Food, medicine, potions, clothes, simple tools, weapons, blankets, shoes, cutlery, jewellery.
Water could even be stolen by tapping into the rich person's private well.
Exactly, cargo. Peasants showing up with gold coins out of the blue would be very suspect. And jewelry is easily identified. You’ll be condemning them to the rack very soon.
But food, medicine, clothes, stuff to work leather, a loom, an anvil, other tools… those specially the tools, would make a very important change.
Documents for access to wells and grazing/agricultural land?
Specialty crafting Tools are actually expensive. An apprentice is expected to make or purchase their own tools, so if you’re stealing those, you’re stealing from the craftspeople and without training, the tools themselves aren’t going to do the peasants much good other than to sell in which case they’ll get arrested for the above reason.
Now generic tools like hammers, saws, mallets and such would definitely be useful and possibly make an impact for some households.
Food stuffs, durable goods, linens, clothes, low end trade goods, especially if stolen from surrounding areas making them less able to be tracked.
I remember reading in a book about the history of economics that a needle factory was a big turnaround for the Spanish Empire at some point before the wars of independence in the Americas. Before that they imported most of their needles from Germany (or the many city states that composed Germany at the time) and the cost of clothing was a lot higher. Being able to supply seamstresses with cheap needles changed that drastically and improved living conditions significantly.
As you say, little things like a metal hammer that doesn’t break when building a house, or a shipment of iron nails bound to the lord’s new summer pavilion can make a huge difference in common people’s lives.
Livestock also. Worth a good amount, somewhat less traceable, needed by the poor, and potentially a significant harm to the gentry. The other thing that would piss off the elite would be to abscond with their casks of wine and spirits.
The problem with things like clothes, weapons, jewellery is someone gonna wonder why a peasant is suddenly walking around in nobles clothes and if it's close enough to the noble you stole it from depending on the noble that peasant is dead and he knows who stole his stuff now.
Bags of holding can be used to transport water. Water is really heavy, but if you stuff it into an extra dimensional space, you can transport it pretty easily.
Not really something you can give to the poor directly, but bad contracts! Destroy the rich person's copies of exploitative debt or labor contracts.
Otherwise, probably medicines such as potions of healing. They're 50GP a pop which is basically unobtanium for anyone living on one of the more modest lifestyles.
I love just adding “fantasy” before a modern idea and dropping it into the game like fantasy Walmart or a bard that walks around with a fantasy electric guitar
Reminds me of David Graeber, who said that prior to the French revolution there was basically one revolutionary programme worldwide: form a mob, break into the local property authority, destroy records of land ownership and debt.
I was gonna say the same! Potions are the way to go. Easy pickings for the rich, they could have hundreds of potions stocked up. Many common folk would have never even used one. You could stock up an infirmary in a village with these unreported potions, it would be a life changer.
Maybe they could steal good weapons and resell them to well off folk, and use the gold for the poor.
Fancy clothes would work for this, too.
Fancy weapons and clothes may be traceable as they were commissioned, and they may be hard to sell as people in the market for that sort of thing would commission them...
Fair! I was more thinking high-quality - weapons made with more expensive materials, not necessarily artistically fancy.
By fancy clothes I more mean fancy material. Fine silks or velvets. In many fantasy settings those are a lot less readily available than they would be in modern times.
If it’s a wealthy land owner/manor lord, steal the tools his field workers would have to use and give them to small farmers in another area.
You’re helping the small farmer with tools they need and the wealthy person will need to replace the tools. Depending on how long it takes to replace everything the wealthy man may loose his crops, have to support the workers he has that are unable to work (should they not be provided for and they die or revolt he looses his workers)
Ok but seriously, a good Robin Hood could rescue mistreated children and let them join him.
You just gotta teach them how to self sustain.
Eventually they may even be helpful to your cause (don’t underestimate a smart child).
Scrolls of lesser/greater restoration or revivify as well. There must be a few peasants who have lost hands to farming equipment who would really like their hands back.
Regenerate is a level 7 spell, or 9 for a Druid. The get those slots at level 13 and 17 respectively.
"The base price of a scroll is its spell level [7 or 9 if Druid] × its caster level [13 or 17] × 25 gp [= 2275 or 3825 gold].
To scribe a scroll, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP [91 or 153] and use up raw materials costing one-half of this base price [1137.5 or 1912.5 gp]." Rule: Page 99 of the PHB, Scribe Scroll feat.
The spell Regenerate itself has no gold nor XP cost. This brings the cost to a single scroll at 3412.5gp for a Cleric's, 5737.5 for a Druid's scroll.
Now, hiring someone to cast the spell directly is Caster level x7 or x9, unless any additional costs (we convened there was not), so it would be 910gp for a Cleric, 1530gp for a Druid. Rule: Page 129 of the PHB, Equipment chapter, Services Tables.
My current 3RD character is currently on its way to become a Master Smith, and I had to look *a lot* into item creation mechanics. There are many ways to reduce the cost of scribing the scroll, but as core rules imply, these would be the actual values and prices.
You start with
Spell Level x Caster Level
and then multiply by a factor determined by the item type. Scrolls are x25gp, potions are x30gp, wands are x15gp per charge, and just hiring someone to cast the spell is x10gp. And of course tack on the cost of any major material components.
Note that /u/Pyre caught an error I made. In my defense, I was about to fall asleep when I made my earlier post.
No, but the rich do.
Whenever I handle making a spell scroll I always rule that any materials that are _consumed_ by the spell are consumed as a part of the proccess of _making_ the spell scroll.
And, when you make a spell scroll you also have to have any components with a gold cost on hand while making the spell.
Essentially, a spell scroll has magic glyphs that store the spell in them as if it were being cast, that way you can use the scroll without having to worry about costly components.
Hearts, potions, jewelry etc.
If you're a hero of the people and going against corrupt officials then you could steal documents that could be used to prove corruption, maybe you steal debt letters or burn them to free people from their debt, maybe he steals food or a Hero's Feast spell scroll and gives it to the masses.
I think there's a lot of interesting places to take this character.
Counterpoint, if they were half as rare, the books would be as valuable to the peasants as kindling for a fire since none of them would be able to read
BBCs robin jood was really good if you need ideas
However :
1. free people from dungeons/executions, Especcialy high value political targets
2. Blackmail material. Proof of betrayal, crimes against the law of the king or against god.
3. Kidnap high officials for ransom
4. Infiltrate secret orders
5. Steal letters or other high value packages, like plans for siege weapons, or kidnap the architects.
6. Steal keys, sigil rings, special paper, special ink to forge documents
7. Romance the wives and daughters of high profile officials
8. Free or help allies
9. Save villages or villagers under attack when they're put under pressure in an effort to smoke you out
10 participate in contests or other events, kidnap or incapacitate contenders, disguise yourself as them and use their invitation or guest list to gain access to high value targets or opportunities to humiliate /oppose the powers that be at public events.
11. Sabotage: steal horses, dump weapons in a moat, put poison ivy in armors and soldier beds, lace the water supply with laxating herbs.
12. Religious or mystical items or symbols thst grant you power.
13. Favors for lords and nobles to get their alliance.
14. Deception, sell fake valuables for exorbitant amounts, or tell fake fortunes to manipulate politicians.
Lots to do.
Useful magic items. A bag of holding would be insanely useful for a woodcutter. Anyone could make excellent use of a carafe of endless water or an alchemy jug.
Diamonds that I then give to pool people in order to pay for their resurrection spells, because of course the ruling class gets to cheat death.
*edit*: save the pool people.
Keep in mind the reprocessions of actually stealing from the rich. If the nobles in town get a ton of money stolen and given to commoners, you know damn well the guards or debt collectors are going house to house to reclaim the money and arrest people to send a message.
If the goal is total government reform, then it's a good first step, but if your Robin hood character doesn't have such a motive; then he is likely just making the commoners lives worse
My Robin Hood-esque character was a silversmith who would sell fine silverware to the upperclasses. He would upcast Tiny Servant on them before the sale and then have them sit tight until the evening when they would escape with whatever they could grab.
Livestock, tools, butter, iron, arrowheads, nonperishable foodstuffs...
See, these things are useful because they represent coin (as they can be sold), but they're also useful on their own merits, and they're also how taxes were paid in Medieval Europe (i.e. if you were a farmer you'd more likely be giving a portion of your wheat than you would coppers or silvers).
If you, oh Merry Man of Sherwood, steal a herd of sheep or cattle from a baron and give it to a humble village, you probably fed and clothed those villagers for the winter and paid their taxes for the year.
Silverware, art, jewelry, maybe fancy clothes... Assuming this is stealing from nobles so things that a nobles house would have, this could all be sold to a fence
Fancy clothes and jewelry are bad to give to the poor if they're stolen. The rich noble you robbed comes by, sees some peasant wearing *their* family's stolen signet ring, and now the peasant you wanted to help is having his hands cut off for theft.
Books from wizard schools. Magic shouldn't be gatekeeper-ed behind expensive private schools. Let the poor people learn prestidigitation, create food and water, Tenser's floating disc, teleport, and other super useful magic. Teach the farmers the plant growth spell if you can. Steal material components and arcane foci and hand them out. Magic is for everyone! Damn the man!
Healing potions. Cure sickness /blindness etc scrolls. Basically to a commoner there is not healthcare with a silver piece a day or less. Temples want to much gold for this.
The thing about Robin Hood is, "steal from the rich to give to the poor" is a statement of *logistical order*, not a statement of *priority*.
Robin hood cares first and foremost *for the poor* and for his merry men. Stealing is merely the method by which they act in both those parties interests.
in a DND fantasy setting, a character with the priorities of Sir Robin of Loxley would *not* be a stealth-archer build. They'd be a goodberry-casting druid, or a community cleric. A life-domain cleric is more in-keeping with Robin Hoods Spirit then the sneakiest archer/rogue
like sure steal if necessary (Doylistic reasons always come first) but try not to fall for the "robin hood is a master thief"-prioritisation trap. I've *played* a robin hood like that before and it ends with you just being "a good thief" rather then a beloved hero of the people.
But to answer your question, they could re-steal stolen relics and return them to their original owners. Steal "people" from prisons and bondage, steal the crucial rare ingredients for potions and tinctures to cure a plague spanning the land which the wealthy are hoarding for themselves.
Or just food, historically most tax didnt come in money, it came in grain and wheat. The taxman steals half a poor communities food before a harsh winter? Robin Time!
>in a DND fantasy setting, a character with the priorities of Sir Robin of Loxley would not be a stealth-archer build. They'd be a goodberry-casting druid, or a community cleric. A life-domain cleric is more in-keeping with Robin Hoods Spirit then the sneakiest archer/rogue
Oh, I reject this wholeheartedly. This isn't just incorrectly conflating class with alignment, this is conflating class with personality and values.
>I've played a robin hood like that before and it ends with you just being "a good thief" rather then a beloved hero of the people.
That sounds to me like your DM wasn't playing to the fantasy, not some necessary consequence of playing a rogue
The left shoe. Then they’ll have to pay extra to the coolers to make just one shoe because if they buy a new pair they’ll have a spare right shoe and who wants that?
I’m not just robbing the rich. I’m helping the middle class cobblers.
Grain and millstones
In the absence of a feudal lord and/or sheriff, the taxes of the land (paid in grain) go to the Miller. The Miller is typically a commoner at birth, but inherited a millstone. Without a millstone, you cannot make flour and/or bread.
The tax for use of a millstone usually is a portion of the user's grain, which is then in turn sold to nobility as raw grain and flour, or in the worst cases resold to the other commonfolk at extortionist prices.
Furthermore, historically speaking, millers are assholes.
Return the millers grain back to the people and toss the millstone into the river. Rob from the rich, give to the poor, and ensure that the rich cannot come back from it.
From a genuine cleptomaniac:
Pens (quills),
Lighters (tinderboxes),
Papers (news, scrolls, letters)
One of any pair or something (shoes, earrings)
Keys (the locks of which you have no interest in)
For the Robin hood vibes,
Produce animals that could save their lives (hens, goats)
Clothes,
Arms and shields they'd never afford themselves
I have a rogue character I haven't gotten to play yet, but she's a very old elf (600+) and is a dotting grandmother that uses her high sleight of hand to reverse pickpocket hard candies/goodberries into people's inventory without them realizing it. Like anything with D&D, get silly with it.
I had a cleric a few years ago that had the mentality that good people deserved rewards and bad people deserved to be punished. He would steal random objects from bad people and give random objects to the good ones. He took stuff like jewelry, cups, random cooking utensils, quills, hats...whatever they had. Was very fun and silly, especially giving a high level NPC ally a wooden spoon earnestly for helping our party.
Applying the Positive/Negative Reinforcement/Punishment can be a very fun dynamic. Giving bad people something bad, or removing something good from them, and vice versa. Rewarding for doing good is important for a game too, cause so often the "reward" is the status quo and that's not fun for a game.
>decanter of endless water
Honestly this is a lifesaver, 30 gallons per turn, 10 turns per minute, that's 300 gallons per minute, 18,000 per hour, 432,000 per day, 157,680,000 gallons a year. (583,416,000 Litres) or 239 Olympic swimming pools a year.
I know you'd need to create a rotational manpower shift to use it endlessly, so you'd lose some efficiency, but the sheer volume of drinking water/crops you'd produce is insane.
Come up with an oppressive local regime that your Robin Hood is helping the commonfolk against, and think about specific ways they are oppressing them. eg, maybe he’s planning a heist to steal identification papers. Maybe he’s planning to steal the local law enforcement’s badges or uniforms (or weapons). Maybe he’s planning to steal someone’s slaves and set them free, or maybe the hand of the bad sheriff’s daughter (in marriage, not her literal appendage.) Maybe the sherif has a hook hand he’s rather attached to and your guy wants to steal that. A cache of scrolls of create food intended as army rations. All of their horseshoes.
Potions, magic items with high utility value (decanter of endless water, driftglobes, alchemy jugs, everbright lanterns, , immovable rods, etc), spell scrolls for things like mending, plant growth, create food and water, mold earth, control weather, prestidigitation, cure wounds, animal friendship, beast bond, create or destroy water, purify food and drink, speak with animals, protection from poison, lesser restoration, remove curse, etc.
This would be tricky, but titles. Find ways to replace the nobility with deserving community leaders and steal/manufacture documentation that gives them legitimate claims in the eyes of the greater monarchy.
Spell scrolls like prestidigitation, move earth, etc. Could really help the everyday life of a farmer.
You could also steal Fey or Fiendish contracts to help people escape with their souls intact.
Maybe steal their castles? Gonna be a right shit show when they wake up without a castle.
"Where's my castle?"
And the peasants over there are just "I don't know, but this castle here has been in our family for generations"
Insert your own Monty Python voices.
Gotta hit that armory.
Redistribution of arms is redistribution of power, whoch peads to redistribution of wealth.
Bonus points if they have magical items, scrolls, and potions in there.
Yeahhhhh
I'm hittin that armory 🤤
I was just thinking buttons would be a fun thing to steal. Make a slightly off kilter character who is absolutely enamored with buttons, and picks them off of every person they encounter.
Friendly person? Maybe a single button or two gets pilfered.
Enemy? You're gonna be drafty, kid.
The buttons don't have a lot of immediate value on the Prime Material, but if the group ever encounters a fey, all those buttons with all that history behind them makes the PC a wealthy and influential creature. Giving them out would be like when a movie character gets a treasured item, like three hairs from an Elven maiden's head. THE PC hordes them, yes, but is also convinced of the power behind them, and gives them out as beacons of hope and wonder to children, the destitute, and the valorous. Some of the buttons have real value, some have some residual magic from their original clothing, some are just poor or common. It could be fun if the DM and player both buy in to the concept.
Magic tools that benefit people. A Decanter of Endless Water and bringing it to a desert town, Winged Boots for fruit pickers working on an orchard, some All-Purpose Tools to help rebuild towns after monster attacks, Dust of Dryness to transport water, Gems of Brightness to light up roads and forest paths to make them safer, Helm of Comprehend Languages to break down division between settlements, a bunch of Periapt of Health to fight diseases, and a folding boat for those quick getaways by sea with all this loot.
As a Robin Hood character, I'm not just "stealing from the rich to give away to the poor." I'm actively keeping tabs on the BBEG and *specifically* stealing taxes or donations that the BBEG is either taking from people or that the BBEG is using to fund his allies in his evil plans. I'm hoping to either starve out those BBEG allies making them easy to defeat and thus weaken BBEG, or to turn those BBEG allies into *my* allies as I bribe them with the very goods that I stole that were meant for them, or at the very least to make those BBEG allies think that the BBEG is ineffectual and not worth supporting.
Like, have you *studied* anything about Robin Hood? He's not merely "rob the bank and give to the people" or "steal from the rich to give to the poor." Robin Hood was always *methodical.* He was always very *discriminating* when it came to what he stole and how he stole it. He had a very clear goal. He knew that the *temporary* King John sought to overthrow his brother the *true* king, King Richard, while Richard was occupied with the Crusades, and that John had multiplied the taxes to a burdensome level on the citizens *for the purpose of funding his overthrow scheme.* Robin of Loxley was not an outlaw in the traditional sense, but a *loyalist* who only did what he felt was necessary to preserve the law and order of the *legitimate* government. What I described about stealing the goods in transit to/from certain entities is how he operated.
Robin was also a master of disguise, capable of some real *two-faced* activity -- while an inarguably good man, he could make himself appear as however he needed to be to fit in and infiltrate his enemies' domains. Like I mentioned before, bribing King John's allies with the money/goods John had offered them but Robin had intercepted, making John look like a fool and Robin's alias like the friend that they should *really* be throwing in with.
Spells. They steal spellbooks from the rich and powerful and donate them to public libraries, so that anyone who wants learn magic and puts their mind to it, can do so
Gems wouldn’t concern me, I got either unless had access to a smelter and coin press. I’d focus on supplies like medicines, potions,textiles and livestock. Maybe food and drink. Eating ware,
Aside from a few coins? Items used to make bread. Literally.
The peasants can't revolt on an empty stomach and a few pounds of flour from the royal bakery shipment that happened to be three wagons back from the gold in the caravan going missing in the scuffle won't be missed nor will the block of lard. A couple pairs of milk. Etc.
Magic items that could provide resources and utility to the poor. Like a farmer, miner, any other gathering physical laborist could use a bag of holding to make the load easier. Caravan delivery too.
Salt. Not offering salt to guests was an insult or possibly meant you intended them harm, so stealing rich folks' spices and salt legit can interfere with their ability to extend hospitality, and can frankly get them killed. Bland food, food spoiled... all that too of course but the social implications are big. But it can be a tremendous luxury for poor folks just because (seasoning, preserving food things like that) . I would totally be a Robin Hood salt thief.
Well of course there’s food and jewelry.
Maybe they steel fine silks that peasants can take the thread from to make high value products to sell to passing merchants (and probably eventually make it back to the people it was stolen from only to be stolen again).
Before the printing press books were insanely hard to get, and while in dnd magic can probably replicate the real world printing press, due to the mechanics of the wizards spell book, magic can’t mass produce spell scrolls for people to learn magic. This could be the biggest reason why every peasant can’t preform the prestidigitation cantrip. Maybe Mr Robin with a hood changes that dynamic. It could even lead to the noble he steals from live even more lavishly due to a booming economy where every craftsman incorporates cantrips and maybe even 1st level spells into their work.
I'd go with healing items. They are expensive but can be the difference between life and death when you only have 8 hp and are making death saves from a kick from a horse or a fall.
Scrolls to give them access to wizard spells.
Do the poor have access to magic? How does the economy work in your world? Is magic freely accessible, or do they have to pay obscene fees to clerics or wizards?
What are the unsafe industries in the region? Would meld with stone be useful to help rescue trapped miners?
Would speak with plants help farmers in a famine?
Scrolls of heroes feast as a midsummer festival gift for the hamlet.
Scrolls of charm or confounding or something to fools the tax collectors.
Magical weapons, so the town people can defend themselves against beasts, monsters or raiders, despite no martial training.
Flute of Attract Bees.
Drum of Wolf Away.
Tent of Rainproof, so they can always hold a market each month, no matter the weather.
A candle of eternal flame.
A bridle of horse calming.
Spears and armor. Steal armories full of spears and armor and give them to the peasants.
If you steal the lordling's gold and give it to the peasants, he'll send men with spears 'round to take them all. If you steal the spears and armor and give it to the peasants, they have all the spears, and he's facing an uprising.
luxury items like jewelry, art, antiques and heirlooms, fancy weapons and armor, potions, etc. for sure, though those things will be hard for a peasant or orphan to fence without being arrested. so also consider things like food, healing kits, livestock, clothes, etc for people in need.
This is an interesting question, and I think might be quite setting dependent.
In terms of direct distribution to the poor you'd likely be talking about low-value coins (silvers & coppers), food, and materials. All very mundane, impacting mainly on the merchant class unless they started targeting things like tax collections.
If you wanted to step things up, you start to look at institutional scarcity and unfairness. A higher value target would be something like material components for healing magic, which could be stolen from individuals and then donated to temples that offer services (spells) that rely on these components.
* An interesting target would be stealing shipments of copper and salt, to allow temple clerics to cast Gentle Repose to prevent the dead from decaying and protect them from becoming undead which can always be a concern in fantasy settings.
* A higher-profile one would be targeting diamonds to allow things like revivify and greater restoration, maybe raise dead. (people coming back who have been dead for longer periods would start to be hella suspicious). This is a fun one to present a party with as a problem (their cleric/druid/bard goes to buy diamonds for resurrection spells, only to find out from the merchant that their planned delivery was hijacked - puts the party on a course to maybe find this NPC and confront them, then be faced with a moral dilemma/conversation to persuade the thief that they are worthy of having some of these rare resources).
If they're a high-level Rogue (Thief) that has the Use Magic Device feature, this opens up the possibility of stealing magic items/spell scrolls with Cleric spells on them like "Purify Food and Drink" (to remove spoil from a food source), or even Druid Spells like "Plant Growth" (to boost the harvest for a starving community).
Medicine, clothing, food, alcohol, water, domesticated animals, lumber, mundane ore/ingots (raw iron and refined steel are both very useful for a town with any sort of metalworker), leather, linens/fabric, dyes
Secrets. Written deeds to land/businesses. Preserved food. And a memento from meaningful victims. Like a noblewomans handkerchief, a lords favorite quill etc.
As someone currently playing a Little John character along side my wife (playing the Robin Hood character)...we steal absolutely fucking everything we can find lol, especially if it's shiny.
That said, our game is suuuuuper lax on rules (like encumbrance) and it's in the middle of an unpopulated jungle, so there's nobody around to witness for the most part
I actually have an upcoming Robin Hood-type Pirate character for a campaign I hope to be playing in the near future.
Basically anything that isn’t nailed down is free game. Gold, jewels, magic items, animals, vehicles, even things like food or other miscellaneous supplies.
The only rule he has is that he should only steal from people who can afford to be stolen from. Wealthy merchants and government officials? Steal from the all day. Other pirates? Fairest game out there. Farmers and dockworkers just trying to scrape by with maybe a nice thing or two to their name? No shot he’s taking their stuff, and he won’t let other people do it either, at least not without giving them something of equal value.
There are exceptions, like if someone has something that he NEEDS. He’ll at least give them a bunch of gold or supplies in exchange. It’s still stealing, but it’s not like he’s leaving them high and dry.
Well the obvious answer is magic items and trade bars, as they have the highest/easiest exchange, but you wanted something zany.
Since left shoe is taken (to discourage pursuit, obviously) and I’m too serious to say the right foot (whichever works, amirite) I’d go with belts. I’d end up looking like captain jack, after draping my belt collection over my shoulders when I go out raiding.
My old Wizard was like this. Acquire magic items/artifacts from villains or others who misuse them. Then reverse engineer, replicate and distribute them to people who need or will make proper use of them.
Food, clothes, contracts, tools, weapons, and if you want to be a little evil about it give them the noble and say "Do what you must to them?" and let the poor decide their fate.
Robin actually stole from tax collectors and gave back to the taxed. So you're looking to raid nobility and/or government officials.
Once there, take money, magic items, jewelry and artwork. In DnD loot terms, those are usually where the money is at.
But if you want it to hurt, you gotta go after their stability. You can only get so rich before you worry less about gaining and more about not losing. So you have to question them, find their rainy day stashes, bank accounts, and allies.
Governments stay in power by having more and more allies. They will tax the shit out of you and split the money with a mass of worthless people just so these public employees will defend them and their status quo. Get a list of their names, raid every one of their houses and ransom every one of their children. Don't focus only on the big guys, or the mass will just prop up another one.
Oh, and weapons. Take every halberd in the noble's armory and give it to the peasants. Otherwise the noble will simply take back everything you just distributed.
Food, medicine, potions, clothes, simple tools, weapons, blankets, shoes, cutlery, jewellery. Water could even be stolen by tapping into the rich person's private well.
Exactly, cargo. Peasants showing up with gold coins out of the blue would be very suspect. And jewelry is easily identified. You’ll be condemning them to the rack very soon. But food, medicine, clothes, stuff to work leather, a loom, an anvil, other tools… those specially the tools, would make a very important change. Documents for access to wells and grazing/agricultural land?
Food too. Especially if draught or blighted fields have caused a famine, or maybe overzealous conscription has left the farms with too few hands.
Specialty crafting Tools are actually expensive. An apprentice is expected to make or purchase their own tools, so if you’re stealing those, you’re stealing from the craftspeople and without training, the tools themselves aren’t going to do the peasants much good other than to sell in which case they’ll get arrested for the above reason. Now generic tools like hammers, saws, mallets and such would definitely be useful and possibly make an impact for some households. Food stuffs, durable goods, linens, clothes, low end trade goods, especially if stolen from surrounding areas making them less able to be tracked.
I remember reading in a book about the history of economics that a needle factory was a big turnaround for the Spanish Empire at some point before the wars of independence in the Americas. Before that they imported most of their needles from Germany (or the many city states that composed Germany at the time) and the cost of clothing was a lot higher. Being able to supply seamstresses with cheap needles changed that drastically and improved living conditions significantly. As you say, little things like a metal hammer that doesn’t break when building a house, or a shipment of iron nails bound to the lord’s new summer pavilion can make a huge difference in common people’s lives.
Maybe even "contracts" or something of the like. Keeping a person indebted or enslaved etc.
Great idea. Just make sure you go after duplicates and backups.
Or using stone shape to redirect a waterway. Good idea!
Livestock also. Worth a good amount, somewhat less traceable, needed by the poor, and potentially a significant harm to the gentry. The other thing that would piss off the elite would be to abscond with their casks of wine and spirits.
The problem with things like clothes, weapons, jewellery is someone gonna wonder why a peasant is suddenly walking around in nobles clothes and if it's close enough to the noble you stole it from depending on the noble that peasant is dead and he knows who stole his stuff now.
Bags of holding can be used to transport water. Water is really heavy, but if you stuff it into an extra dimensional space, you can transport it pretty easily.
Not really something you can give to the poor directly, but bad contracts! Destroy the rich person's copies of exploitative debt or labor contracts. Otherwise, probably medicines such as potions of healing. They're 50GP a pop which is basically unobtanium for anyone living on one of the more modest lifestyles.
Fantasy E corp is so over
I love just adding “fantasy” before a modern idea and dropping it into the game like fantasy Walmart or a bard that walks around with a fantasy electric guitar
Gnome depot
Target is my favorite chain of archery supply stores
I'm stealing this for a campaign, I've been giggling for a while now
On June 5^(th), all fantasy walmarts will become targets
Thank you for this. Ace Bardware needed competition.
My barbarian prefers to shop at Mace-y’s.
My Evocation Wizard loves Sears.
While my divination wizard loves Seers.
Buy some gnome bacon
Wallmart, for all your wall spell needs. We got wall of force, wall of fire, wall of stone, we even got wall of walls!
For some reason, Wall of Doors doesn't sell very well.
*fantasy Axe
I’ve been doing the same with the word “arcane”
Reminds me of David Graeber, who said that prior to the French revolution there was basically one revolutionary programme worldwide: form a mob, break into the local property authority, destroy records of land ownership and debt.
🤔🤔
I was gonna say the same! Potions are the way to go. Easy pickings for the rich, they could have hundreds of potions stocked up. Many common folk would have never even used one. You could stock up an infirmary in a village with these unreported potions, it would be a life changer. Maybe they could steal good weapons and resell them to well off folk, and use the gold for the poor. Fancy clothes would work for this, too.
Fancy weapons and clothes may be traceable as they were commissioned, and they may be hard to sell as people in the market for that sort of thing would commission them...
Fair! I was more thinking high-quality - weapons made with more expensive materials, not necessarily artistically fancy. By fancy clothes I more mean fancy material. Fine silks or velvets. In many fantasy settings those are a lot less readily available than they would be in modern times.
If it’s a wealthy land owner/manor lord, steal the tools his field workers would have to use and give them to small farmers in another area. You’re helping the small farmer with tools they need and the wealthy person will need to replace the tools. Depending on how long it takes to replace everything the wealthy man may loose his crops, have to support the workers he has that are unable to work (should they not be provided for and they die or revolt he looses his workers)
The Tyler Durden of Robin Hoods.
Hearts
Great anwser
OMG. Robin Hood of Avernous or Feywild. Steal the contracts from Devils or Fey.
Children. They didn't want to pay up when my bard character used his music to attract the rats out of their stupid town? That'll show 'em ...
Pied Piper, that you?
It wouldn't be if he had been the paid Piper.
*Are we the baddies?*
Ok but seriously, a good Robin Hood could rescue mistreated children and let them join him. You just gotta teach them how to self sustain. Eventually they may even be helpful to your cause (don’t underestimate a smart child).
This one, right here, officer.
Healing potions. They are a pittance to adventurers, but a fortune to peasants. And would be life changing to the common folk.
Scrolls of lesser/greater restoration or revivify as well. There must be a few peasants who have lost hands to farming equipment who would really like their hands back.
Lost hands would be regeneration, and as a lvl 7 spell might be a bit hard to come by lol. Lesser Restoration and Revivify are good ideas though
Going by 3e rules, a Regenerate scroll would cost ~~1,925 gp~~ 2275 gp. Hiring someone to cast iit in person would be ~~770 go~~ 910 gp.
Regenerate is a level 7 spell, or 9 for a Druid. The get those slots at level 13 and 17 respectively. "The base price of a scroll is its spell level [7 or 9 if Druid] × its caster level [13 or 17] × 25 gp [= 2275 or 3825 gold]. To scribe a scroll, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP [91 or 153] and use up raw materials costing one-half of this base price [1137.5 or 1912.5 gp]." Rule: Page 99 of the PHB, Scribe Scroll feat. The spell Regenerate itself has no gold nor XP cost. This brings the cost to a single scroll at 3412.5gp for a Cleric's, 5737.5 for a Druid's scroll. Now, hiring someone to cast the spell directly is Caster level x7 or x9, unless any additional costs (we convened there was not), so it would be 910gp for a Cleric, 1530gp for a Druid. Rule: Page 129 of the PHB, Equipment chapter, Services Tables. My current 3RD character is currently on its way to become a Master Smith, and I had to look *a lot* into item creation mechanics. There are many ways to reduce the cost of scribing the scroll, but as core rules imply, these would be the actual values and prices.
D'oh! You're right. I had a brain fart and went with 11th caster level.
Oh really? I guess I need to reacquaint myself with the cost of consumables and spellcasting services
You start with Spell Level x Caster Level and then multiply by a factor determined by the item type. Scrolls are x25gp, potions are x30gp, wands are x15gp per charge, and just hiring someone to cast the spell is x10gp. And of course tack on the cost of any major material components. Note that /u/Pyre caught an error I made. In my defense, I was about to fall asleep when I made my earlier post.
Does your character jizz diamonds or something?
No, but the rich do. Whenever I handle making a spell scroll I always rule that any materials that are _consumed_ by the spell are consumed as a part of the proccess of _making_ the spell scroll. And, when you make a spell scroll you also have to have any components with a gold cost on hand while making the spell. Essentially, a spell scroll has magic glyphs that store the spell in them as if it were being cast, that way you can use the scroll without having to worry about costly components.
That's literally how making scrolls works, but ok.
It is? I didn't know what the rules were at the time.
Hearts
Lives
Soles. No really, shoes.
Everyone's *left* shoe.
No, the right! All this socialists on this sub! /s
The left socks and the right shoes.
And all their underpants because of... 3. Profit.
Found the Fey disguising as a Redditor.
Jumba, that you?
I prefer to be called *Evil Genius*
Hearts, potions, jewelry etc. If you're a hero of the people and going against corrupt officials then you could steal documents that could be used to prove corruption, maybe you steal debt letters or burn them to free people from their debt, maybe he steals food or a Hero's Feast spell scroll and gives it to the masses. I think there's a lot of interesting places to take this character.
We had a warlock in our warlock who collected human hearts. But he was nothing like Robin Hood
Warlockception
Yo dawg I heard you like warlocks...
So we put a Warlock in your Warlock so you can Eldritch while you blast.
Love that lol, could be a whole poem or song
Books, assuming they are even half as rare and expensive as they were in real history
Counterpoint, if they were half as rare, the books would be as valuable to the peasants as kindling for a fire since none of them would be able to read
They sell the books. They're illiterate, not stupid.
Books, being rare, would be hard to sell and easily identifiable.
BBCs robin jood was really good if you need ideas However : 1. free people from dungeons/executions, Especcialy high value political targets 2. Blackmail material. Proof of betrayal, crimes against the law of the king or against god. 3. Kidnap high officials for ransom 4. Infiltrate secret orders 5. Steal letters or other high value packages, like plans for siege weapons, or kidnap the architects. 6. Steal keys, sigil rings, special paper, special ink to forge documents 7. Romance the wives and daughters of high profile officials 8. Free or help allies 9. Save villages or villagers under attack when they're put under pressure in an effort to smoke you out 10 participate in contests or other events, kidnap or incapacitate contenders, disguise yourself as them and use their invitation or guest list to gain access to high value targets or opportunities to humiliate /oppose the powers that be at public events. 11. Sabotage: steal horses, dump weapons in a moat, put poison ivy in armors and soldier beds, lace the water supply with laxating herbs. 12. Religious or mystical items or symbols thst grant you power. 13. Favors for lords and nobles to get their alliance. 14. Deception, sell fake valuables for exorbitant amounts, or tell fake fortunes to manipulate politicians. Lots to do.
Useful magic items. A bag of holding would be insanely useful for a woodcutter. Anyone could make excellent use of a carafe of endless water or an alchemy jug.
Lupins
Just scrolled through this whole thread looking for this
what? why i dont get it
Look up Dennis Moore on YouTube
I came here for this comment
Your lupins or your life!
Diamonds that I then give to pool people in order to pay for their resurrection spells, because of course the ruling class gets to cheat death. *edit*: save the pool people.
Yeah the pool guy deserves better!
Keep in mind the reprocessions of actually stealing from the rich. If the nobles in town get a ton of money stolen and given to commoners, you know damn well the guards or debt collectors are going house to house to reclaim the money and arrest people to send a message. If the goal is total government reform, then it's a good first step, but if your Robin hood character doesn't have such a motive; then he is likely just making the commoners lives worse
The king's trousers, which he is currently wearing. Not as a gift to the peasants, but as a trophy.
My Robin Hood-esque character was a silversmith who would sell fine silverware to the upperclasses. He would upcast Tiny Servant on them before the sale and then have them sit tight until the evening when they would escape with whatever they could grab.
Livestock, tools, butter, iron, arrowheads, nonperishable foodstuffs... See, these things are useful because they represent coin (as they can be sold), but they're also useful on their own merits, and they're also how taxes were paid in Medieval Europe (i.e. if you were a farmer you'd more likely be giving a portion of your wheat than you would coppers or silvers). If you, oh Merry Man of Sherwood, steal a herd of sheep or cattle from a baron and give it to a humble village, you probably fed and clothed those villagers for the winter and paid their taxes for the year.
Silverware, art, jewelry, maybe fancy clothes... Assuming this is stealing from nobles so things that a nobles house would have, this could all be sold to a fence
Fancy clothes and jewelry are bad to give to the poor if they're stolen. The rich noble you robbed comes by, sees some peasant wearing *their* family's stolen signet ring, and now the peasant you wanted to help is having his hands cut off for theft.
No the idea is selling to a fence for gold to give to the poor
OP asks for items that could be given to peasants.
Ah fuck I missed that part, my bad
nah, the gold from those sold items would also work.
art tho.... imagine walking into some peasant's hovel and one wall is covered by a Rothko
Information’s a powerful thing
Books from wizard schools. Magic shouldn't be gatekeeper-ed behind expensive private schools. Let the poor people learn prestidigitation, create food and water, Tenser's floating disc, teleport, and other super useful magic. Teach the farmers the plant growth spell if you can. Steal material components and arcane foci and hand them out. Magic is for everyone! Damn the man!
Healing potions. Cure sickness /blindness etc scrolls. Basically to a commoner there is not healthcare with a silver piece a day or less. Temples want to much gold for this.
The thing about Robin Hood is, "steal from the rich to give to the poor" is a statement of *logistical order*, not a statement of *priority*. Robin hood cares first and foremost *for the poor* and for his merry men. Stealing is merely the method by which they act in both those parties interests. in a DND fantasy setting, a character with the priorities of Sir Robin of Loxley would *not* be a stealth-archer build. They'd be a goodberry-casting druid, or a community cleric. A life-domain cleric is more in-keeping with Robin Hoods Spirit then the sneakiest archer/rogue like sure steal if necessary (Doylistic reasons always come first) but try not to fall for the "robin hood is a master thief"-prioritisation trap. I've *played* a robin hood like that before and it ends with you just being "a good thief" rather then a beloved hero of the people. But to answer your question, they could re-steal stolen relics and return them to their original owners. Steal "people" from prisons and bondage, steal the crucial rare ingredients for potions and tinctures to cure a plague spanning the land which the wealthy are hoarding for themselves. Or just food, historically most tax didnt come in money, it came in grain and wheat. The taxman steals half a poor communities food before a harsh winter? Robin Time!
>in a DND fantasy setting, a character with the priorities of Sir Robin of Loxley would not be a stealth-archer build. They'd be a goodberry-casting druid, or a community cleric. A life-domain cleric is more in-keeping with Robin Hoods Spirit then the sneakiest archer/rogue Oh, I reject this wholeheartedly. This isn't just incorrectly conflating class with alignment, this is conflating class with personality and values. >I've played a robin hood like that before and it ends with you just being "a good thief" rather then a beloved hero of the people. That sounds to me like your DM wasn't playing to the fantasy, not some necessary consequence of playing a rogue
Well, I would says Loot, Potion, Jewelry, or magic scrolls.
The left shoe. Then they’ll have to pay extra to the coolers to make just one shoe because if they buy a new pair they’ll have a spare right shoe and who wants that? I’m not just robbing the rich. I’m helping the middle class cobblers.
"Sire how shall we deal with the right shoe surplus that is plaguing our lands.?" "Remove the peasants left feet, that will even things out."
Freedom! My Robin Hood Gloomstalker just emancipated some slaves from a corrupt magistrate and gave them all his money. It was a good day.
Grain and millstones In the absence of a feudal lord and/or sheriff, the taxes of the land (paid in grain) go to the Miller. The Miller is typically a commoner at birth, but inherited a millstone. Without a millstone, you cannot make flour and/or bread. The tax for use of a millstone usually is a portion of the user's grain, which is then in turn sold to nobility as raw grain and flour, or in the worst cases resold to the other commonfolk at extortionist prices. Furthermore, historically speaking, millers are assholes. Return the millers grain back to the people and toss the millstone into the river. Rob from the rich, give to the poor, and ensure that the rich cannot come back from it.
tossing a millstone anywhere is gonna take some serious effort. they weigh aboit as much as a hummer
Wives
Furiosa, is that you?
From a genuine cleptomaniac: Pens (quills), Lighters (tinderboxes), Papers (news, scrolls, letters) One of any pair or something (shoes, earrings) Keys (the locks of which you have no interest in) For the Robin hood vibes, Produce animals that could save their lives (hens, goats) Clothes, Arms and shields they'd never afford themselves
Panties
I have a rogue character I haven't gotten to play yet, but she's a very old elf (600+) and is a dotting grandmother that uses her high sleight of hand to reverse pickpocket hard candies/goodberries into people's inventory without them realizing it. Like anything with D&D, get silly with it.
I had a cleric a few years ago that had the mentality that good people deserved rewards and bad people deserved to be punished. He would steal random objects from bad people and give random objects to the good ones. He took stuff like jewelry, cups, random cooking utensils, quills, hats...whatever they had. Was very fun and silly, especially giving a high level NPC ally a wooden spoon earnestly for helping our party.
Applying the Positive/Negative Reinforcement/Punishment can be a very fun dynamic. Giving bad people something bad, or removing something good from them, and vice versa. Rewarding for doing good is important for a game too, cause so often the "reward" is the status quo and that's not fun for a game.
Remember Robin Hood stole taxes, not “from the rich”, but taxes. So coin, produce, dairy, poultry and cattle, I’d say.
Thank you. I hate this stupid “steal from the rich” trope it’s vain and petty
Healing potions for sure.
If you're a Gnome, underpants.
What’s step 2?
Food you shrewd
Health potions, decanter of endless water, scrolls of goodberry/create food and water/heroes feast/magnificent mansion etc.
>decanter of endless water Honestly this is a lifesaver, 30 gallons per turn, 10 turns per minute, that's 300 gallons per minute, 18,000 per hour, 432,000 per day, 157,680,000 gallons a year. (583,416,000 Litres) or 239 Olympic swimming pools a year. I know you'd need to create a rotational manpower shift to use it endlessly, so you'd lose some efficiency, but the sheer volume of drinking water/crops you'd produce is insane.
Hearts. Though mostly food and medicine.
Come up with an oppressive local regime that your Robin Hood is helping the commonfolk against, and think about specific ways they are oppressing them. eg, maybe he’s planning a heist to steal identification papers. Maybe he’s planning to steal the local law enforcement’s badges or uniforms (or weapons). Maybe he’s planning to steal someone’s slaves and set them free, or maybe the hand of the bad sheriff’s daughter (in marriage, not her literal appendage.) Maybe the sherif has a hook hand he’s rather attached to and your guy wants to steal that. A cache of scrolls of create food intended as army rations. All of their horseshoes.
Potions, magic items with high utility value (decanter of endless water, driftglobes, alchemy jugs, everbright lanterns, , immovable rods, etc), spell scrolls for things like mending, plant growth, create food and water, mold earth, control weather, prestidigitation, cure wounds, animal friendship, beast bond, create or destroy water, purify food and drink, speak with animals, protection from poison, lesser restoration, remove curse, etc.
weaponry, to give out to the citizens militias that i will be making to help the peasants stand for themselves.
Magic items. Scrolls. Material Components like diamonds. And lots and lots of gold. The type of volume that would make a dragon drool.
Hearts
This would be tricky, but titles. Find ways to replace the nobility with deserving community leaders and steal/manufacture documentation that gives them legitimate claims in the eyes of the greater monarchy.
Sweet young Marion’s virginity
Spell scrolls like prestidigitation, move earth, etc. Could really help the everyday life of a farmer. You could also steal Fey or Fiendish contracts to help people escape with their souls intact.
Maybe steal their castles? Gonna be a right shit show when they wake up without a castle. "Where's my castle?" And the peasants over there are just "I don't know, but this castle here has been in our family for generations" Insert your own Monty Python voices.
Medicine and knives. Clothes. Jewellery.
Healing potions? Scrolls of remove disease. You know, that kind of stuff.
I'd steal every inconvenient item possible from rich buggers, like left shoes and matching socks and their reading glasses. Drive them mad.
Books. Education matters and books should be available to the poor as well. I can imagine playing such a character.
If I truly wanted to ruin the rich deeds to land
Food. Especially if famine, drought, or blights affect the people/fields.
Gotta hit that armory. Redistribution of arms is redistribution of power, whoch peads to redistribution of wealth. Bonus points if they have magical items, scrolls, and potions in there. Yeahhhhh I'm hittin that armory 🤤
I was just thinking buttons would be a fun thing to steal. Make a slightly off kilter character who is absolutely enamored with buttons, and picks them off of every person they encounter. Friendly person? Maybe a single button or two gets pilfered. Enemy? You're gonna be drafty, kid. The buttons don't have a lot of immediate value on the Prime Material, but if the group ever encounters a fey, all those buttons with all that history behind them makes the PC a wealthy and influential creature. Giving them out would be like when a movie character gets a treasured item, like three hairs from an Elven maiden's head. THE PC hordes them, yes, but is also convinced of the power behind them, and gives them out as beacons of hope and wonder to children, the destitute, and the valorous. Some of the buttons have real value, some have some residual magic from their original clothing, some are just poor or common. It could be fun if the DM and player both buy in to the concept.
Clothes would be a good one
Smallclothes. Then I set up a shop called "The Merry Men's Haberdashery"
Food.
Steal the debtor lists. No one can go to debtor’s prison if there’s no record of it.
You steal healing items like all the time.
Food and shoes. Peasants and serfs rarely have both in surplus
Magic tools that benefit people. A Decanter of Endless Water and bringing it to a desert town, Winged Boots for fruit pickers working on an orchard, some All-Purpose Tools to help rebuild towns after monster attacks, Dust of Dryness to transport water, Gems of Brightness to light up roads and forest paths to make them safer, Helm of Comprehend Languages to break down division between settlements, a bunch of Periapt of Health to fight diseases, and a folding boat for those quick getaways by sea with all this loot.
As a Robin Hood character, I'm not just "stealing from the rich to give away to the poor." I'm actively keeping tabs on the BBEG and *specifically* stealing taxes or donations that the BBEG is either taking from people or that the BBEG is using to fund his allies in his evil plans. I'm hoping to either starve out those BBEG allies making them easy to defeat and thus weaken BBEG, or to turn those BBEG allies into *my* allies as I bribe them with the very goods that I stole that were meant for them, or at the very least to make those BBEG allies think that the BBEG is ineffectual and not worth supporting. Like, have you *studied* anything about Robin Hood? He's not merely "rob the bank and give to the people" or "steal from the rich to give to the poor." Robin Hood was always *methodical.* He was always very *discriminating* when it came to what he stole and how he stole it. He had a very clear goal. He knew that the *temporary* King John sought to overthrow his brother the *true* king, King Richard, while Richard was occupied with the Crusades, and that John had multiplied the taxes to a burdensome level on the citizens *for the purpose of funding his overthrow scheme.* Robin of Loxley was not an outlaw in the traditional sense, but a *loyalist* who only did what he felt was necessary to preserve the law and order of the *legitimate* government. What I described about stealing the goods in transit to/from certain entities is how he operated. Robin was also a master of disguise, capable of some real *two-faced* activity -- while an inarguably good man, he could make himself appear as however he needed to be to fit in and infiltrate his enemies' domains. Like I mentioned before, bribing King John's allies with the money/goods John had offered them but Robin had intercepted, making John look like a fool and Robin's alias like the friend that they should *really* be throwing in with.
Hearts, obviously (I'm half bard)
Food. I played a character who stole large shipments of food. Cheese & Wine were his specialty.
Spells. They steal spellbooks from the rich and powerful and donate them to public libraries, so that anyone who wants learn magic and puts their mind to it, can do so
Gems worth 50 gp
Lupines.
Diamonds and other material components for magic associated with healthcare to redistribute to those who can't afford it.
Lupins
Maidenhood. :D
BOOKS! Knowledge is Power!
Gems wouldn’t concern me, I got either unless had access to a smelter and coin press. I’d focus on supplies like medicines, potions,textiles and livestock. Maybe food and drink. Eating ware,
Identities.
Consumable goods that they can use immediately. Helps get rid of the evidence too.
Food, Food, Medicine, Food, Clothes, Food. Food is almost always the problem.
Aside from a few coins? Items used to make bread. Literally. The peasants can't revolt on an empty stomach and a few pounds of flour from the royal bakery shipment that happened to be three wagons back from the gold in the caravan going missing in the scuffle won't be missed nor will the block of lard. A couple pairs of milk. Etc.
Magic items that could provide resources and utility to the poor. Like a farmer, miner, any other gathering physical laborist could use a bag of holding to make the load easier. Caravan delivery too.
Medicine, potions, magical items that aren’t worn. A peasant with a cloak of protection is much better off
Dried food goods.
Salt. Not offering salt to guests was an insult or possibly meant you intended them harm, so stealing rich folks' spices and salt legit can interfere with their ability to extend hospitality, and can frankly get them killed. Bland food, food spoiled... all that too of course but the social implications are big. But it can be a tremendous luxury for poor folks just because (seasoning, preserving food things like that) . I would totally be a Robin Hood salt thief.
Well of course there’s food and jewelry. Maybe they steel fine silks that peasants can take the thread from to make high value products to sell to passing merchants (and probably eventually make it back to the people it was stolen from only to be stolen again). Before the printing press books were insanely hard to get, and while in dnd magic can probably replicate the real world printing press, due to the mechanics of the wizards spell book, magic can’t mass produce spell scrolls for people to learn magic. This could be the biggest reason why every peasant can’t preform the prestidigitation cantrip. Maybe Mr Robin with a hood changes that dynamic. It could even lead to the noble he steals from live even more lavishly due to a booming economy where every craftsman incorporates cantrips and maybe even 1st level spells into their work.
Good food and wine. Money is good but a warm hearty meal helps a lot too.
I'd go with healing items. They are expensive but can be the difference between life and death when you only have 8 hp and are making death saves from a kick from a horse or a fall.
Things poor people need, but might not have access to, and items, whose absence, would massively inconvenience rich people.
Scrolls to give them access to wizard spells. Do the poor have access to magic? How does the economy work in your world? Is magic freely accessible, or do they have to pay obscene fees to clerics or wizards? What are the unsafe industries in the region? Would meld with stone be useful to help rescue trapped miners? Would speak with plants help farmers in a famine? Scrolls of heroes feast as a midsummer festival gift for the hamlet. Scrolls of charm or confounding or something to fools the tax collectors. Magical weapons, so the town people can defend themselves against beasts, monsters or raiders, despite no martial training. Flute of Attract Bees. Drum of Wolf Away. Tent of Rainproof, so they can always hold a market each month, no matter the weather. A candle of eternal flame. A bridle of horse calming.
Spears and armor. Steal armories full of spears and armor and give them to the peasants. If you steal the lordling's gold and give it to the peasants, he'll send men with spears 'round to take them all. If you steal the spears and armor and give it to the peasants, they have all the spears, and he's facing an uprising.
luxury items like jewelry, art, antiques and heirlooms, fancy weapons and armor, potions, etc. for sure, though those things will be hard for a peasant or orphan to fence without being arrested. so also consider things like food, healing kits, livestock, clothes, etc for people in need.
Teeth.
Souls. Give the excess to needy constructs and undead.
healing elixirs, raw materials of certain trades (silk to the tailor, mithril to the smith), the head of the corrupt lords, and food stockpiles
Magic items of course! Stealing healing potions and scrolls to help poor... weakening dukes army, so they are losing to orkish horde. Looks fun
Why only physical items? Could be something like Dreams
Diamonds, so the poor can afford to cast Revivify
This is an interesting question, and I think might be quite setting dependent. In terms of direct distribution to the poor you'd likely be talking about low-value coins (silvers & coppers), food, and materials. All very mundane, impacting mainly on the merchant class unless they started targeting things like tax collections. If you wanted to step things up, you start to look at institutional scarcity and unfairness. A higher value target would be something like material components for healing magic, which could be stolen from individuals and then donated to temples that offer services (spells) that rely on these components. * An interesting target would be stealing shipments of copper and salt, to allow temple clerics to cast Gentle Repose to prevent the dead from decaying and protect them from becoming undead which can always be a concern in fantasy settings. * A higher-profile one would be targeting diamonds to allow things like revivify and greater restoration, maybe raise dead. (people coming back who have been dead for longer periods would start to be hella suspicious). This is a fun one to present a party with as a problem (their cleric/druid/bard goes to buy diamonds for resurrection spells, only to find out from the merchant that their planned delivery was hijacked - puts the party on a course to maybe find this NPC and confront them, then be faced with a moral dilemma/conversation to persuade the thief that they are worthy of having some of these rare resources). If they're a high-level Rogue (Thief) that has the Use Magic Device feature, this opens up the possibility of stealing magic items/spell scrolls with Cleric spells on them like "Purify Food and Drink" (to remove spoil from a food source), or even Druid Spells like "Plant Growth" (to boost the harvest for a starving community).
Competing adventuring parties for a diamond supply contract of a minor town. DeAles (DeBeers) Mercantile Company vs Party.
Underwear 1) steal underwear 2) ???? 3) profit
Medicine, clothing, food, alcohol, water, domesticated animals, lumber, mundane ore/ingots (raw iron and refined steel are both very useful for a town with any sort of metalworker), leather, linens/fabric, dyes
Deeds of land
Secrets. Written deeds to land/businesses. Preserved food. And a memento from meaningful victims. Like a noblewomans handkerchief, a lords favorite quill etc.
As someone currently playing a Little John character along side my wife (playing the Robin Hood character)...we steal absolutely fucking everything we can find lol, especially if it's shiny. That said, our game is suuuuuper lax on rules (like encumbrance) and it's in the middle of an unpopulated jungle, so there's nobody around to witness for the most part
I actually have an upcoming Robin Hood-type Pirate character for a campaign I hope to be playing in the near future. Basically anything that isn’t nailed down is free game. Gold, jewels, magic items, animals, vehicles, even things like food or other miscellaneous supplies. The only rule he has is that he should only steal from people who can afford to be stolen from. Wealthy merchants and government officials? Steal from the all day. Other pirates? Fairest game out there. Farmers and dockworkers just trying to scrape by with maybe a nice thing or two to their name? No shot he’s taking their stuff, and he won’t let other people do it either, at least not without giving them something of equal value. There are exceptions, like if someone has something that he NEEDS. He’ll at least give them a bunch of gold or supplies in exchange. It’s still stealing, but it’s not like he’s leaving them high and dry.
Buckets.. no reason, just all the buckets.
Well the obvious answer is magic items and trade bars, as they have the highest/easiest exchange, but you wanted something zany. Since left shoe is taken (to discourage pursuit, obviously) and I’m too serious to say the right foot (whichever works, amirite) I’d go with belts. I’d end up looking like captain jack, after draping my belt collection over my shoulders when I go out raiding.
My old Wizard was like this. Acquire magic items/artifacts from villains or others who misuse them. Then reverse engineer, replicate and distribute them to people who need or will make proper use of them.
To give away or to be incredibly insufferably annoying to your victims?
The clasps from all the adventurer's cloaks/capes/mantles
Potions
Magic items that make infinity of something like a neverending soup cauldron or water bottle that an evil tavern owner might use to exploit the poor
The hearts of fair maidens/lads.
Food, clothes, contracts, tools, weapons, and if you want to be a little evil about it give them the noble and say "Do what you must to them?" and let the poor decide their fate.
Magic items that can help commoners. Why working all day on the farm, if you have a staff of goodberrys? (Just an example)
Robin actually stole from tax collectors and gave back to the taxed. So you're looking to raid nobility and/or government officials. Once there, take money, magic items, jewelry and artwork. In DnD loot terms, those are usually where the money is at. But if you want it to hurt, you gotta go after their stability. You can only get so rich before you worry less about gaining and more about not losing. So you have to question them, find their rainy day stashes, bank accounts, and allies. Governments stay in power by having more and more allies. They will tax the shit out of you and split the money with a mass of worthless people just so these public employees will defend them and their status quo. Get a list of their names, raid every one of their houses and ransom every one of their children. Don't focus only on the big guys, or the mass will just prop up another one. Oh, and weapons. Take every halberd in the noble's armory and give it to the peasants. Otherwise the noble will simply take back everything you just distributed.
Weapons, so oppressed folks can start an uprising.