Some consider them no good fiends, preying on Runescape’s poor shopkeepers and other citizens. Some consider them heroes, their agile frames and quick fingers as something to be admired. Others understand the brotherhood that is Thievery. Long have Runescape’s citizen’s longed over expensive items, or noticed that the Guard’s coin purse was a little loose. Thievery is the ability to obtain what at first would seem unobtainable. Some have mastered this ability and can pickpocket any NPC, pick any lock, disarm any trap and steal from any stall! Thieving can reward you with heaps of Gold Pieces, stacks of Runes and food to feed your training with! Now, enough blathering and on with the details of the different parts of this skill, which is for members only.

Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing is the most basic and most used method of thieving. To pick an NPC’s pocket, right click on it, and select the “Pickpocket” option.

If you are successful, you will have gained some loot and thieving experience from them. If unsuccessful however, you will be stunned by the NPC for about 4 seconds and have damage done to you (the amount of damage depends on the level of the NPC you are pickpocketing). When stunned, this is showin in game by circling birds over your head and you are unable to move. However this is a god time to eat to heal your hitpoints, or alchemy any drops you picked up.

The higher your thieving level, the less likely you are to be caught by your victims. Below is a table with properties for each thievable NPC.

NPCs to pickpocket
Picture	Name & Locations	Level to pickpocket	Exp.	Damage if stunned	Loot
	Man/Woman Throughout RuneScape.	1	8	1	3gp
	Farmer Farms and wheat fields.	10	14.5	1	9gp
	Warriors Al-Kharid. North of Ardougne.	25	26	2	18gp
	Rogues Wilderness, lvl-54.	32	35.5	2	25gp, 45gp, 8 air runes, lockpick, iron dagger (p), wine.
	Guards Many towns.	40	46.5	2	30gp
	Knights Ardougne.	55	84.5	3	50gp
	Yanille Watchmen Yanille Watchtower.	65	137.5	3	60gp & bread.
	Paladins Ardougne.	70	152	3	80gp & 2 chaos runes.
	Gnomes Gnome stronghold	75	198	1	200-400gp, gold nugget, earth rune (1), swamp toad, king worm.
	Heroes Ardougne.	80	274	4	100-300gp, death runes (2), blood runes (1), wine, cut diamond, gold nugget, fire orb.

Stealing from stalls

You have successfully picked a few men into poverty now, and wish for something a little different. Market stalls are all found in the Ardougne Marketplace, with the exception of the Tea Stall in Varrock and the bread stall in Ogre city (Gu'tanoth). To thieve a stall right click on it, and select the ‘Steal from’ option.

Stealing from stalls can be tricky however. You must watch out for the stall owner, as well as guards, paladins and warriors who all patrol the Ardougne Marketplace, trying to get rid of us honest, hardworking thieves! If a shopkeeper catches you, you will only be yelled at and your attempt will simply be unsuccessful. If a guard, paladin or warrior catches you, you will be unsuccessful but also be attacked. Can you say police brutality?! Different NPC’s seem to patrol different stalls however. (For example, it would be folly for a big ole Paladin to attack low levels thieving the cake stall). When a stall has been stolen from, it takes some time for it to respawn.

When stealing from stalls, position yourself wisely. If you are positioned well, you will lower your chances of being caught. Try to use the stall and other pieces of scenery (crates, boxes, other stalls etc.) for cover.

Picking locks & Disarming traps

Lock picking and Trap disarming is the last area of thieving. Some of Runescape’s more selfish citizens try and lock their belongings away from us, unwilling to share. Being able to pick these locks and disarm any trap (on chests) that might be on them is a great way of getting some loot. You can also pick locks and disarm traps on doors leading to interesting regions of Runescape you might not have been able to visit before. To picklock a door or disarm a chest trap, simply right click and choose the correct option. For some doors, you will need a picklock in your inventory. These are thievable from Rogues or purchasable from other players.

When you disarm traps on chests, you will automatically open them to discover treasure. People often train at chests as well as getting the treasure to make a profit. Below is a table showing the different chests and their details.

And below is a table showing the details of several doors you can picklock to access restricted areas.

Enjoy your thieving and use tactics wisely. If you have to thieve an easier monster which gives less xp per turn, it might be worth it because you get caught less often. There are ofcourse some random events which affect you while training this skill,. Carefully look at the npcs, stalls and chests that you are able thieve from with your level and play about to see which is best for gaining xp, or achieving your target. Have fun!