Ok so the other day 3 badass mercenaries in full iron gear came after me at a low level on a pretty new character. Took everything I had and several reloads to beat them, and it was epic! What I want to know is what did I do to trigger this random yet fun event? I want to do it again. Being an outlaw with bounty hunters after me is pretty cool but they didn't send anyone else yet.

Also I've seen dark brotherhood assassins come after me on every character I've done too, good or bad. Usually just one. Who hires this person?

Is it random theft or murder that triggers stuff like this? Or are they part of a quest?

DB assassins happen to everybody.. also Thalmor assassins, too. You have to be a jerkwad to someone to get the 3 hired thugs to arrive.

-Loth

you probably stole something. check their bodies, there should be a note about who hired them.

also note that even successful thieving may cause thugs to go after you- most likely a bug.

Or murders. Nazeem's wife sent them after me after he... fell... on a lightning bolt

ya its funny, i never got caught stealing anything in my game (if i did i would reload and do it again until i didnt get caught) but yet Orgnar at the Inn in Riverwood still hired them to come after me. So i killed them and sold there stuff too lol. Then i went back and decapitated Orgnar ...then reloaded so he wasn't dead lol

48 DB assassins killed.
All Argonians.

I am not joining the Dark Brotherhood.

Cool. Well I did help myself to some mead at this little secluded cabin in front of this lady. She then decided that mead was worth more than my life and pulled her weapon and attacked me. I left and she kept after me so I had to end her life. I might have stolen something somewhere else too... my first time as a bandit type character so I wasn't sure. Pretty cool though. So if I keep acting like a jerk more mercs will come after me?

i only had it happen that one time to me, and i steal sh*t all the time so idk if it's reocurring. be nice if it was though!

Oh, most definitely...
-Loth

Edit: To elaborate upon forum42087's post, stealing without being caught will trigger a differing Radiant event, and is only randomly spawned by certain NPC types. If you don't mess with them (Children, Forsworn, Guards, Winterhold Mages, Silver Hand) then you won't see the Hired Thugs appear. If you steal in plain sight or murder, then the standard 3 Hired Thugs may randomly show up, and this Radiant event can be spawned by nearly anyone who is considered "friendly".

Why does the DB hate me so much, namely the Argonian assassins?

Do you wear snakeskin boots?
-Loth

First time it happened to me I was doing a quest where I only had to talk to someone and throw a scare into them - simple conversation, no intimidation, just conversation, and that mf sent them after me. FOUR of them.

The second time was at level 2 and someone did witness me stealing something but didn't say anything. That's the ONLY reason I could come up with for being attacked at lvl 2 ! I ended that character as a corpse and never found out who ordered the hit.

The 3 hired thugs were always sent on my trail by the first person I had stolen from. I've re-rolled a few times, and I've seen Faendal (first theft ever), Falkreath Guard (dito for that character), a named pilgrim on the way to the shrine of Azura (he had shiny spellbooks in his pockets), and Ongvar (his bags of coins were shiny) as the people who sent the thugs.

No one except the first victim ever sent more thugs after me. The reason for that might of course be that the 3 hired thugs never survived the confrontation.


The DB assassins seem to be just a random event, just like the thievish highwaymen.

Please answer each of the following questions:

Are you playing a male?
Are you playing a female?
Are you playing an elf (for the purposes of this questionnaire, orcs are considered elves)?
Are you playing a human?
Are you playing an Argonian?
Are you playing a Khajit?
Are you a begger?
Are you rich?
Are you neither rich nor poor?
Do you own a house?
Are you homeless?
Are you a good person?
Are you an evil person?
Is your moral compass any mix of good and evil?
Are you an Imperial sympathizer?
Are you a Stormcloak?
Do you not support the Imperials nor the Stormcloaks?
Are you a warrior?
Are you a mage?
Are you a theif?
Are you any combination of the three above?

If you answered yes (or no) to any of the questions above, Congratulations!! Somebody wants you dead and will send the Dark Brotherhood after you!! Enjoy the attempts on your life and have a nice day!!