Overview
Masks are required to steal items in Crimson Desert. Without a mask equipped, the "Steal" prompt will not appear when interacting with NPCs or objects. Masks are part of the crime system and enable an entire underground gameplay loop.
How to Equip a Mask
Controller: Hold Left D-Pad to open the radial menu, navigate to the top-left mask slot, then press LT/RT (Xbox) or L2/R2 (PlayStation) to toggle the mask on or off.
Keyboard: Press F2 to open the radial menu, then use the mouse wheel or click to toggle the mask.
You can toggle the mask off just as quickly when you want to walk around without drawing suspicion.
Where to Buy Masks
Masks cost 10 copper coins from Back Alley Shops found throughout the world. The first Back Alley Shop is located southeast of Hernand City along the stream. These shops appear on the map as a red circle icon with a mask symbol. You can also obtain masks as drops from defeated bandits.
What You Can Do with a Mask
Steal items from NPCs, shops, and containers throughout the world.
Threaten and intimidate NPCs to force them to hand over belongings.
Consequences
Getting spotted: If an NPC or guard sees you stealing, you become wanted and guards will search for you.
Prison: If caught, you serve time in jail. Guards will confiscate your mask after you are released.
Bounty: Repeated crimes increase your bounty, making guards more aggressive.
Tips
Buy multiple masks so you have a spare if one gets confiscated.
Steal at night when fewer NPCs are around to spot you.
Dewhaven: Remove the Robbery Mask
The Dewhaven Keep militia treats the robbery mask as hostile identification and will attack you on sight if you enter while wearing it. Simply removing the mask before approaching makes the guards peaceful again with no further steps required.
If you want to keep a disguise aesthetic inside the keep, the standard Dewhaven plate helm and armor drops also mark you as friendly. However, unequipping the mask is the simplest fix and does not require farming the disguise set.
Bunny Mask and Vendor Trust
One specific mask is worth calling out because it changes how vendors see you rather than how enemies do. The Bunny Mask (also called the Rabbit Leather Mask) adds +2 trust to every gift you hand to an NPC while you are wearing it. A +5 flower becomes +7, a +10 Grilled Fruit becomes +12, and so on. Keep it in a quick-swap slot and equip it during gifting rounds, then swap back to combat headgear when you need to fight. The mask is craftable from leather goods, and a second copy is sold at Karin Quarry. See the NPC Trust System for daily gift caps and why the +2 bonus compounds so quickly.