
I have stolen from tents which had people sleeping in them before. It’s not the easiest thing in the world and I wouldn’t recommend it for a first-time robber, but it’s certainly doable. With a heavier sleeper, it can be safer than stealing from an empty tent, because people are less likely to walk into a tent with a known sleeping friend in it.
The first thing you need to do is to clearly identify how many people are asleep in the tent and exactly where they are. Stay very quiet and very still while you listen for their breathing pattern. Once you have their breathing patterns in the front of your head, keep listening to those. They are your indicator for whether someone’s waking up.
Sleeping breathing patterns are slow and regular, and most people have a little pause between the “out” and the “in” breath. Snorers are the Gods’ gift to thieves, because nobody snores while they’re awake, and the white noise will help mask the sound of your movements to anyone listening outside.
If a breathing pattern changes, get low and freeze. Most people will go back to sleep after being disturbed, especially if they aren’t fully woken, so your best move is to stay very still and very low (if they do wake up, they’ll scan the tent / room at eye level but usually not floor level). Wait until you hear sleep pattern breathing, then wait another count of 120, before moving again.
If your heart’s racing, wait for it to drop to a reasonable level before you get back to work - you don’t want shaky hands to ruin the job. Slow and steady wins the race.
8. The Clinch: Not Getting Caught
Don’t use light. No matter how secure you think you are. Let your eyes adjust to the darkness and use your night vision instead. If you have unimpaired vision, the only circumstance you should consider using light is when you are in pitch black conditions i.e. in a closed room or underground. In any other circumstance, you’ll have enough ambient light that your eyes will eventually adjust.
Move fucking slowly. Don’t rush. Take your time. Place your feet one by one and gently. Feel your way into rooms. Keep a hand in front of your face so as not to nock your head. Creep.
Listen. Keep your mouth open at all times - it enhances your hearing. Pause and listen for movement every 30 seconds or so.
9. The Clinch: Getting Caught
Know in advance exactly what you're going to do if you get caught. Your options are manifold - run, bluster, fight, counter-accuse - but when someone shouts "Oi! What are you doing in that tent?!", you need to know exactly and immediately what the response is. Miliseconds wasted deciding on a response are miliseconds you could be running or stabbing. Your co-conspirators need to know exactly what to do as well.
Photo from Insurrection LARP, by Oliver Facey.
10. The Clinch: Disguise
Don’t go on the rob in your own kit! Take a couple of quick easy steps to disguise yourself. You want to be in disguise all the way up to the target, and all the way away as well - even if you think you’re not being watched. Someone who happens to see a figure with your silhouette and your walk fleeing the scene of the crime might put two and two together the next day when they hear the Baron’s houseplant has gone missing!
The three things I usually do to change up my figure are to stay silent, to change my silhouette and to alter my body language - particularly my walk. I have quite a distinctive stride and if I need to not be recognised, I change footwear (or discard it entirely if the site’s safe for bare feet).
A headscarf worn turban- or hijab-style is a good way to change your silhouette; the scarf can then fold away around your waist or under your shirt when you return to “normal you” (unlike a hat).
Pick something in a very distinctive colour which you don’t usually wear. Consider a showy accessory like a hat or facepaint. If someone gets a single quick look at you, they’ll only remember the most distinctive thing about you. If that thing is something your character never normally wears, it will throw them off the sense.
“They were wearing a very distinctive hat....” Photo by Tom Garnett, from Odyssey LARP.
11. Exit Strategy: Walk Don’t Run
Exiting the scene of the crime is just as dangerous as the theft itself. You're carrying stolen property and you will be absolutely giddy with success, elation and adrenaline. Your instinct will be to break into a run as you go. FIGHT IT. Walk normally away from the scene of the crime. Don't grin or giggle. Just walk away. Only break into a run if you hear STOP THIEF and if that’s in your action plan!
12. Exit Strategy: Information Management
As soon as you’ve completed your work, the process of information management starts. You need to be absolutely sure that you have a lever of control over every person who knows or suspects you’re guilty of the theft. That means co-conspirators, fences, anyone who sees you with the stolen goods.
You might also consider scapegoating - putting up an alternative culprit for the crime. You might plant evidence at the scene (though this can backfire if you’re unsubtle) or spread a rumour you saw someone sniffing around the tent in question yesterday.
Don’t go overboard and don’t involve yourself too heavily - if you’re showing undue interest in chat about the crime, that raises suspicion itself. If you gained a lot of money, don’t go flashing it about unless you have a bulletproof explanation for its origin.
The best thefts are conducted at the dead of night, with no witnesses, one highly trustworthy co-conspirator, in empty tents; they steal untraceable, generic valuables like money or mana crystals or credit chips; and they are never solved.
But the best thefts aren’t necessarily the most fun thefts. Getting caught can make incredible good game - for you and everyone else. Every Paladin wants a dirty little thief to make an example of. And aren’t you secretly looking forward to the chance to spit defiance at the Militia or vengefully murder your traitorous partner when they finally close the net on you?
Never mind the theft, feel the quality! Photo by Tom Garnett, from Odyssey LARP.
If we sleep in the same bed, I will steal all the blankets. There could be 34 blankets, and you will end up with none, I sincerely apologize if this ever happens
Max Michael Wade was a big talker, someone who boasted to a casual acquaintance about his scheme to rip off a Lamborghini from a San Francisco dealership's showroom floor.
But the 17-year-old teenager's stories were so outlandish, according to former classmates and friends of the San Rafael resident, no one really took him seriously.
Now, however, it looks as if some of the things Wade bragged about might just be true. And, judging by the trove of guns, electronic equipment, disguises and other contraband found in a storage locker he rented in Richmond, there might be other tales of intrigue not yet told.
Wade, who is being prosecuted in Marin County as an adult, is accused of stealing a $200,000 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder owned by celebrity chef Guy Fieri after allegedly rappelling from the roof of a Van Ness Avenue dealership on March 8, 2011, and cutting the locks on the showroom door.
