So do NPCs’ on-person inventories respawn after you’ve pickpocketed them

the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim

I'm going to try to be as specific as possible (because I saw this question: Do the inventories of NPCs respawn with new goodies after you've pickpocketed them?):

I am talking only about Skyrim and I simply want to know if NPCs respawn pickpocketed items.

I am also not talking about pickpocketing new NPCs that have respawned in cleared dungeons and such. I'm just focused on the question of pickpocketing NPCs that I left alive after I robbed them and whether or not they respawn items.

I googled around and I can't get a straight answer:

  • Followers never respawn
  • Followers DO respawn (especially after waiting)
  • Named NPCs never respawn
  • The opposite of that.
  • Named NPCs respawn if you leave one item on them.
  • Named NPCs respawn if you take everything.
  • Generic NPCs do or don't respawn, if you do or don't leave an item on them.
  • Specific followers/named NPCs/generic NPCs respawn items according to hidden rules that Bethesda made up that no one can figure out.

I simply want to know which one of these statements is true.

I tried watching and it was very strange to me because early on in the game, it seemed like they never respawned items no matter how long I waited. Later on (I had leveled up to about 30) it seemed like they DID respawn items if I waited.

Please help? I am very confused.

Best Answer

I was obsessing a little too much over this so I jettisoned my current playthrough and did a completely fresh install with no mods and experimented a little:

I stole everything off: generic NPCs, named NPCs, and followers both before and after I recruited them.

In all cases, if you steal everything off them, they will all respawn their clothes after 3 days. No one goes naked forever.

Both generic and named (non-follower) NPCs will not respawn anything other than clothes (as far as I can tell).

I tested this on Faendal both before and after he became a follower. Before he became a follower, he respawned clothes as well, but didn't respawn weapons. After he became a follower and we left the cell where I made him a follower (his house), he respawned his weapons again.

This is just a preliminary answer, I'll keep updating it as I find out more. I'd like to test it out for up to 30 days, and with a few other followers.

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