Master Criminal is an achievement/trophy in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, for which a bounty of 1000 gold must be earned in all of the nine holds at the same time.

This achievement is easily unlocked at a high level, as the character can take more hits. Killing a guard in front of witnesses will give an automatic 1000 bounty. The easiest strategy here is to kill a guard, flee and fast travel to another hold. One could also steal a horse at the stables to facilitate the escape. Repeat for all nine holds. Those who want to keep a good reputation could do this achievement on another save file, and reload their "good" game once it has been unlocked.

Notes

• Killing witnesses of your crimes will remove the bounty accumulated, leave some NPC's alive to tell the tale if you wish to keep your bounty high.
• It's easy to unlock this achievement if the player has been infected with lycanthrophy. Simply turn into a werewolf in front of someone. You will get your 1000 gold bounty from transforming. Just leave and repeat in the next hold.
• It appears that if you are the Thane of a hold, they might pardon your crime without even mentioning it to you. If this Achievement won't pop, return to the holds where you are Thane and commit your crime of choice again.

Bugs

• Unlocking this achievement is impossible for non-english versions of the game as the bounties earned are not calculated by holds. Fixed in version 1.4.^[1]

The Holds of Skyrim

• Eastmarch
• Falkreath Hold
• Haafingar
• Hjaalmarch
• The Pale
• The Reach
• The Rift
• Winterhold Hold
• Whiterun Hold

	Master Criminal Bounty of 1000 gold in all nine holds
Points	20
Trophy

References

1. ↑ Now on Steam: Beta Update for Skyrim (Updated) | Bethesda Blog