UESP Forums

There's a really easy way to commit crimes in this game and get away with them. You won't believe how easy it is:

- Find a bucket or pot
- Manipulate it in the air
- Put it over the NPC's head

The NPC that you do this to will not see you commit any crime.

I can't believe this actually works

Check out the video called 'How to steal in Skyrim' by Vojteek on YouTube to see this in action. A quick browse through the related videos will also uncover a second video by the same user showing a person getting away with murder using the bucket trick, that has a swear word in the title so I can't say it here.

It's even been reported as news on

What do you think of this mechanic, a good addition or a cheap glitch?

Best. Mechanic. Ever.

Haha - how hilarious. Ain't gonna use it though

I love it, it's ridiculous enough that I won't do it very often, but it's nice to know if I absolutely have to steal something in plain sight with witnesses around, I can accomplish it

Now people will have like 5 buckets in their inventory now.

That is so awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt5aUdijAN8

I don't see myself exploiting this. Still, this is hilarious!

This is the absolutely most hilarious thing I've ever heard. Someone on the development team actually thought of this!

Yup, I'm gonna be doing this.

Excuse me sir, please don your new hat. It's in celebration of the Dragonborn's b-day.

Tremendous. Shows that NPCs genuinely have a line of sight and not some psychic way of knowing that you're stealing.

I like how moving objects don't have people vying for blood anymore. I like it. 8D

Now I can actually put a sword back in its place should I knock it off the shelf.

Wait for it. People are going to be naming their characters Bucket Head and Pot Head.

Sorry. I just can't see WHAT all the fuss is about concerning glitches. Just put a bucket over your head while playing and you won't see 'em.

This reminds me of a joke: Did you know it only ever takes TWO nicotine patches to stop smoking? You stick one over each eye so you can't find your cigarettes!

It's for reasons like these that, years ago, I decided to NEVER buy a game immediately on release. I wait until it's been patched to close the game-breaking holes in it (some so big you could orbit a planet through 'em). Sometimes this takes until the game is on budget, in the bargain bin, which suits my wallet.

Sorry if I'm unable to understand any objections to this post. I'm putting a bucket over my head.

Bethesda did an amazing job coding this, except for the fact that npcs won't take buckets off their heads.

I can't belive this, epic lol, epic!

No need for stealth. You can commit murder as noisily as you like and they'll be dumbly oblivious to your actions.

It's SO obvious they obviously forgot to check for the obvious obviousness. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the VERY sort of thing game testers are highly paid for? To USE their lateral thinking talents to TRY to break the game in ways the programmers haven't thought of, so exploits which render the game mechanics a joke can be plugged? Aren't programmers even MORE highly paid to logically think these things through before they even get as FAR as the game testers, to avoid wasting money by unnecessarily spinning the develop-test-debug merry-go-round another full circle?

I think this, and other bugs/glitches, encapsulates the very "get it out the door and let the players act as unpaid beta testers" mentality that pervades the gaming industry. If movie producers premiere their movies full of obvious bloopers, they soon find a cinema full of jeering booing people. There have been classic examples, like the Roman Soldier wearing a wristwatch, the plane flying overhead, the white van wending its way down a hill in the background, and even the entire film crew reflected in shop windows.

To my mind, Bethesda will NEVER live this down. I can see bucket sales going sky high worldwide as people send them to Maryland as party hats for Bethesda staff to wear while they're working. I can see Bethesda's next appearance at E3 being greeting by an audience of 1000's wearing buckets. I can see "The Bucket Award" being invented for the silliest obvious simplistic exploit that breaks a game. Todd Howard can have the very first solid platinum one.

I strongly suspected Skyrim would be just as buggy and glitchy as Morrowind and Oblivion were on release, which is why I didn't buy into the pre-release hype and why I'm instead waiting until it stabilises. I learned my lesson from 9 years of Morrowind and 5 years of Oblivion, having wasted a LOT of time hunting for workarounds and modder-created fixes for bugs & glitches the company never bothered to patch. I've wised up. I'm not going to be someone's unwilling unpaid beta tester of an organ grinder's monkey dancing to a one-note tune again, simple as that.

Like my new avatar? I think red suits me. Anyone fancy doing some Blender modelling for Oblivion to create a fun new helmet type?

Sorry if I'm laughing in my bucket and enjoying the echoes here. But flame away if you want. It's fireproof.

I've found another, easier way of getting away with theft that doesnt involve putting buckets on everyone's heads. Quite simple actually, heres what you do.

... makes sense that it works

but who the hell was the first person to try this

I was lurking around as Thane and broke some weird law... no idea what, I wasn't stealing anything or trespassing that I could tell, a guard came up to me and tried the whole arrest thing. I politely pointed out that I am a Thane and he should unhand me at once. He then said something like "well you get off this time, but be more careful in the future." I think it might be a limited number of freebies for minor offences.

I have commited a few minor theft crimes as thane, the guards still go through the usual song and dance, but when they come to arrest you, you politely tell them to f*ck off. When your companion steals something, the guards act like nothing happened and you go on your merry way.

As I always have Lydia with me as she is a decent free hireling and essential character (immortal), I decided to see if I could get her to steal something for me for a laugh expecting the guards to come and kick the crap out of her/us, but to my suprise the guards didn't bat an eye.

I found this on the Steam PC version, xbox and PS3 may also work. Its worth a try.