STAR TREK 2d20
  1. #1

    How do you pick pocket when nobody had pockets?

    So my assumption is that the average peasant back in middle ages would not have had pockets, coins I guess would be held in bags? It seems that stealing a coin bag would be a lot harder then picking a pocket.

  2. #2
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    Smack head with hammer, liberate coinage.
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  3. #3
    While violent mugging is an option regardless, folks did have personal bags, pouches, and the like that could be liberated.

    https://ruthjohnston.com/AllThingsMedieval/?p=1228
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  4. #4
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    It has the same meaning as cutpurse. Some game systems call it legerdemain or sleight of hand, but it's still basically used for the same purpose.
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  5. #5
    The small bag tied to the belt is a purse and is not the feminine fashion item we are now familiar with. A cutpurse would literally cut the bottom of this purse to allow coins to fall out. Small knives and razors were commonly used. Less commonly, a ring with a small blade facing the palm.

  6. #6
    The phrasing in D&D5E of Slight of Hands over the old Pickpockets is better. They did a great job of phrasing things to mean what they want in 5E.
    The old AD&D phrasing (if that is where you got it from) is a bit off but it does imply more than just pockets. "Picking pockets (or folds of a garment or a girdle) also includes such activities as pilfering and filching small items. It is done by light touch and sleight of hand."

    This is the time for a small amount of roleplaying. The player needs to do a little more than roll dice, have them choose how they go about it. As mentioned by others a small pouch (or leather dice bag many players use) could be lifted or cut open. They could also shake a person's hand and try for a ring or bracelet. Bump into them in a crowd and reach into a doublet to snag a pouch/purse. Reach into a flap of a backpack. Like in the Lord of the Rings, Pippin replacing the Palantir with a stone while Gandalf slept.

    Also in 5E calling it Sleight of Hand could allow you to do some non-magic, magic trick to entertain the kids or make some coin on a street corner while others pick the pockets of the crowd.
    Just some thoughts.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by alloowishus View Post
    So my assumption is that the average peasant back in middle ages would not have had pockets, coins I guess would be held in bags? It seems that stealing a coin bag would be a lot harder then picking a pocket.
    How do you throw a fireball or heal said fireball when the average peasant didn't have those abilities?



    (btw, they did have pouches)
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  8. #8
    How do you throw a fireball or heal said fireball when the average peasant didn't have those abilities?
    (btw, they did have pouches)
    That's just crazy talk, next you will tell me the world isn't flat.
    Plus the peasants are revolting.

  9. #9
    Just pretend they do. Maybe just used as a figure of speech so us moderns get the gist of what the game maker was trying to convey.

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