Skyrim talk:Steal, Thugs hunt player

NPCs hiring thugs while dead

I've often had people hire the thugs after stealing things from them without them taking notice at the time. That part seems rather normal, since even though they didn't report you to the authorities for directly witnessing the crime (and adding to your bounty), they suspected that you were the culprit and hired mercenaries to take care of it.

However, I have also once had Faendal hire thugs many days after I killed him. I only stole things from his house after he was dead. //Vinifera7 19:17, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

This happened to me early in the game and came from a character that was only named "hunter". I was very low level when they attack and there were 4 of the brutes there to punish me for my evil ways. All that over a piece of meat that cost about 1 gold coing. I guess that thaught me. : --50.135.108.162 13:42, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

I got a bounty from picking up something in a cave of vampires, but I didn't realize it until I killed a few enemies and the game said I killed the last witness. A few days later, some thugs that were hired by a Dead Thrall came after me. Chris3145 17:21, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

contracts

is it possible to talk to the person who hired the thugs about the contract? 86.145.91.190 15:15, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

You can talk to them if you already could have otherwise, but there will be no additional dialogue at all. Alphabetface 19:49, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Contract

"[Groups] are all possible originators of the contract." Wouldn't it be better to post any exceptions to the contract, if there even are any, than putting all possible groups? Vely^{►Talk►Email} 21:39, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I was just thinking that... I don't know how to find out who the exceptions would be, though, if there are any. ABCface^◥ 21:50, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Agreed, all NPCs including unnamed generic ones seem able to give the contract, all they need to have is a faction for that location (FactionDragonsreach). The Silencer has spoken^Talk 21:51, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

That doesn't really explain how Skyrim:Moira was able to hire thugs to kill me for stealing from Skyrim:Anise's Cabin. I conject it would probably be more accurate to say that as long as are part of the faction that "own"s the items.144.132.160.214 06:32, 10 November 2012 (GMT)

Fast Travel

I manage to run from the thugs by fast traveling to a far location before they speak to me and become hostile, but maybe was pure luck. The Thugs were still there when I returned (don't despawn). Can anyone confirm this? Araglad 07:50, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

Images

Hello! I read the request for an image. I have one ready, but I'm not sure how to post it! How does one post images? Leo Star Dragon 1 (talk) 03:30, 16 October 2012 (GMT)

See this page for general info on editing which has to do with images, and this section in particular for uploading images. The general info includes details on site standards such as the aspect ratio that is typically used on the wiki. — ABCface^◥ 03:33, 16 October 2012 (GMT)

Contract from NPC never encountered

I got thugs sent after me for stealing from an NPC named "Moira". Upon looking Moira up on UESP, I find that she's a quest-related hagraven. I've never done her quest or been to the location she appears in, but I'm rather curious as to how this happened. Can anyone account for this? — Unsigned comment by 74.232.43.189 (talk) at 20:37 on 11 December 2012

If you steal from any Hagraven, including both named and unnamed ones, "someone" from the Hagraven faction may send the thugs after you. Silence is Golden^{Break the Silence} 20:39, 11 December 2012 (GMT)

Multiple Times from same NPC?

I'm running a little operation that involves the "borrowing" of goods from a specific place multiple times. I know that eventually someone who lives/works there will send thugs after me. What I'd like to know is whether or not the same NPC can send thugs more than once. Does anyone have any experience of this? Daniel Steel-Frost (talk) 16:01, 24 July 2013 (GMT)

The thugs only ever appear once per game. Otherwise Thieves Guild members would get recurring encounters over and over again. --Morrolan (talk) 08:14, 25 August 2013 (GMT)

Only lower levels?

The NPC page says their levels are 6-28, it seem that after the player levels up too much, this quest stops initiating forever, at least in my experiences. Was that obvious? I have not read anything similar in this wiki, or anywhere. Thanks. — Unsigned comment by 190.171.211.64 (talk) at 17:19 on 24 August 2013

Hired Thug bodies are permanent

I got Hired Thugs when I was walking out of Riften and they attacked me, I killed them, and after some time when I came back I saw the bodies are still there.

Also, despite being a thief that steals anything that isn't bolted down I only got them once. I have checked the quest status and says the quest is running, at stage 10... but I have already killed the thugs, and its been MONTHS (as in real life months) of gameplay with the same character without getting new thugs or anything.

Should I try to reset the quest?— Unsigned comment by Kanaru00 (talk • contribs) at 19:33 on 1 February 2015‎

Permanent bodies are a bug/glitch that I know I've heard somewhere. After a brief search, I managed to find this page which has a list of NPCs whose corpses don't disappear, but the thugs aren't there. Maybe it is a bug? I'd recommend searching for "permanent corpses/bodies" or something here on the site or on Google to see if you can find anything else (I would, but I'm supposed to be doing homework--bad student).

As for not getting new thugs, I think that I've maybe gotten thugs sent after me once or twice since the game came out. Of course, I play on Xbox so I don't know anything about the quest stages. The article mentions that the quest stage are either 0, 10, or 200, so if you're stuck in stage 10, you could try saving and then resetting/completing the quest via console (I'm assuming you play on PC, at least that's the way it sounds). •WoahBro^►talk 20:54, 1 February 2015 (GMT)

Well, I used the resequest WIAddItem03 command and the bodies vanished, now its just a matter of time to see if the thugs reappear after stealing a bit. — Unsigned comment by Kanaru00 (talk • contribs) at 12:57 on 3 February 2015 (GMT)

I'm pretty sure it's a bug, because the thugs showed up at Lakeview Manor, and after I killed them, I stepped inside and the bodies were already gone when I came out again. It might depend upon the version of the game you're playing. Valeria (talk) 22:57, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

Anonymous contract

I was in Solitude when the three thugs appeared. After killing them I read the contract they had on them and it was not signed. The signature appeared as "--[...]".

This happened to me in a new game that I started a few days ago and although I have taken some things without the permission of their owners (I am a khajitt after all), I cannot imagine who could have made that contract... Tiancris (talk) 20:17, 12 November 2023 (UTC)

Thugs Don't Want to Come Out and Play

In my experience, the game usually doesn't send hired thugs after a character for a single theft of one item, although the owner of the first item may well be the one who sends hired thugs after the second theft. I have also learned that stealing unowned items, such as anything inside Solitude Catacombs or inside Riften Warehouse, also does not trigger hired thugs.

My Argonian, Hesse, stole the daedra heart in the Hall of the Vigilant. Then he stole the Moon Sugar and Skooma from inside Riften Warehouse. He has now stolen a Refined Malachite from Understone Keep, but I cannot seem to trigger the appearance of hired thugs. Usually, waiting a single hour causes them to arrive, but Hesse waited several days and they never appeared. Does anyone know of anything that will prevent the hired thugs from spawning? Valeria (talk) 21:35, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

After 32 more stolen ingredients and a stolen Amulet of Talos, I still cannot trigger the hired thugs. I'm thinking that either they have completely glitched out and aren't spawning, or they spawned and died without my noticing. I wonder if it has anything to do with my avoiding Aela outside Whiterun and breaking out of her conversation about how I would make a decent shield brother when she finally caught up with me at Darkwater Crossing, and now she and Farkas and Ria are missing, although I found them when I tested entering Whiterun and Jorrvaskr. However, I know where Athis and Torvar are: Lakeview Manor on the hillside between my house and Pinewatch. And they seem uninclined to leave. I just hope the hired thugs don't show up later when I'm solo, nearly dead, out of magicka, overloaded, and out of potions and other consumables. Valeria (talk) 06:58, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

I knew that stealing the daedra heart from the Hall of the Vigilant might not trigger them. I knew that taking stuff from the Riften Warehouse shouldn't trigger them. But the theft of the Refined Malachite from Understone Keep followed by the larcenous spree of thieving in the College of Winterhold where I made off with a bunch of ingredients and an amulet should have been enough, not to mention stealing a couple more ingredients from Anise's Apothecary satchel and I'm not even sure what else. But it was definitely the latest theft when I stole two silver ingots from Solitude Stables, because Horm is the one who hired the thugs, and I haven't stolen anything else from Solitude Stables. The thugs caught me emerging from my house at Lakeview Manor. At least I wasn't exhausted, hadn't used up all my potions and poisons, wasn't healing from a battle, wasn't overloaded, and had summoned a Frost Atronach inside the house right before going outside in case there were bandits out there. Just the same, it appears I can no longer count on the first or second theft to be the one that triggers the hired thugs. As I've said before, the only thing Skyrim is consistent about is being inconsistent. And I hate Bethesda for doing so much to tempt, prod, strong arm, and even outright trick and entrap players into committing crimes while gating the best questlines and the best loot behind criminality, only to punish a player who finally yields and plays as the gratuitously thieving, murdering scumbag that Bethesda clearly demands of their players. It's a scurvy trick. Valeria (talk) 21:28, 5 September 2024 (UTC)