Morrowind:Crime

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Contents 1 Crime 1.1 Trespassing 1.2 Theft 1.3 Pickpocketing 1.4 Assault 1.5 Murder 2 Illegal Goods 2.1 Stolen Items 2.2 Contraband 3 Punishment 3.1 Bounty 3.2 Jail 3.3 Resisting Arrest 4 Getting Your Stolen Goods Back 4.1 Buckmoth Legion Fort 4.2 Hawkmoth Legion Garrison 4.3 Moonmoth Legion Fort 4.4 Fort Pelagiad 4.5 Seyda Neen 4.6 Wolverine Hall

Like most places, Vvardenfell has laws. Your character can break them for both fun and profit (and sometimes because quests require it), but it would be wise first to know the potential consequences. Ignorance is not an excuse.

[edit] Crime

If you speak with people on the topic of a little advice for long enough, you will begin to piece together what constitutes a crime in Morrowind, and it's fairly straightforward. Keep in mind that any illegal act is really only a potential crime, as a crime that goes undetected or unreported has no direct impact on your character. The moment an NPC reports your misdeeds, however, you will incur a Bounty and will be subject to arrest by Guards, as described in the Punishment section.

[edit] Trespassing

Bounty: 5 gold

The Morrowind concept of trespassing is more permissive than it is in the real world, and in Oblivion. It is only a crime to unlock, or earnestly attempt to unlock, a locked door or container by any method. An attempt that could not possibly succeed does not count as "earnest" and will be ignored. Entering an area, even if the door was originally locked, is not a crime.

[edit] Theft

Bounty: value of item

Every item in the world may or may not have a specific owner. An item's owner is not explicitly revealed by the game, but it can usually be guessed with a little common sense: Items in a store belong to the shopkeeper, items in a home belong to the occupant, and so forth. The act of picking up or removing from an inanimate container an item that belongs to someone else is a crime. Books and other reading materials are an exception, as they can be picked up and read freely as long as you do not choose to "Take" them.

[edit] Pickpocketing

Bounty: 25 gold

If you are in Sneak mode when you "activate" an NPC, you will attempt to pick their pockets rather than talk to them. Each item picked up from their inventory is potentially a separate crime. However, only the victim will report a pickpocketing, and they will only notice the attempt that failed. Any items you had previously succeeded in lifting will remain yours for the moment, but they are still owned by the victim, so beware of an impending arrest.

[edit] Assault

Bounty: 40 gold

Initiating an attack on an NPC is a crime. Defending yourself is not. See Disposition for advice on getting the other guy to swing first, and see the NPCs page for general information about combat with NPCs.

[edit] Murder

Bounty: 1,000 gold

Killing in self-defense is not a crime, but killing an NPC that you assaulted is a very serious one, separate from the assault. The "good" news is that once they are dead, they no longer own their inventory, so you can loot their corpse without making it any harder on yourself.

[edit] Illegal Goods

Through theft and picking pockets, you can end up with items that belong to other people. There are other items that you are not supposed to possess under any circumstances, even if they don't belong to anyone.

[edit] Stolen Items

Morrowind always knows who owns an item and never forgets. You, on the other hand, have to guess at the owners and rely on your own memory to remember whom you stole what from. Ownership comes into play when you pay off your Bounty to a guard or go to jail, at which time all items that belong to someone else and Contraband are removed from your inventory.

It comes into play even more strongly when you barter with merchants. If you are careless enough to attempt to sell to someone an item that they own, they will immediately report your crime, which is treated as "retroactive theft". Note that this is rather different from Oblivion, in which most merchants will simply pretend your stolen items don't exist, regardless of whom they were stolen from, thus making "fences" necessary.

An unusual quirk of this rule is that it applies to all items of the type that you stole, even if you get rid of the stolen ones and acquire others legally. Thus if you steal diamonds from Nalcarya of White Haven during a certain quest for the Thieves Guild, any diamond you acquire at any point for the rest of the game is marked as being stolen from Nalcarya. This is true even if you dispose of any extra diamonds you didn't give to Habasi, by selling, dropping, alchemy, etc. You simply may not sell diamonds to Nalcarya ever again, or she will accuse you of theft.

[edit] Contraband

There are two substances banned by Morrowind provincial law: Moon Sugar and the drug refined from it, Skooma. The Barter command of most merchants will not work as long as either of these items is in your inventory. However, the possession is not technically a crime, as no one will ever report it. Also, merchants don't mind if you just set the stuff down on their floor while you do business. Some merchants though, only if they are Khajiit or Creatures, will Barter with these substances. See this page for a complete list of them.

[edit] Punishment

Often your character can commit crimes with no direct repercussions, if they are careful to remain unobserved. If an NPC spots you, however, they will report your crime and raise an alarm. Most victims will also attack you. An alarm will often bring other characters within earshot running to attack you, and it will almost always bring any Guards within earshot running to arrest you. The moment the crime is reported, you will incur a Bounty, whether a guard responds or not. If one does respond and catches up to you, you will be given the options of paying your Bounty, going to jail, or resisting arrest.

[edit] Bounty

Your total Bounty is an amount of gold determined by the severity of all your crimes that have been reported, as listed above. You can view your Bounty on the Stats menu at any time. If you have any amount of Bounty, you will have to answer for your crimes any time you speak to a guard, even if you managed to avoid arrest when they were committed. If your Bounty is more than 1,000, guards will arrest you on sight. If it's more than 5,000, they will attack you on sight. A significant Bounty can also affect other NPCs' dispositions toward you.

When an alerted guard collars you, you can opt to pay off your full Bounty. It resets to zero, and you are free to go, but not before all stolen items and contraband are removed from your inventory. If you "turn yourself in" by speaking to a guard when there is no alarm, the option works just the same except that your Bounty is paid off at a 10% discount. You can also remove your bounty at half price if you are a member of the Thieves Guild. In each guild 'house', there is a single Thieves Guild member who can 'deal with' your bounty through the dialog topic price on your head. These are Phane Rielle in Balmora, Tongue-Toad in Ald'ruhn, Rissinia in Sadrith Mora, and Crazy-Legs Arantamo in Vivec. Finally, there are a few special ways you can remove your bounty:

• When you locate the Master of Security for Sugar-Lips Habasi.
• After completing the Larrius Varro Tells a Little Story quest upon talking to Larrius Varro and receiving your reward.
• After completing the Darts of Judgement for Aengoth the Jeweler at The Rat in the Pot in Ald'ruhn.
• After getting Felen's Ebony Staff for Big Helende at the Dirty Muriel's Cornerclub in Sadrith Mora.
• After you take care of some Camonna Tong thugs for your special friend, Ahnassi.

[edit] Jail

If you can't or won't give up the cash, you can pay your debt to society with hard time instead. Again all your stolen items are confiscated, and a length of game time will pass. Your term is equal to 1 day for each 100 gold of your Bounty (with a minimum of 1 day). When it is up, you will be released with no bounty. As a result of inactivity during incarceration, you will lose one skill point from a randomly chosen skill every day that you are imprisoned (When Security or Sneak are chosen, the skill actually goes up one level instead).

[edit] Resisting Arrest

If you resist arrest, you get to keep all your gold and all your items, but the guard will attack you. Unlike Oblivion, you have no way to yield once this happens. You can only try to take them down or outrun them. Note that there is an oversight at this point: Killing a guard while resisting arrest is not considered murder. With high Disposition, there are some instance where a Guard will walk off after taking the first swing. This is likely due to a bug in the script.

[edit] Getting Your Stolen Goods Back

All stolen goods that have been confiscated from you by a guard can be found at the Imperial Legion Fort that the guard who caught you was employed by. A simple method of finding out exactly which fort your goods went to is to go to jail for a petty crime. This makes time pass in game and you decrease a small amount in a random skill, so be warned. Confiscated items will be in a chest marked "Evidence" with a level 50 lock on it. This lock will be relocked every time you get items confiscated by a guard (if it has been unlocked by you). As if that wasn't enough, there is someone nearby to catch you if you try to break into the chest. Some of them can be taunted into attacking and killed but some have something interesting enough about them to need them alive. Following is a list of the forts, where to find the chests, and any pertinent information.

[edit] Buckmoth Legion Fort

The Buckmoth evidence chest is found at Buckmoth Legion Fort, due south of Ald'ruhn, in the Prison (southeastern tower). It's being guarded by a respawning guard and the Guard Captain. They can be Commanded to leave with you, or simply killed. The Buckmoth Prison Cell Key is on the bench nearest the trapdoor. If you can stealthily grab it, the guards can be locked up in a prison cell where they will remain indefinitely so you don't have to always kill the spawned guard.

[edit] Hawkmoth Legion Garrison

The Hawkmoth evidence chest is found in the Hawkmoth Legion Garrison building at Ebonheart. It's all the way downstairs, being guarded by Sirollus Saccus. Sirollus has the distinction of being the master trainer of the Armorer skill, despite the fact that he doesn't offer to train due to an oversight (see Master Trainers). Now before you go thinking you can kill him off since he doesn't even offer his masterful training, he also sells/restocks the only Secret Grandmaster's level Armorer's Hammer in the game, Sirollus Saccus' Hammer. If you feel no need for this, you can just kill him. Otherwise, a Command Humanoid spell can get him to follow you somewhere he can't see you. You could even lock him up in one of the nearby prison cells! There's also a couple people who walk around, sometimes into the area with the chest. Be aware of them.

[edit] Moonmoth Legion Fort

The Moonmoth evidence chest can be found in the Prison Towers. There are several doors marked as such, but the particular room in question doesn't connect to the others. It can only be accessed from within the Interior building in the room downstairs with Larrius Varro, down another set of stairs behind a door. The chest is being guarded by Solea Nuccusius, an unimportant woman who isn't involved in any quests. She can be taunted into attacking you to get her out of the way so the chest can be looted at will. An alternative solution that doesn't involve killing anyone is to open one of the cells to the right of the chest and position yourself so you can see the chest but not the guard (and she can't see you). From inside the cell you can lockpick and loot the chest completely undetected by using a Telekinesis spell or potion.

[edit] Fort Pelagiad

The Pelagiad evidence chest is in the South Tower. The easiest way to find the chest is to enter the main building from the front and then go down the tower stairs to the south. There's a level 95 locked door there. If you can't unlock this door, go into the eastern most door marked "South Tower" in the main building. Follow the stairs down going in the first room on your right. At the back of this room is a cell door leading to a hallway with the chest. There's no one in this particular section, but if you leave the door open one of the guards is bound to come walking in so close the door. You could always just kill them too.

[edit] Seyda Neen

The evidence chest used by the Seyda Neen guards is in the Census and Excise Office. It's in the same room as Socucius Ergalla, right behind Ganciele Douar.

[edit] Wolverine Hall

The easiest way to find the Wolverine Hall evidence chest is to take the Guild Guide to Sadrith Mora. Exit and follow the stairs down to the Fighters Guild. The chest is in a back room. There's quite a few people in here but thankfully the chest is somewhat hidden. Someone may come back there and catch you, so be careful. Saving before trying anything is always a good idea.