Crime and punishment inThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimis very straightforward. If the Dragonborn does something illegal, such as steal,pick a forbidden lock, or murder someone, and if someone sees them do it and reports it, they’ll get a bounty placed on their head. If the bounty gets high enough, guards will try to arrest or attack the Dragonborn.
Each hold inSkyrimtracks bounties separately, and so if players kill someone in Whiterun they can hide out in Riften without worrying about guards. However, the bounty in Whiterun will remain until players can somehow remove it. This guide will explain which options will completely wipe a bounty off the books (and which options won’t).
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How to Check for Bounties
While each hold has its own jarl, the list of crimes is constant acrossSkyrim. These include theft, picking the lock of an owned building or object, trespassing, assault (but not self-defense), escaping from jail, turning into a werewolf or vampire lord, and murder.
If someonespots the Dragonborn committing a crime, they’ll add a bounty based on how serious the crime is. For instance, picking a lock is worth 5 gold, assault is worth 40, and murder is worth 1000. However, it’s possible to remove this bounty by killing every witness before they can find a guard and report the crime. Players should be careful about doing this since murder carries such a big penalty. If a witness reaches a guard, or if a guard is the witness, the bounty is “locked in” and killing witnesses won’t do anything.
If a bounty is worth less than 100 gold, guards will tend to leave the Dragonborn alone since the amount isn’t serious. However, if players interact with a guard, they’ll recognize the Dragonborn and start the confrontation dialog. If the bounty is 100 gold or more,guards will attempt to arrest the Dragonbornas soon as they spot them.
Players may also encounter hired thugs if they murder or steal.These thugs are hired directly by victimsor their relatives, and so this can happen regardless of the Dragonborn’s bounty status. They can show up even if players never got caught, but on the bright side defeating them won’t affect the mechanical relationship with the NPC who hired them.
If a bounty goes over 1000 gold, players may start to encounter bounty hunters even outside the hold that issued the bounty. A bounty hunter will demand the bounty owed to the hold plus 20 percent on top, and if players refuse the hunter will attack. Whether because of bugs or a nod to realism, sometimes bounty hunters will attack on sight, and other times paying them won’t clear the bounty (presumably they keep the money for themselves).
Players can check their bounty levels in the game’s General Stats page. The last section is “Crime,” and all currently active bounties are listed first. If players have no active bounties, the first entry in this section should be “Total Lifetime Bounty.” Note thatSkyrimlists bounties based on the name of the hold, not the name of the hold’s capital. Players can get the achievement “Master Criminal” by havinga bounty worth over 1000 in all 9 holds at once, and this stats page is a useful way to keep track.
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Bounty Guard Interactions
Whether the player or a guard starts the arrest interaction, players get several ways to respond.
Paying the bounty or going to jail will remove all stolen items from the player’s inventory. To avoid this, be sure tostash stolen items (inventory items with red names) somewhere safebefore dealing with a bounty.
Players also have several ways to handle an arrest that won’t clear a bounty.
Clearing a bounty inSkyrimisn’t hard, but players need to be careful who they talk to, where they keep their stolen items, and how they approach guards. Keep in mind which methods work and which ones don’t, and always remember to stash stolen items before dealing with a bounty.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimis available now on PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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