Thieves Guild (Skyrim)

The Thieves Guild is one of several factions that appear in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

History
Throughout the Fourth Era, the Thieves Guild has been in heavy decline. At the time of the Dragon Crisis, their influence has shrunk so much that they operate only in Riften, almost exclusively in the employ of Maven Black-Briar. They are now essentially thugs, like they have traditionally been in the Iliac Bay region.

Joining
First, enter Riften and find Brynjolf. He should be in the town square at his stall during the day and at The Bee and Barb at night. He will usually approach the player to offer the quest A Chance Arrangement, in which he asks you to frame another merchant, Brand-Shei. Speak with him and complete his quest, by stealing Madesi's Silver Ring and reverse-pickpocketing it to Brand-Shei, (it does not matter whether you succeed or fail) and Brynjolf will ask you to meet him in the bar called The Ragged Flagon, located underneath Riften, in the Ratway.

Once you have fought through thugs hired to defend the Guild, and also avoided booby-traps, talking to Brynjolf in the Flagon will start the Taking Care of Business quest. Complete this quest and return to Brynjolf and you will be the newest member of the Thieves Guild. You could alternativly simply pick the lock on the door when hopping down at the raised bridge section to avoid going through the entire Ratway.

Thieves' Guild Main Questline

 * 1) A Chance Arrangement
 * 2) Taking Care of Business
 * 3) Loud and Clear
 * 4) Dampened Spirits
 * 5) Scoundrel's Folly
 * 6) Speaking With Silence
 * 7) Hard Answers
 * 8) The Pursuit
 * 9) Trinity Restored
 * 10) Blindsighted
 * 11) Darkness Returns

Side Quests

 * Deliver Moon Sugar to Ri'Saad (Unlocks Khajiit Caravans as Fences for Stolen Goods).
 * Reparations is unlocked when you break one of the Guild's rules, such as assaulting or stealing from a member of the Guild. You will not be able to do any other quests or talk to any of the members until this quest is complete.

Small Jobs
Delvin and Vex offer an unlimited number of radiant quests known as "jobs." The target item(s) and location are generated randomly. Jobs can be accepted and quit at will and it is possible (and efficient) to run a job for Delvin and one for Vex simultaneously. A Special Job will be unlocked For each, after performing five small jobs in Whiterun, Markarth, Windhelm, and Solitude.

Delvin Mallory's Jobs

 * The Bedlam Job - Steal enough items or gold to reach a given value within the assigned Hold. Can keep stolen items. (Can be time consuming.)
 * ​The Fishing Job - Pickpocket an item from a given character. (Can be difficult.)
 * The Numbers Job - Modify the ledger book at a given business. (Fast, very easy.)

Vex's Jobs

 * The Burglary Job - Steal an item from a house.
 * The Heist Job - Steal an item from a business.
 * The Shill Job - Plant a stolen item in an NPC's home. (Easier than stealing.)
 * The Sweep Job - Steal three items from a house.

Special Jobs
After performing five total Small Jobs in a city, Delvin will offer that city's special job. It may be less time-consuimg to quit jobs in cities in which you have already completed the Special Job. In order to restore the Thieves' Guild to its former glory and assume the title of Guildmaster, you must perform these four special jobs. Each Special Job will add a new merchant to the Ragged Flagon and to the total gold of all fences in Skyrim, up to the maximum of 5000. Once all special jobs are complete, speak to Brynjolf to be officially named Guild Master.


 * Imitation Amnesty. Whiterun. Unlocks an additional fence.
 * Summerset Shadows. Windhelm. Unlocks an additional fence.
 * Silver Lining. Markath. Unlocks an additional fence.
 * The Dainty Sload. Solitude.

Larceny Targets

 * Larceny Targets are a series of unique items that can be sold to Delvin for an extra bit of coin.
 * Most are found in dungeons, houses, and keeps during the completion of the Thieves Guild main quest series, and during the Special Jobs.

Armor Sets
When completing quests in the Thieves guild, the player can obtain four different armor sets.
 * Thieves Guild Armor (Obtained after Taking Care of Business)
 * Part of the main Thieves Guild questline
 * Nightingale Armor (Obtained during Trinity Restored)
 * Part of the main Thieves Guild questline
 * Guild Master's Armor Set (Obtained after Under New Management)
 * Linwe's Armor Set (Obtained during Summerset Shadows)

Reparations
In the event that you get caught stealing from or attacking another guild member or one of their associates, you will be removed from the guild and none of the members will speak to you. {C To rejoin the guild you must speak to Vex, she will then provide you with a quest called Reparations where you must pay her 1,000 Gold to rejoin the guild.

Trivia
Sometimes in towns there is a random Thief trying to lockpick a door. Guards will yell "Stop Thief!". You can kill this thief and take his items without any reparations.

Normally this random thief will have:
 * Gold (random amount)
 * Gold Ingot
 * Random housewares (candlesticks, platters, plates, etc.)
 * Gems (random assortment)

In the small room where training goes on, there are chests for each level of difficulty and can be picked without it being considered stealing.

Bugs

 * While not game breaking, the Civil War Quests Defense of Whiterun or Liberate Whiterun can render some houses inaccessible in Whiterun for the Special Jobs. If this is the case, just quit the job and get another. (All Platforms)
 * Sometimes Larceny Targets are impossible to turn in. (All Platforms)
 * Selling your original Thieves Guild armor can trigger a bug later in the Thieves Guild quest tree, preventing Tonilia from upgrading your armor at the end of Scoundrel's Folly. This also prevents you from interacting with Tonilia and therefore using her services as a fence.
 * Sometimes selling your original Thieves Guild armor can prevent you from getting the quest "Under New Managment" even after competing all 4 special jobs.
 * Sometimes you will not get the quest 'Dampened Spirits' after completing the quest before that. Saving + Reloading doesn't seem to work. (PS3, Jan 8 2012.)
 * If after finishing planting the ring for Brynjolf, there is a person who you can talk to that will reactivate the quest to talk to Brynjolf to plant the ring. But at this point, Brynjolf will stand in the market place in his armor (as if he is still distracting to people) and you will be unable to get him into the Ragged Flagon. When talking to him he will only say to talk to him in the Flaggon, but he will never appear there thus making it impossible to join the guild.