Pickpocketing is very useful early in the game, because you can pick up potions, scrolls, books and low-level armor that you would have to pay for otherwise. You can't make a major living off of it, though.
It's not nearly as spectacular as, say, Arcanum, where you could really get rich pickpocketing. [img]smile.gif[/img]
You do need to put points into it to improve your skill to the point where you're not failing and ticking off the NPC's. In earlier games I had a Bard doing the pickpocket and locks/traps stuff. This game I still have a Bard (who concentrated on music early on) and a Rogue who does the PP and lock/traps stuff. This allowed me to put more points into music for the Bard and have the thief concentrate on the other stuff - both of their most important skills went up faster.
::shrug:: It can work either way. But you do have to put the points into the PP skill (I didn't have a lot of success until I got up into the 50's).