Walking down the road in a completely new, unknown city, observing the sights, you stop in front of a nice-looking house. Beautiful grand oak doors, ruby red slate tiles, stone brick stained by sunlight and mud. It is unusual and cosy, an idyllic country house, perhaps the home of a young mother who has just returned home from the local grocery store.
You approach the door. do you type Shout? Leave the residents alone? Of course not – you just walk in, burst into the kitchen and start rummaging through the shelves. And what did you find? Ah yes, 50 gold coins. Perfect.
One of the most absurd things you can do in an RPG is not defeat a god or summon giant creatures from beyond the sky. It's the ability to waltz into some random person's house and go through all their belongings looking for coins, a few items, or maybe even a piece of armor. Oh, and everyone totally agrees that you're doing it—or, at the very least, has no idea.
Playing Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake this holiday season reminded me how silly, yet fun, it can be to take other people's things. It's completely contrary to the main message of these games – the idea that you, this great hero, who just saved the city of Norvik from a sleeping curse or saved the daughter of a pepper merchant from Baharata, can just go around stealing things from human beings. the house is just weird. And, what's worse, I don't feel guilty! It is played in that RPG power fantasy as an RPG. You can be a hero — but you can also be a bit of a menace, all without consequence.
As with many RPG traditions, it all comes down to Dungeons & Dragons and Ultima. The ability to play with your character's morale and test the waters. Can you get away with taking a little thing from the house or put your hand in NPC pockets? Perhaps! Maybe not.
RPGs developed in Japan tend to be more lenient and allow you to get away with most things. Western RPGs usually let you be a bit trashy, with consequences — but then again, Skyrim lets you do whatever you want in people's houses. But if you're caught stealing in The Witcher III, expect some consequences.
But gosh, if I don't get a little dopamine rush when I find a Mini Medal in a pot in someone's kitchen or grab a copy of Leap Before You Look from the mayor's bookshelf.
Even if stealing from houses is immoral, it's just one of the many ways RPGs reward you for exploring every nook and cranny. While finding secret points on the world map or finding treasure chests hidden behind walls is fun, there's an extra little rush from observing or using your character's skills to find those hidden items inside towns and houses.
Back to Dragon Quest III, at the beginning of the game, I named my character, took a personality test, and got something little trash (Straight Arrow, which, yes, checks). Personalities affect your character's stat growth, so my little Hero, armed with a boomerang, wasn't super strong – mine was Thief hit harder.
By the time I reached Asham, I was struggling a bit. I Hero wasn't doing much damage and my Rogue was starting to decline as well. I needed a little push. Solution? Steal other people's things! Specifically, an inn. Somehow someone left the Tough Guy Tattoo in one of the closets – don't ask me how, but it was there. So, like any heroic rogue, I took it, put it on, and became 'Tough' as a result, which boosted my attack. It made the Pyramid dungeon a bit easier.
More RPGs lean towards physically stealing items from people – Octopath Traveler II lets you steal from children, that is truly immoral (uh, I did it anyway, even if I failed the “check” and lowered my reputation once or twice). Others put treasure chests in houses – are you trying to make me feel better about taking things from people by making it look like treasure?
Most recently, Fantasian Neo Dimension directly acknowledges this trope. Leo can still break into someone's house in classic RPG fashion, he can open treasure chests or examine glowing dots on shelves to grab items. But in many cases, if you talk to the residents, they'll say, “Oh, hey, thanks for saving us. Take what you want!” or something to that effect. Okay, it'll do! I didn't need your permission, but I appreciate it anyway.
Stealing things from other people's houses is very “video game”, but it's an interesting thing. When you are a brave hero, a benevolent character who helps everyone in need, why do you go through people's sock drawers? Is Magic Seed worth it? Will that extra 65GP go to something useful?
Often it doesn't make much of a difference, but the unearthed rewards pile up. Plus, those little sounds as you find secret items are irresistible; soundtracks satisfy our curiosity and invite us to keep finding those little hits.
Simply put, going through people's houses is fun. Even if there are consequences (look, I get why you're calling the guards on me for stealing stuff in The Witcher III), it's the reward that counts – monetary or otherwise.
Remember, kids, don't break into your neighbor's house, break his pots, or rummage through his kitchen cabinets in real life. Unless you recently saved them from some great world-ending evil or something.
What do you think about stealing in RPG games? Are you an honorable hero? Or do you indulge your evil fantasies? Let us know in the comments.
