Being stolen from

[Strider]

Can the creatures that attempt to steal something from you (like the lake nymphs) take a quest item or something else crucial to completing the game? Also when the run up and say "I'll take what I want" does that mean they took something or it have to actually say something was took?

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[Gilgamesh]

The first time I met a lake nymph she stole the letter I was delivering to Ashad'Na while I was gawking at her, this wasn't a crucial item, but was a quest. The scrolling screen at the bottom will tell you if something was taken or attempted to be taken.

You'll see a dialogue, like "Gwynn attempts to steal. Gwynn whiffs!" just like when you try to steal from someone else.

There has been rampant speculation recently, especially on the subject of essential lost keys, etc., that they were stolen by some creature who ran off, and now the only option is to reload or find & kill the thief.

In all my time with this game, I've never had anything stolen from me -- I see those dialogues, but it's always "whiffs" or "gets nothing". I must kill the annoying creatures before they get anything.

My completely wild-guess and uneducated opinion on the matter? The game goes to extremes to make certain that quest items aren't permenantly lost; you drop one, it stays there; you never get one, it stays there. I can't believe that such an obvious error would've gotten past the beta testers (although I would've sworn about three months ago that, either 1: there *were* no beta testers, or 2: WE, the purchasing public, were to be the beta testers), but I suppose it is possible.

Randomly spawned creatures disappear when they're not killed; one can only assume that, were a quest item to be stolen, it too would disappear.

[carg]

Yes, creatures can steal puzzle items, but they drop them again after being killed. If you leave it there and walk away it will disappear. So be careful and check the ground with spirit eye after such an encounter. No, that was not very well thought out or tested, although you might argue it makes the game more realistic.
"I'll take what I want" is just a random call; not triggered by stealing.

[Sazerac]

Actually, carg, if the item was an essential "Main Quest" item, it won't disappear. One of the raiders around Dragonspire stole the Book of the Serpent from one of my characters, and dropped it when I killed him. I said, "No prob" and left the book sitting there, figuring it would disappear (I no longer needed it.) After finishing Dragon Spire much later, I came across this book sitting in the wilderness. Thinking it was a great find, I picked it up...Well, what do you know, "Book of the Serpent"! Keys and other such items required to complete the Main Quest dungeons are permanent, although I think you can lose them if you drop them in Town. Side quest items, however, do vanish.

-Saz