Skyrim talk:Crime

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Archive 2: Mar. 2012 - Nov. 2012

Master Criminal Achievement

Okay, I have 1000+ bounty in each of the holds, also with the Orcs. No achievement. Am I missing something? Shadowgm 23:16, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

This has been marked as a question that needs to be answered.

The exact achievement description says "Bounty of 1000 gold in all nine holds," so maybe more than 1,000 screwed it up? Also, be sure it's in all nine holds. An easy way to check is go to the "Crime" section of the pause menu and see if it lists 1,000 bounty in all nine holds. --RandomPlayer268 08:58, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

You should just double-check that the game has registered your crimes in each hold. In order to do so, go into your main menu and to the general statistics. Then look at the Crime section, and see if all nine holds come up with a bounty of 1000 or more. I remember when I was aiming for this achievement, some of my murder crimes went unseen and therefore didn't give me a respective bounty because of it. Helenaannevalentine 22:55, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Another question related to this achievement is whether it's necessary to have 1000 bounty in all 9 holds simultaneously, or whether you can get them one at a time and clear them before moving on to the next. This bears some research. (Mind you I always thought this achievement was poorly named. I'd call having 1000 bounty in every hold the "Incompetent Criminal Achievement". Master criminals don't get caught...) TheRealLurlock (talk) 14:13, 14 December 2012 (GMT)

You have to have them all simultaneously. You do not have to have a bounty with the Orcs. --Morrolan (talk) 21:45, 4 March 2013 (GMT)

Attacking NPCs, still aggressive after reload

PC Mods (Nexus Mod Manager): Unofficial Skyrim & Dawnguard patches, ApachiiSkyHair, Automatic Variants, Better Skeever, CBBE, PureWaters, Enhanced Blood Textures, Enhanced Light and FX, Flame and Frost Atronach Textures for AV, Vanilla Mannequin Fix

I decided to be goofy while Jarl Balgruuf was giving his speech after fending off the Stormcloaks from Whiterun. I quicksaved, then after that I shot in him the face about 20 times. Deciding to reload after I was done messing around, everyone in the Jarl's court seems to want me dead, despite having no bounty, and technically haven't done anything. Running off out of aggressive range and coming back didn't fix it either =/. Anyone know how to fix this bug, or know if it's an issue with one of my mods (Most of which are visual mods)?

VictusBcb (talk) 09:50, 29 December 2012 (GMT)

Try yielding, if you haven't already (by taking out then sheathing your weapon). I have heard that quicksaving and quickloading don't always make a perfect save, so this may be the reason why they are attacking you (the remaining data is taken from your currently active save). LoftedAphid86_⚕ 09:54, 29 December 2012 (GMT)

Yielding hasn't fixed it for me either I'm afraid. I guess I done goofed by quicksaving rather than doing an actual save.

VictusBcb (talk) 10:44, 29 December 2012 (GMT)

Try using 'disable' followed by 'enable' via the console on each of the people attacking you. This should reset their aggression (use tgm or tim to prevent you from dying while doing this. Remember to toggle it off again afterwards). LoftedAphid86_⚕ 10:50, 29 December 2012 (GMT)

I had hopes for that one, but alas, they're still all angry as a hornet's nest. I think I'm just going to give up on this save. I'm not terribly far into the game I suppose. *sigh*

VictusBcb (talk) 13:13, 29 December 2012 (GMT)

Use 'stopcombat' in the console (while you have them selected (click on them)) to stop them fighting you. Do this for each person attacking you. LoftedAphid86_⚕ 13:43, 29 December 2012 (GMT)

Reverse pickpocketing onto hostile NPCs to clear stolen flag

I have noticed that if you reverse pickpocket items onto hostile NPCS (by sneaking up on them without being detected) and then kill them, the items will no longer have the stolen flag. If some other people can confirm this, I think it should be added to the page, as it is a very easy way, assuming you have a good enough sneak skill, to clear the flag without risking a bounty or spending gold. — Unsigned comment by 67.5.239.152 (talk) at 01:19 on 1 January 2013

Civil War ruined crime system

After I conquered Windhelm for the Imperials and in every hold in which the guard are replaced with Imperials are only bugs. I can attack or kill the "guards" and nothing happen. They don´t atteck me or talk to me when I have bounty. They don´t even do anything when i´m killing homeless ... For my outlaw assassins is this just crap. Sorry for my bad english please help me :S --SRX2 (talk) 10:44, 16 February 2013 (GMT)

The game is designed to clear your bounty and crime record during the Civil War quests, whenever your side takes a hold previously controlled by the other. I'm not sure why the guards ignore any additional crimes you commit. I'd say try waiting a bit, and making sure you've traveled out and back into an area after such a change. Please let us know if you figure anything out. If anyone else experiences this kind of problem, please report here, or add a bug to the article. --JR (talk) 18:05, 26 February 2013 (GMT)

Dragonborn Bug

It seems with Dragonborn installed, any bounty you have in Raven Rock does not show up on your crime page. Schiffy (talk) 16:12, 18 February 2013 (GMT)

Same issue on Xbox. --109.148.230.74 21:51, 21 February 2013 (GMT)

1000 bounty and guards say "Wait! I know you."

They just say those for words, they don't try to arrest.It was the reach, my murder count is still 0 so I' guessing somebody saw me transforming into a werewolf when I went to clear out the mine of Silver-Blood mercinaries in Karthwasten. I then was out of the reach for quite a while, doing other quests a good lot of in game days must have passed. I didn't even know I had a bounty i the Reach until I fast travelled into Markarth to do the Forsworn Conspiracy and a guard said, "Wait! I know you." I checked and there was a 1000 bounty. Obviously because t was the Reach after I finished that mission and escaped with Madanach all outstanding Reach crimes were cleared. I find it strange that no guard came to try to arrest me, I could go up and speak to them, they would just say "Wait! I know you." and walk away, I didn't get the, "Your Making a mistake." dialogue. I thought if you have a high bounty they will attempt to arrest you on sight. Does staying out of a hold for a certain ammount of time make the guards docile to a high bounty until you commit a crime in that hold again? — Unsigned comment by Festuskreux (talk • contribs) at 11:36 on 24 February 2013‎

I have never seen that behaviour. Do you think you were away for over 30 ingame days? Also, are you playing with any mods that might possibly affect the game? Normally a 1000 bounty will cause them to arrest you on sight, you usually get the Wait! I know you. dialogue when your bounty is down around 40. --Morrolan (talk) 23:03, 4 March 2013 (GMT)

I had this exact same problem! I tracked it down to the bug when during 'agent of dibella', where the 'mother' would refuse to accept your surrender even if you agree to meet the mother. Dawn (talk) 17:51, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Bug or a feature?

Civil war ended in "my" Skyrim and I approached a Stormcloaks camp (I sided with Empire). First I attacked them on sight and after this nearby guard attacked me on sight. In next approach I let Stormcloak attack me (just stood close to them and did nothing until they attacked me) and still guard is attacking me on sight. — Unsigned comment by 193.24.245.10 (talk) at 21:12 on 24 February 2013

If you don't have a bounty, that's not a real guard. See my comment down at the bottom of the page. Attacking soldiers at military camps is never a crime (although stealing their horses often is, what a wacky system.) --Morrolan (talk) 23:00, 4 March 2013 (GMT)

Buckets on Heads?

In the notes section on the article: "If an item, such as a kettle or basket, is covering an NPC's head, a bounty will not be given when it would be when stealing an item." Does this make any sense to others? I'm not really able to. Perhaps it's not necessary? --JR (talk) 18:06, 26 February 2013 (GMT)

Yeah, the way it's formulated is pretty weird. Putting a basket, bucket, kettle, etc... on someone's head blocks their line of sight, meaning that you can steal things right under their nose without them seeing anything. It's been discovered very early, likely the very day the game was released, and neither Official nor Unofficial patches have done anything against it. I guess it maybe shouldn't be mentioned here though, since it's more or less an exploit. Not a big one, but still. Elakyn (talk) 19:13, 26 February 2013 (GMT)

Random hostile guard in Markarth

So I was wandering into Markarth for what I believe was the first time after having completed "Nobody Escapes Cidhna Mine" (at least a few in-game weeks afterward, however) and decided to walk up to the city itself rather than fast traveling. Around the Salvius Farm region (this was approximately 9:00 PM ingame), a random Markarth guard attacked me. No dialogue, no bounty, just this guy attacking me. I tried to yield, but he kept hitting me, so I pulled out my bow and attacked him. When I received no bounty, I killed him and walked into Markarth with no complaint from any of the other guards. Any ideas why this might have happened?69.132.179.20 00:04, 27 February 2013 (GMT)

He was hostile for some reason. Probably he was a glitched NPC from The Forsworn Conspiracy who was hostile to you, and not a real guard, just an NPC that looks like one. Defending yourself against hostile NPCs that attack without cause, as opposed to guards that attack you when you resist arrest, is not a crime.

You can tell the difference between real guards and hostile NPCs that look like guards because real guards will try to arrest you and only turn hostile when you resist arrest. --Morrolan (talk) 22:58, 4 March 2013 (GMT)

Maximum prison sentence

It appears to be seven days. Seven days of prison time clears the progress on every skill you have. I've tried it with a 3500 bounty, and I still only got 7 days. Is that the cap? --Morrolan (talk) 03:40, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

That seems extremely low for a 3500 bounty. Did you kill 3 people or did you just transform? I'll go on a rampage this afternoon to test this, but it's odd. Elakyn (talk) 10:48, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Seven days clears progress on all skills. So it might be the cap. It seems low to me as well. The 3500 came from getting the 1500 from To Kill an Empire, then killed a couple guards resisting arrest when I came back to kill Maro and the real Emperor. --Morrolan (talk) 17:20, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Okay I tried with both a new character and a maxed-out one. The first had a 9000+ bounty, 9 murders and countless assaults: 7 days and skill progress cleared. I intended to train with Faendal and aim for a higher bounty but my progression was halted when Faendal killed Camilla and turned against me; in the end it doesn't matter since the cap seems to be 7 days. For the second I decided to move from Whiterun to the Rift. With a bounty of 46k+ and a body count of 45, I surrendered and went to jail only to get out (you guessed it) 7 days later. Punishment and jail time in Oblivion were already lax, but this is just ridiculous. Elakyn (talk) 17:46, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

I think a 46K bounty is definitely sufficient to conclude this is the cap. I've updated the main page to show this. Now it would be good to test and see what the minimum bounty is needed in order to get 7 days. --Morrolan (talk) 19:52, 5 March 2013 (GMT)

Alright, I made some more tests to see the relation between bounty and jail time, and to my surprise they actually took the same model as for Oblivion, that is: 1-199 = 1 day; 200-299 = 2 days; 300-399 = 3 days, etc... With the limit being set at 700 for 7 days. Well, that's not what I'd call realistic but here we are. Elakyn (talk) 15:21, 6 March 2013 (GMT)

I've always said that Elder Scrolls games are the triumph of logic over realism. Well here's another example. :) --Morrolan (talk) 21:26, 6 March 2013 (GMT)

Arrested for crimes in other holds

I've just found this bug/glitch/whatever. Resisting the arrest in Solitude, I killed all the guards (literally), wich made my chars bouty over 120,000 septims. So I decided to flee and find a bouty collector (don't ask me why I didn't surrender, I have no idea myself). When I reched Rorikstead some guards approached (I think I had about 50-100 boubty in Whiterun hold), and I just payed them by the guild prices. They walk away with the money, and the next moment turn hostile and start attacking the character with no option to surrender. I wonder if it's this great bounty in other hold? As in Solitude I coudn't pay it as well, guards didn't react on attempts of surrending. Could it be that if the player's bounty is too high, the guards will attack you on sight wherever you are?

Meanwhile in Whiterun... I just attack one of the guards, then surrender and go to jail just for an assault. When I go out of the jail, the moment I approach any guard (or a person who's marked as a guard, as the Jarl, some Companions and the Jarl's houscarl attack the character as well) he speaks the random line and the next moment again turns hostile, though my character doesn't have a bounty in this hold, only that big one, in Solitude. --Mr.Killjoy (talk) 20:02, 16 March 2013 (GMT)

One of the game loading screens seems to imply that if your bounty gets too high, then you can't surrender. 120K is certainly enormous, it's far more than I've ever seen. Can you try returning to Haafingar and see if you are allowed to surrender there? If you can, either Solitude or Dragon Bridge should do the trick. Try rapidly sheathing and unsheathing your weapons if they don't try to arrest you at first, see if that works. My suspicion is that you've gotten the guards faction stuck on hostile, and the reason why the non-Haafingar guards are attacking you is because of a faction bug. --Morrolan (talk) 22:30, 16 March 2013 (GMT)

I just kept forgetting I had this big bounty in Haafingar, and went there by TG radiant quests, every time destroying the whole guard sqad. That's why it was that big. Nothing huge about that.

Well, I was more concerned about the fact guards of other holds attacked my character, to hell with Haafingar, big bounty isn't quite a problem. The problem is that (being chased in other holds) shouldn't be happening according to game manual, but it did. The Pale, Whiterun, Reach - every guard of these holds kept attacking the character, though no crimes were committed there (and not only guards, some other NPCs turned hostile). When I managed to pay the fee, this ended. I wonder if it's a bug or in-game thing. --Mr.Killjoy (talk) 00:34, 17 March 2013 (GMT)

It sounds like a bug to me. I'll see if I can replicate it using one of my super-characters at some point, go on a rampage and rack up a ridiculous bounty somewhere and see if it makes guards in other holds hostile. My best guess at this point is that it has something to do with factions. I'm surprised you paid it off; as was recently documented on this page, just surrendering and going to jail would only net you 7 days of jail time. --Morrolan (talk) 02:23, 17 March 2013 (GMT)

I just use some spell mods, so I could pacify the guard. Cheater, eh. I have no idea about the factions, but I remember that Balgruuf, Jaree-Ra and Faendal attacked my character on sight besides guards and Companions.--Mr.Killjoy (talk) 22:34, 19 March 2013 (GMT)

I don't think any of those three are in guard factions, although jarls are especially weird. Was Balgruuf still jarl of Whiterun? --Morrolan (talk) 00:22, 20 March 2013 (GMT)

I made a lot of tests about this recently and I can say that it's not just about factions, it's also about Aggressiveness. Any NPC with an Aggression level of 1 or more will attack you on sight when you have a high bounty or assault/kill someone in front of them. Jarls and other government members are nearly all Unaggressive but their factions probably include something about crimes, because they're almost always hostile to players with a high bounty. Elakyn (talk) 10:49, 20 March 2013 (GMT)

Morrolan, yes he was still a yarl. But of a hold nio crimes were committed. Elakyn, so you say it's normal that aggressive/governmental faction members attack the player if he has high bounty in other holds? That's not a bug? --Mr.Killjoy (talk) 13:44, 22 March 2013 (GMT)

Well one of the most repeated things on UESP is that mods can mess with the game, so if you still have a save of that 120k bounty, try disabling all mods and going to another city again. Fennec--Fox (talk) 06:38, 24 March 2013 (GMT)

If it's repeatable and can be tested then it might be considered an undocumented feature. At least that way we can document it if there's a threshold huge bounty that makes NPCs in general hostile. If it just happens randomly sometimes then it's a bug. --Morrolan (talk) 00:44, 25 March 2013 (GMT)