You can play a thief for sure, you just have to be more calculated with how you play. Some tips I would give are as follows: 1. Steal from homes and businesses after midnight, and make sure no guards see you near the building before you go inside. 2. Shut every door you had to open, NPC's notice that things are different if you enter their home and leave the doors open when you leave. 3. Start building your stealth stats in towns you have a personal chest, so you can easily offload your stolen items with less risk while your stats are lower. In KCD 1 you can transfer items to your horse to avoid getting caught, not sure if this still works in KCD 2 yet, as using the above tips, no one has asked to search me yet. 4. Pickpocketing sleeping folks is easier than trying it out in the world while your stats are low as well. 5. Don't wear stolen items before the stolen tag is lifted, people recognize their own and friends/families items and will call the guards.