Meadgard how to stop goblins stealing coins has a two-part fix, and both halves have to happen. Customers throw their coins on the floor when you serve them, and a Greedy Goblin shows up about half a second after the gold hits the ground — so the coins have to be picked up immediately, and if the goblin gets there first you chase it down and beat it off with a tankard or a chair.
Meadgard how to stop goblins stealing coins: the two-part fix
- Pick the coins up the instant they land. The money is on the floor, not in your purse. Your balance only goes up when you physically collect the coins, and a pickup toast confirms it — "ADDED TO INVENTORY / Coin x11".
- Chase the goblin off when it beats you to them. The goblin that strolls in to pocket your coins can be driven away by going after it with a tankard, or a whole chair, and hitting it until it leaves. That takes a chunk of your shift, which is exactly why the fix below matters more than the fight.
The coins are on the floor, not in your purse
Your gold total sits in a coin counter at the top right of the counter HUD — 19 during a shift, 564 on the recipe book screen, 286 on a vendor's shop panel in the demo — and none of those numbers move until somebody picks the coins up off the tavern floor. The coins customers toss down when you serve them are the reason a clean, fast shift can still end with less money than you expected.
This is also why the goblin is not a nuisance to laugh at: a coin left on the floor is a coin you will not have, and it happens half a second after it drops.
They raid the bar as well as the floor
The same creatures work the counter. Greedy Goblins skulk around the edges and pilfer mead if your back is turned, and they also raid during the day and sneak into the tavern to steal stock while you are busy with the floor. The barrel is where they go for the drink, and the mead barrel guide covers how that side of the shift runs.
Why it bites harder when you are alone
In co-op the fix is obvious: one person on the floor, one on the bar, and ideally a second person free to deal with the coin thief. Solo, nobody is free. The goblin is the sharpest edge of the game in that mode, and the requests to be able to switch it off in solo runs are a standing complaint. If you are running the tavern by yourself, the solo play guide has the priority order that keeps it manageable, and the co-op roles guide explains who takes the chase in a group of two or more.