Starfield player discovers a way to kill NPCs without receiving a bounty

If you kill innocent people in Starfield, you'll be reprimanded. Expected, right? Usually, it's just a slap on the wrist or a fine - the future is very liberal when it comes to murder - but it's a bit annoying if you want to steal someone's clothes or carry out a reckless murder spree without consequences. Fortunately, there is a way to avoid bounties, and it doesn't require stealth.

As discovered by --Qwerty, the physics elements of Bethesda are still typical of Bethesda. You can pick up props like a trash can or an old computer and repeatedly swing them at NPCs to decrease their health. It's not as efficient as shooting them in the face or a few sword swings, but eventually, they will fall down and die. Technically, you haven't killed them since the game registers that the prop did all the work.

That means you won't get a bounty because it's not murder. It's an accident, an act of God, a stroke of fate. Not the invisible hand of the player, levitating objects to beat NPCs until they die. Just switch to third-person view and observe - you already had telekinetic powers before the main quest.

Once they're dead, all bets are off. You won't be reprimanded for looting their corpse. Apparently, the "finder's fee" rule applies to the recently... not murdered. Next of kin? Nope. Loved ones? Forget about it. Whoever happens to "stumble upon" their corpse has the privilege, which doesn't work in Baldur's Gate 3 if you happen to be roaming around there as well. Just for your information - you'll get in trouble if you wander around the city and loot people.

The reason why --Qwerty did this in the first place was that they needed the Akila security uniform but didn't want to break any laws or put a bounty on their head. You can do this by simply hiding in the shadows and killing a guard with a silenced weapon, in the old-fashioned way of the silent archer. However, if your character is loud and reckless, that won't work.

The discovery of killing an enemy with a physical object, accompanied by the conversations of the Akila city security officer as if they were just passing by, instead of falling to their hands and knees and clinging to the little life they have left. It's a bit macabre, for sure. Other applications of this include - murdering someone without them fighting back or you getting caught, killing insignificant NPCs near loot, and avoiding gunfights with crucial characters before speaking to them.