I haven't played Baldur's Gate in years. I am very much looking forward to returning to it. One thing that always bugged me about Baldur's Gate (and similar RPGs) is the seeming assumption that players will go around rooting through every unlocked (and sometimes locked) chest, dresser, cabinet, etc. and take whatever they find. For some characters this makes perfect sense. However, if someone is role playing a lawful good Paladin it makes almost no sense.

Can the game be played, without major inconvenience, if you don't take everything not bolted down? If you actually role play a good character who doesn't just help himself to the unguarded stuff around him are you hamstringing yourself and making the game significantly more difficult?




Edit to include this hilarious take on the very phenomenon I describe above (video at Kotaku, originally created by College Humor)

Hide your valuables. It's an RPG hero

You don't really need to steal anything from innocent civilians. You should loot dungeons and enemy bases though.

EDIT: it can be worth it to try and *enter* random houses though (just to see if there's someone with an actual name inside :P ), especially in Baldur's Gate (the city).

Don't steal from civilians. It's perfectly lawful in an RPG context to loot dungeons and enemy bases, as already stated. I don't understand why anyone would want to role play as a Lawful Good character to begin with. They are total a-holes. Me, I love to pick pocket everyone that has quest items. To me role playing is fun when you get to do things that would be a very bad idea is real life. From the very first time I played BG, being able to do *anything* was the biggest appeal. It's not like you could knock off just anyone in Final Fantasy, and so on.

Thanks everyone for all the answers. I appreciate the advice and info. I just found it funny that right after booting the game the first thing I did was started looking around the inn in Candlekeep for stuff to take.

Also, to be clear, I am not actually talking about pickpocketing people, or stealing directly from someone but more rummaging through every unguarded chest, dresser, and desk. It just strikes me as very odd. I am not actually planning on playing a Lawfull Good Paladin I just thought that particular character really illustrated the oddness of this particular game mechanic.