If stealing is allowed it should have very serious consequences, like jail time. It\'s simple, get caught stealing a low level item, you do low level time, the higher the level the harder the time. The problem with replacing a stolen item with currency is it opens the door to abuse, how hard is it for a group of thieves to just keep stealing the same item(s) from each other to build up wealth. If a thief class is created, it should be EXTREAMLY hard to level, this ensures that only the dedicated will become proficient at it, it also creates a better roleplaying experience. Basically if you are stolen from you get nothing, but if you catch the thief, you get everything. This also creates a player(s) that hunt known thieves, and the problem solves itself by using the players against themselves.