How to Run A Heist - Running RPGs

[@SandyofCthulhu]

This is extremely clear and easy-to-use advice. Speaking as a person who has GMed since literally 1974(!), I got useful tips on how to run a heist here. Thanks, Seth.

[@SSkorkowsky]

I take this as one of the highest compliments I could have. Thank you, sir.

[@pulloutkingthefinestnamein3089]

Holy Hot Heck Are You Sandy Petersen Of Call Of Cthulhu? You are the maker of my current favorite RPG! And commenting on a Seth Skorkowsky video no less!

[@pulloutkingthefinestnamein3089]

@@SSkorkowsky How did you manage to not fanboy over Sandy Petersen commenting on your video?

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@pulloutkingthefinestnamein3089 Seth and me are buddies - we met last fall, and up until the GLOBAL PANDEMIC hit, he was playtesting my board games about once a week. So I guess I'm old hat to him by now.

[@SSkorkowsky]

Sandy is just so used to people fanboying over the decades that he hasn't even noticed my constant high-pitched squealing.

[@Mauther]

One bit I would add, don't forget to weigh the mission based on the player's, not just the characters ability and experience. With beginners, I usually give them an "in". For instance, their employers might get them basic IDs to get past the perimeter or info that the delivery driver is susceptible to bribery/blackmail. For intermediate players, similar assistance is available if they look. Maybe they can hire a NPC expert to exploit a weakness the team can't (for a cut of the loot). IF the PCs do enough legwork they can find a weakness (note: this is not a fatal weakness, the weakness should allow them to beat one level of security only example: the head guard on floor 17 has a thing for blondes with an Australian accent so your Face character should be able to exploit that). For advanced players, I put the defenses in place first, then it's up to the players, no Training wheels. Another thing to consider is the defenses need to make sense. Any GM worth their salt should be able to make an impregnable vault. The question is why did they spend $25 billion to defend a treasure worth $1 million? If the "treasure" is a research file for the company's new product, why would they lock it down so hard that the research scientists themselves can't access it? Just like the ecology of a dungeon should make some sense (why is there a tribe of 30 goblins on level 15 of the dungeon with no access to water or an apparent food source), the security should make sense. I mean, yes I can defend the jewelry store with a dozen automated sentry turrets and omni-directional anti-personnel mines and the sales clerks in military grade combat armor, but who's going to set foot in a store that is designed to kill you?

[@jesternario]

An interesting idea would be to reverse the scenario. The players are the dragon, guarding the macguffin, while you as the GM present a group of NPCs who are going to steal something.

[@SSkorkowsky]

There used to be an old module collection like this (2e D&D I think) where the PCs were goblins and they build the dungeon for the NPC adventurers. There were like 3 scenarios, each a higher level. Never read it, myself, but remember a buddy telling me about it.

[@jesternario]

@@SSkorkowsky Yeah, the Reverse Dungeon. I remember seeing that module at Media Play (I know, that dates me pretty hard).

[@richmcgee434]

@@SSkorkowsky It's newer than this video, but the Wicked Ones RPG from Bandit Camp is pretty much the reverse dungeon heist thing mashed up with the old Dungeon Keeper PC game. Uses the Forged In the Dark engine that Blades in the Dark and Scum & Villainy use, which is explicitly designed for heist gaming. Worth a look if you get the chance - and actually see this post months late.

[@LddStyx]

I had an idea like this once: The PCs start out working for the secret BBG as security specialists - building the base and defending it from thieves. Until the twist where the villain is revealed and the party is on the run with the climax of the story breaking into the base that they helped design.

[@heidisuszko353]

Anecdote: to get into the secure building, players rent a shop next door so they can tunnel in thru the basement walls. But maintaining the cover of the shop becomes the main adventure, as they have to make it look and act like a real business to avoid suspicion. A rival heist team also wants that shop so is continually creating problems in order to drive the shop out of business. By the time the actual heist happens the "shopkeepers" are disappointed to abandon the thriving new business.

[@JPChereb]

A heist killed my group of 2 years. I had been running shadowrun with them for about 9 months, and to be honest they never were the most creative bunch even when we played different systems, but I figured they were ready to do a heist since it's a very common kind of run in the setting and I wanted to give them a different kind of session from the usual, figured maybe it's spark their interest. Long story short, their lack of initiative drove the game to a halt for three weeks, and my patience ran out. I know I should plan games to cater to the group, and this was really a problem that was going on for far longer than just three weeks, but I gave them every tool to do the job; I prepared blueprints, I planned shifts and routines for the staff, I took into account each of their abilities, they even had not one but two contacts with previous criminal experience ready to advice them IC in case they needed the help. I made sure they were *aware* they had all of these tools too, but they were all so goddamn lazy and unable to think that I ran out of patience and flipped the proverbial table on them. They don't even have the excuses of them just not wanting to play a heist since they could always just not take the job. In any case, I just wanted to drain since I felt wronged for the amount of effort I put into every single session for them to never appreciate it. Showing up late, missing lots of sessions without prior notice, the lack of action on the actual heist was just the last straw in a series of annoyances I had with them. It's a shame since I consider them all my friends, but god they made me being a GM just not fun anymore. Anyway, just wanted to vent since this happened two weeks ago and this video proved somewhat topical.

[@rewritable_]

Well done, flipping the table is hard, but sometimes necessary and the only reasonable action. Enduring beyond the obvious limit is how RPG horror stories are made.

[@amarisbellord6403]

@Matt Olch Seconded, thoroughly. I would love those blueprints and guard routines!

[@mre6659]

Another way to handle planning is only giving the pc's like 10-15 minutes, then giving them like 3-5 tokens that they can use for flashbacks. So they just get started qnd when faced with an obstacle they can spend a token to flashback to how they prepared to overcome it. But eventually tokens run out and they have to improv on the spot :)

[@nicknumber1512]

Remember...a trash can.

[@mr.cup6yearsago211]

That’s actually a really interesting concept.

[@NayrAnur]

Blades In The Dark?

[@mre6659]

​@@NayrAnur from what I understand Blades has a mechanic like it yes, but I never played it unfortunately

[@spacedinosaur8733]

The Dragon could always turn that "hole in the fortress" in to a honey-trap. An obvious trap to capture the unwary...perhaps that is how another team supposedly went in.

[@sephikong8323]

And the dragon could also be a self destruct system on the artifact to destroy it if someone tries to steal it (or alternatively, the artifact could be the plans for something bigger and thus if you alert people of your presence they will change their plans, then instead of easing the job for an ulterior mission, it will have either no effect or make it even harder). So many cool things to do with this set up really

[@SabreXT]

That's a great idea.

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

An observation I came across a while back: a heist is something like a magic trick, and happens in the same three stages: the pledge - establishing the goal and limitations, what tools are available, and more importantly what tools aren't; the turn - something happens that's technically within the rules established, or at least appears to be, but that someone wasn't expecting, and that seems at a glance like those tools that aren't allowed should be needed; and the prestige - the exciting part, getting back to normal without breaking the rules.

[@ryancampbell2192]

Great description!

[@TabletopArchives]

As someone who just ran a heist in DnD 5E just a few weeks ago, you really need to make sure that the players realize that combat will not be the main focus of the session/campaign. I find it can be difficult to not have combat/ want combat when that’s all DnD basically is

[@BTsMusicChannel]

If you have an OSR type game (i.e., not a 5e game with superheroes) where combat is often deadly, they will already know not to be stupid all the time.

[@TabletopArchives]

@Paul Gauthier Yeah that’s always the tough part is getting people to play another RPG system. I had a friend run a Call of Cthulhu campaign but everyone was so use to DnD that they wanted to solve everything with combat. If you can convince your friends to play a one shot to get a feel for the mechanics then maybe that would make them want to play more. Dread/Ten Candles is a great RPG system for one shots!

[@zsheets7483]

I really appreciate the way you lay out the versatility of a heist style adventure, particularly at the beginning, but also how each phase can be tweaked for a different feeling or focus. It highlights how a GM could run a heist themed campaign and still have a healthy amount of variety in the individual adventures.

[@CaptMac42]

Ok so i kinda want to hear that full rooftop heist story.

[@droman608]

YES!

[@ArawnNox]

Theres a game out there called Cryptomancer that was invented by a group of IT CyberSecurity professionals. It takes the concepts of cryptology and applies it to a fantasy world with a fantasy internet. It goes on about how to think like a cryptologist, breaking things down in to systems and how to hack those systems, whether its layers of security or social circles. Its really interesting. Its not for everyone however as its a Death Spiral kind of game. How long can you keep the Fantasy Illuminate from coming down on your head? But its really neat. I agree with lots of things in this video. I love basically setting up a series of obstacles in front of the players and letting them figure out how to go about pulling off their heist. I have a group of friends who totally love heists/assault heists.

[@TheDuelManiacs]

Seth really loves jumping the gun on Bombshell when it comes to Cyberpunk

[@rmalott74]

That was a great video too 😊

[@wait4tues]

Someone send this video to the chain of acheron

[@dirus3142]

yeah really. I found it odd Matt had to dive down a rabbit whole of thought for a heist. Two nights of play tops. One to set it up, one to execute.

[@wait4tues]

Ikr. Ive been so excited for the heist episode. Seriously hoping this pandemic doesn't effectively cancel the chain.

[@danspencer1281]

I miss the Chain.

[@Alresu]

Send something to the chain? Let's use the chain mail for that!

[@novaiscool1]

Currently working on Waterdeep Dragon Heist and attempting to redesign the final bit to make it a real heist, so this video is fairly helpful.

[@owlbear4928]

Did it work out?

[@novaiscool1]

@@owlbear4928 no Covid lasted so long that by the time those of us that could get back together could get together we had lost more than half the party and what was left didn't work well on their own. So we started a completely new campaign with a few new folks and they didn't want to play Dragon Heist again so soon.

[@thomasrhoads4316]

I see Seth, I click.

[@travishimebaugh8381]

Ironically this just popped up in my Recommendation section after I finished Castle of Cagliostro on Netflix.

[@kev_whatev]

It’s on Netflix?? I know what I’m doing tonight

[@Gh0stClown]

I've genuinely been talking to my friends a lot recently about how much I want to play a heist game. So I'm going to have to ask you to stop reading my mind Seth because it's rude without asking.

[@nooctip]

THe first heist I ever ran was in a D&D game. the party had bought a treasure map from a guy in a tavern. The map was real and showed where the treasure was. Only problem was to find out which island it was you also needed a ship's logbook and a nautical chart. The guy was in town because he had located the logbook. But it was in the fortified home of a wealthy merchant captain, and he couldn't get it. The party had other ideas.

[@cetx]

I actually prefer putting a "timer" on the characters rather than the players. This way, if the players get very sidetracked or start to stagnate, I can advance the time in the gameworld to encourage them to come to resolution. If the timer is in the real world, it's harder for me to elegantly adjust.

[@timbuktu8069]

Something I like to do is after the guards and protections are in place, I allow the players to make their set up plans. One may flirt with the secretary. Another may carouse with the guards at the local tavern. The key to the "research phase" is that if they fail, the protectors are alerted that "something is up". The more they fail the greater the chance of getting caught. Contrariwise, if they do exceptionally well, they may get some bonus information. At any event it sure beats: "I make my Steal Things roll."

[@railbaron1]

Someone the Hole in the Fortress' security could be the source of the time limit. Take the Rhodes Bank Heist in Red Dead Redemption 2. The bank had bricked over a window that lead into the vault, but the bricks were weak and due to be replaced.

[@theears995]

Honey Heist has a really interesting flashback mechanic that lets you potentially solve a problem or an obstacle - at the cost of adding a point to your Criminal stat. You play as bears trying to steal honey (as well as one other item rolled randomly) - if you fail a roll, you get angry and take one point out of your criminal stat and put it in the bear stat. If either the Bear stat or the Criminal stat ever reaches 6 (you start off with 3 in each) your bear either goes berserk and gets taken away by Animal Control, or you realize you’re a criminal at heart and betray the party! The best part? Honey Heist is free

[@xxzmaster04xx29]

When you talked about how the escape can be the juicy part of a heist, I remembered this level from Dead Cells (spoilers from an area from the base game of Dead Cells). The level I'm talking about is the Temple, or Sanctuary. One of the new features of this level, apart of its new construct enemies, are the statues of creatures, most from this very same level. You approach them carefully, but when you gel close, nothing happens. You can't break them, either. You can't interact with them entirely. You keep going through the level, and you eventually stumble upon a closed door. You can't open or break it. So you search for another way. At some point, after killing waves of enemies, you will find a room with some kind of lever you can interact with. When do, the door of this room closes, the walls from the temple start to emit an orange light, the music turns more fast-paced and epic, and a teleporter that leads to the start to the level activates (for context, any other level would have some more teleporters, and the are used for quick travelling between rooms). Now you're at the starting room, cleared of enemies. But when you approach the statues, they come back to life. Now you have to go through that locked door and ~exit~ escape the place. But it won't be that easy. I won't spoil it, but there is a very original way this level makes it harder for you to run away without fighting. The first time I entered this place, it was truly magical. That's why I hate spoilers. This is a memory that is carved in my heart. Hope you enjoyed this, and that it may help you blooming your own aventure, and that you can have your own beloved memory.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Tons of useful stuff here. I especially appreciate the advice about how to implement the Dragon. I normally think of that as something like a level boss who's supposed to be defeated. Making it instead a threat that's broader in scope and best avoided will definitely give my next heist adventure more suspense.

[@UtushoReiuji]

No van is ever truly complete without a hidden retractable turret of dual-linked autocannons on the roof.

[@jasonnewell7036]

Dweebles is so bloodthirsty. I love it.

[@nicknumber1512]

Most of the time he's an affable geek, but cross him and the next thing you know, he's telling you to lie to Captain Binky about how everything's going to be alright. Best stay on his good side, unless you want teddy bear brains all over your best gaming table.

[@elgatochurro]

I love how short your plug ins are. I could really use the inspiration for my heist campaign

[@gamelover260]

I once ran a heist in Call of Cthulu not to long ago. They needed to get to an artifact held in a giant bank with alarms, guards and police. They ended up having the mob blow up part of town to distract the police and some guards while they used a flimsy board to walk from roof to the banks roof, it ended up with them with the artifact with no one knowing.

[@smirkingparadox]

I've been watching your videos for a while, and I've been considering getting my hands on one of your books. I'll be honest the fact that you said R C Bray narrates the audiobook for you has made my decision where this month's credit is going.

[@SSkorkowsky]

He also did my Valducan series. The first two novels in that were Audie Finalist for Best Paranormal Audiobook. I was real lucky to have scored him as my narrator.

[@paulvalentine4157]

I got Damoren with last months credit. Great audiobook all around. Will pick up the next one soon.

[@OmegaDeathBunny]

A great module to look at is "Downtown Data Heist" for The Sprawl (Powered by the Apocaly0pse Cyberpunkt game) availlable for free, I think. It builds the location based on the legwork of the players, so basically they get exactly what they came for.

[@Pandaemoni]

Oner mechanic for heists I really like is giving the players "heist points" that they can use in response to either kinks or other unexpected circumstances to explain, in hindsight, how they actually *DID* think about and plan for a circumstance. It works like a flashback in a movie where the player describes a previously unmentioned detail. Some examples: 1) Say the vault they are stealing from has an emergency lockdown if the artifact is ever moved and the players didn't consider it, by spending a heist point, the player can rewind and flashback to his holding the door open a crack by dropping a wedge in it as he entered. 2) If the PCs are being chased, a heist point can be used to say they stashed bags of ball-bearings or placed tripwires or bear traps along the escape route (if that would otherwise make sense in the game world). Since they placed them, they can easily avoid them, but they will slow down pursuers. 3) Or, say that the client hiring the party specifies that no one in the Fortress can be killed, but a crazed (and cursed) PC panics and fells a museum curator with his axe when he's discovered (this really happened in a game), then one of the PCs (even the offending PC) can spend a heist point to flashback to a scene of him grinding away and dulling the edge of that axe...so that the blunt axe may injure - but won't kill - anyone. How many heist points people get vary depending on how many kinks the GM is throwing in or expects they will face. I think one or two per player as a base. The more PCs there are, the fewer heist points they should get. Too many heist points can make the heist too easy, but having them as a resource also helps diffuse "planning paralysis" if the PCs are just afraid to get the actual heist started. Players seem to enjoy basically being able to co-create the story in an imaginative, but plausible, way.

[@ladybuzzkillington2072]

Running a heist in CoC this week. Using a bank from a videogame as my place, mostly due to my printer crapping out so i had to find a premade one and it had a bunch of names for Callouts used in game that makes it easier to follow how we are moving. But im super excited because i have a couple of small details to add to the campaign inside as well as a being able to watch my players dive into it.

[@Frostfly]

As a driver of a white cargo van. thank you for making my life a bit more interesting

[@NoFlu]

As someone with an interest in Heist games/movies and real-life (non violent) heists and con jobs, I love heists in RPGs, especially in the 20th/21st century & future settings. However, I'm the only GM in my friend group who GMs these eras so I always end up with 5000 IQ heists like: Walk in and try stealing the thing, out in the open, with 3 guards watching you, when you told the other guys in the crew you'd only stake the store out. And now the mission changed from a heist to a breakout

[@khpa3665]

1:46 The Artifact 2:37 The Fortress (4:07 Powers and Abilities) 7:22 The Dragon 8:54 The Setup (9:16 Time Limit; 10:26 Getting Equipped; 11:12 Making the Plan; 13:17 Glaring Hole) 16:22 The Job 16:56 The Kink 20:25 The Escape 20:55 The Tradeoff

[@IrishJohn101]

Passing this video to my friends who enjoy DM'ing

[@rodrigoflaviosb]

Really love this channel, one day I will see a Seth Skorkowsky game here on youtube, unfortunately here on Brazil, finding game masters is a problem and a cool one that is commited to make the players experience fun like Seth is even rarer.

[@brichouse2117]

I am truly inspired to try and make a heist game. A crazy kink would be a secondary NPC team from a separate contractor. That would be lit.

[@bighara]

Nice Ryan Reynolds "Foolproof" thumbnail shout out. An underrated heist film IMO.

[@richmcgee434]

Good solid advice as always. Heists were never my strength as a GM, but I certainly enjoyed playing in one as a PC.

[@sanlesluksetich9295]

I just ran a traveller hybrid stealth/assault heist heavily inspired by your video and it went perfectly. The time limit was the best part and ramped up the stakes 💰 A high tech imperial military equipment transport 🐲 Local imperial Navy 🏯 The travellers choice of 2 separate military bases on the route of the military transport . The two players got to pick a team of Marines and specialists for their mission.

[@Thrudd2]

I love your videos!!!!😍 keep it up! Love it!

[@GMspiration]

I'm running a heist tomorrow night, and as luck would have it I have done no prep. Come at me Seth!

[@Xarcolt]

22:31 is the part that killed my phone because I spit-taked coffee all over it. 😂

[@scottc287]

The employer betrayal is classic! "Ironman, Ironman this is Charlie One. Message is: Pass them by."

[@scimerio1117]

"Go Dweebles! Get those mo***kers!" Lol

[@ericm3327]

Just started writing a dnd heist style game using gritty realism rules. Great timing

[@Tysto]

Great advice! The kink is a great excuse to plug a hole you left, but the key is to roll dice to “see” if it happens. Roll for each thing the heist plan relies on. All of them should be an easy roll vs having a problem, not a brick wall. Eventually, they’ll run into a kink. This sort of thing seems fair & natural, and if one of them plug the hole you left that would’ve made it too easy, that’s a plus.

[@TenthingsIhateabout_Josh]

I have been waiting my whole life for this video

[@ThomasTwoBit]

To get around overly long planning phases, I have them intentionally brief. If their plan fails we rewind to the planning phase and all the events that happened were hypotheticals. The failed plan does have the downside of the time being incremented by one (eg if they have 5 days they have just wasted a day). This lets them explore different approaches and playstyles for the dungeon with less stress but still have stakes. Edit: grammer

[@PJKP82]

My players expected the Kink. So did I, planned it. But with the constant critical success rolls, their characters are now known as ”the guys, who ran the Kallistas job without a shot fired.” And that made a little less exciting game session very memorable.

[@gothmissstress]

Running the heist later today. So excited. And very grateful for your tips 👏

[@tennozeorymer]

Good video. And oh man, I have one hell of a story about the characters thinking up a way into my "fortress" that I hadn't expected... MAN, did it get wild.

[@iainmaclean1205]

Its worth taking a look at Blades In The Dark - it has a mechanic that addresses the planning/shopping paralysis. It starts in media res, the heist is on! As the players progress they are allowed to declare that they bought this or that as required, up to a limit, and they can also declare that they anticipated a situation and have to explain how they made provisions for dealing with it. For example, the guard on the back door, the players declare that they know he has gambling debts, they used underworld contacts, or followed him, but they have arranged to have those debts written off if the guard leaves the door open and goes for a break at a certain time. It makes prep easier too.

[@pwbi3988]

This video giving me all kinds of ideas for a fantasy heist where the players have to break into a wizards tower to steal a magic item... really great video!

[@altasilvapuer]

I finally found some time to come back to this video after having watched the "What bug" war story. When you described the roof scene in this video (and especially after you talked to the GM afterwards about "where we got caught"), my first thought was essentially, "Damn. He DOES go bombshell all the time." xD

[@SabreXT]

Suggestion for a Dragon- Civilian casualties. eg. Lots of innocent people could get caught in the crossfire if it goes loud. I had a museum heist completely bypassed by a player who used the most OP skill in any RPG. Role playing. We ended up with a funny story out of it at least. Most a session bypassed by a kid genius pretending to be clumsy, while the rest of the party hung around the Egypt exhibit trying to talk to the mummies.

[@TheCaniblcat]

Funny. I just introduced my players to Blood of Heroes (formerly DC Heroes RPG) and they need to break into a secured military research facility and steal both a particular research project and its head researcher. They are told that the researcher is not to be harmed in any way but otherwise any collateral damage is irrelevant. The facility is patrolled by multiple heavily armed guards and dogs and there are three entrances, each with their own issues (one is the large freight entrance protected with heavily armed guards, autocannons and even missile launchers. The "main" entrance is where the researchers and staff enter/exit and it moderately secured by security guards with assault rifles and body armor, as well as dogs. The last is relatively lightly armed with security guards in light armor and submachine guns, but that's the entrance most security guards use to enter and exit. Once inside, there are 4 banks of elevator, each going to an isolated level of the facility and each level is working on a different project. They need to find out which bank of elevators lead to the project they need. Since the information available on the facility is all hearsay, some information may be wrong or just their employer's "best guess". Waiting until Saturday to find out what hi-jinks they have planned to get in and out. :)

[@kovichcrow]

I just recently ordered Cyberpunk 2020 and the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart and your videos(Which I discovered shortly after) have been very insightful, thanks

[@SeanLaMontagne]

Ooh! Two-part Call of Cthulhu game idea. Part one is the perfect Heist, the players get hired to steal some precious gem or item that was recently uncovered, maybe found in a mummy's tomb. It goes perfectly well, it's the best example of the perfect height, and the players feel great about it. They give the item to their employer, the employer pays them. Part 2 is finding out that the item players stole it's being used for something horrible and now they have to steal it back. And then that can be the real Heist, with potential for it to go horribly wrong. As for what bad thing happens when they give the item to their employer at the end of part 1, the options are endless. You can make it something simple like it helps Resurrect The Mummy from the tomb, and maybe the employer is the mummy, for a servant of The Mummy. You could also steel elements from the Blackwater Call of Cthulhu Adventure and show the players that people in the town are getting sick after they stole the item and gave it to their employer. There's lots of options there. But the gist of it is part one is the perfect heist, and part 2 is the real Heist to undo the damage from the first one being successful.

[@johanneskaiser8188]

Handy tool for Fantasy-GMs for preventing magical solutions: A Homestone (not sure if there is a translation, I just did a literal one). It comes from the P&P RPG Midgard. The spell permanently empowers a certain set of stones that need to be built into the protected structure (be it as small as a house or as big as a huge castle), the main focus - the Homestone itself - having to be kept somewhere inside, and if it is removed the spell breaks. With this spell active, it is impossible for magic to leave or enter the building in ANY way, which means no flying, no teleport, no telekinetic yoinking of important objects, no magical attacks from either side (can suck for the defenders if they have more spellcasters), summoned creatures can not enter or leave and if they are furced they are very likely to be destroyed or dismissed. This makes it an ideal tool for heists, as magic still works inside, so casters aren't useless, and opens the possibility of a teleport escape if the party manages to snatch or destroy the Homestone. But getting in will require creativity, because even the fallback plan of "fly over it, drop feather fall", doesn't work, as the featherfall will be dispelled as soon as the enchanted people enter the protected zone. The size of that isn't precisely described other than "encompassing the entire structure", so GMs can assign the height of the blocker zone wherever they want to make falling down a bad idea. EDIT Sidenote: Quite possible this also exists elsewhere, but Midgard is where I personally encountered it for the first (and so far only) time.

[@shadiafifi54]

I always love your videos; they give great ideas on how to be a player or how to run a campaign. Maybe one day I'll finally get the courage to start a campaign...

[@skeeve55]

I ran a little heist one shot in D&D 5e for 3 friends as their first game. it was great fun and a good entry point into the ttrpg genre, as everybody has seen some heist movie and kinda knows what to do. been thinking about doing another one for some time now. these tips will come handy.

[@johnstepina5621]

I can never get my groups to want to play these kind of games. Seth youre content is awesome

[@robertnett9793]

About 'Bombshell'... We used the term 'Plan Ultra B' You know - when plan A inevitably fails you go to plan B... when plan B fails....

[@luska5522]

Good video man, will help me setup the Shadowrun heist this weekend

[@blg020]

I was running the 2nd edition AD&D module a howl from the north. My players just discussed there plan to sneak into the barbarian camp for over 4 hours.

[@abonynge]

One of our PCs had gotten a weird random rolled artifact that was basically a portal gun with 5 uses. He didn't use it for months and everyone forgot about it. We basically forced our GM to do a big payoff heist. The GM made it practically impossible. Portal gun guy stole everything. We bought a city district.

[@beencybouncyburger]

I've had a problem with being "too helpful" for a heist. Stepping in to fill in "character knowledge" that would preclude a particular plan *as stated* or complicate it... but maybe it's a natural detail that can be overcome. Usually I try to have every plausible route have its own challenges, but communicating that it's a challenge and not necessarily a fence is hard, and sometimes the PCs don't try to break through. I try to have almost any idea have *some* chance of success given enough perversion, but timid PCs... sometimes nothing to be done. In other words, sometimes they think it's a trick, and there's only one right answer. Hard to coax them to go *through* the obstacle when they're worried if they're on the right road. "That sounds too hard, there's got to be a better way". Well, maybe. Maybe there isn't, and that's why you're here, to cut the knot... and maybe your wacky scheme is hard, but not impossible...

[@mattfrandsen1244]

I love your stuff man! Keep up the good work. Being a RPGer since 1984, you've help renew the love for gaming I haven't felt since the 90's. Thanks again!

[@shanecoffey8314]

"The kink should be an obstacle the characters can overcome." Unless your playing Shadowrun. Then the kink is a TPK. Every time.

[@Grizabeebles]

I adore doing heists and my favorite system for it is actually Star Wars Saga Edition. You'd think that having Jedi and droids and whatnot would ruin the game but there's a lot of benefits: 1. This is a world where (generally speaking) telepathy, telekenisis, sentient robots and hyperspace travel are known quantitites - thus the focus of security is on delaying, containing or killing a thief rather than convict them after the fact because forensics is practically a non-starter. In games like Shadowrun, worrying about that sort of stuff can quickly lead to ulcers. 2. Hacking isn't just looping the video or running coms. Slicers are more of a "safecracker, but for everything" kind of character. That means you can bypass some problems in exchange for others. 4. The Force fixes a mutitude of sins. Its a great way to cover for the party's weak points. But if there's a force-sensitive baddie in the area, one mind-trick could leave you stuck in a cat-and-mouse game or blow the whole thing immediately.

[@tomralfe5428]

Awesome video, I’m currently writing a heist story and this was really helpful!

[@WeOnlyEatSoup]

About to run a multiverse spanning multi-heist in D&D 5E. This video was a great help I appreciate it!

[@yakirchernin6015]

Tnx. You have narrowed it down to digestable tips

[@ssskids123]

Fantastic summary and breakdown. Thank you!

[@LittleNemoGaming]

I'm definitely going to have to watch this video again to absorb the advice, and plan a session if I ever run a game. I enjoyed it.

[@LiddelFolk1155]

Currently planning a whole short campaign full of heists, and I just wanted to say that this video is super helpful for anyone looking to plan a heist game! A great and helpful vid, and I look forward to putting these ideas in practice!

[@samprastherabbit]

Who the hell let Todd be the GM?? Lol Awesome video, Seth! Man, really wanna watch some heist movies now...Then run one for some friends

[@TheBronzeDog]

Thanks for the video. Really helped crystalize some of the ideas I'd been having for a hybrid heist/raid in a Changeling: The Lost/God-Machine crossover Chronicle. The Artifact: An Occult book that the God Machine is using to develop fae-detection Infrastructure. It wants to identify some Changelings that have been sabotaging it over the past few years. Even if it gets the saboteurs, it's still a threat to have an eldritch horror deity who can identify the members of the local freehold. The goal is to steal the book and/or destroy the facility from the inside. The Fortress is a skyscraper built to house a facility of a God Machine: From the outside, people just see 3 curved skyscrapers connected by a circular bridge section. Thanks to some weird space folding, there's a fourth, cylindrical tower in the center with limited access where the heart of the Machine's facility is. The Dragon: If the PCs get identified, the facility can make life hell for them afterward or simply unleash a Destroyer Angel to quietly assassinate them.

[@TheManKnownAsAi]

Lol, great stuff Seth. I know you prefer Cyberpunk, but I'd love to see a video with your thoughts/stories from Shadowrun.

[@jamesc.7988]

Hey Seth, I just finished listending to Damoren on Audible and have to say, without spoiling anything, holy shit dude. That was an awesome ending that I never saw coming. Now from an RPG standpoint, do you ever put your players in such dire situations like the knights faced during the final act? If you do, I would love to hear how you design such a scene, your thought process behind it and how your players feel about it. Now its time to load in Hounacier.

[@SSkorkowsky]

Great to hear! Glad you enjoyed it. As far as RPGs, I've never done the exact situation, but I have done the elements in separate situations, such as having them escape and get their gear, or fighting overwhelming opponents, or giving a time limit like "The artifact will be destroyed in X-time unless you stop it." Hounacier is a bit of a different animal than Book 1. I figured that instead of doing another Save The World plot with a large cast, I'd go with something a bit more gritty and personal. It's more noir-horror than action-adventure. So get ready for something different. It's the darkest in the series. I try to give each book a very different feel than the others while still being clear sequels. Also, if you can, any reviews/ratings you can leave for Damoren on Audible/Amazon or Goodreads would be greatly appreciated. Those help little authors like me out a whole lot.

[@jamesc.7988]

@@SSkorkowsky Darkest in the series?! Noir-Horror?! I'm sold.

[@Myrth1]

A set of clear and useful advice. Meanwhile people from EHP: "Nah, who needs all that, and especially clear communication, let's just wing it all and if anything goes badly, let players flashback it!" I hate everything that BitD did with the sole concept of heist games and the fallout of that

[@RowanFallsGames]

This video is extremely informative, helpful, and detailed! Thanks for the help, my heist is going to be much better having seen this

[@SSkorkowsky]

Best of luck with the game.

[@Sirvlaric]

If you find that you have left a hole, any security expert will tell you that glaring holes are sometimes left as a "honey pot" to catch intrusions. Depending on the level of your players and their experience, you may be able to give them warnings about it. If you have a security expert character, it might appear as too good to be true and prompt them to investigate it further, or avoid it. All great security fortresses should employ a "honey pot" to provide an additional security layer that stops novices.

[@grimmliberty7447]

I once made a heist where the object, the fortress, and the dragon were all the same thing. A Hulk level psionic child who had been "probed" and "tested" for the last three years. The lab he was in was remote, but in the best of times barely manned, no need for security, the testing ensured it was almost impossible for him to Want to leave. It was now unmanned, except for a few of his puppet toys. The goal was to get him to Want to leave. Just knocking him out will have DIRE consequences when he comes around. That can't happen. He HAS to Want to leave, THAT is the Heist. Go retrieve him, good luck.

[@kdolanjr]

TotalCon 4 lyf! Great vid as always!

[@You-kd4qq]

Heists make great one shots

[@DrunkenWizardBattle]

really nicely set out seth - and just in time, turns out im running a heist next weekend and didnt even realise. Thinking about it in these terms ive a lot to plan out but damn its gonna be a much better game now.

[@NothingYouHaventReadBefore]

Heists are really fun! Some good inspiration is also Payday 2, a game in which heisting is the name of the game - though it is very much over the top. It does show a good number of layers for a heist. Second is Thief: the Dark Project. One of my favourite games ever, and also good inspiration for stealthy heisting. Third: The Sprawl. It's a cyberpunk-rpg in which heisting is common, and it provides a good system for it. Thanks for the vid!

[@Ssatkan]

Nice! I love to do the planning with the players and sometimes even help the planning. I mean, I didn't include any shortcuts, why can't I be engaged? Thought about an involuntary mistake: I just had the idea that you could make any maps about a few months to half a year old. That should give the GM the excuse to have the PCs encounter minor changes. It's not enough to rebuild the castle and close the gap, but it may be enough to install a few steel bars or to change the guard routine.

[@dminard1]

The stake out phase can be viewed as discovering the puzzle of the fortress. The better they do at this the more doors they can unlock beforehand. Gathering info could easily be weaved into several sessions where they tap sources and launch probes to scope out the scene. By the way contacts and social clout is a great reward for missions.

[@leathery420]

22:00 lol there was a dashcam/chopper footage released of chase the resulted in an OIS the other day and there was this one van who was not getting over. While an unmarked car chases a work truck down the highway. All the other vehicles are pulling to the right lane or shoulder to get out the way. Van driver just stays in front blocking both the truck and unmarked cop going the just above the speed limit. Though not to block the guy in just so he doesn't need to pull over. The fleeing Truck took a turn and the van just kept going.

[@dreddbolt]

Heists are super fun to GM. 5th Edition DnD is my main game of choice, though I enjoy making homebrew references to other games, like Starfinder and Shadowrun.

[@tylerpeck9754]

I see a "Kids on Bikes" heist game brewing!!

[@XXVIIIBolo]

You mentioned "assault heists" and I would really love to know more about that, if possible! Sneaking is nice, but haven't seen much advice on how to encourage players to commit wanton property damage during a heist.

[@nes819]

Perfect tyming. I'm running a Phantasy heist in a noble mans mansion as they place some forged documents in his ofices save. Now I'll include the nobles daughter waking up from a nightterror and getting pampered a little bit infront of the officce with the PC's in it. This'l also add an aditional lair of emotions as they now know that thei'r about to ruin this guys life AND family. You just made this whay darker iff they still pull it of. Thanks a lott ^^

[@pcompani715]

One of my worst games was one where in a 5 hour session, they only planned, my character (and I) were not quite involved and I got terrebly bored... I often make dice tower even if I pay attention and all, but that time was the only time I was listening to music in one ear and watching them plan...

[@adrianwebster6923]

For the computer heist issue, A timer can work well here. Hacks may take more time than the job allows meaning that a physical snatch and grab might be the easier route without preventing hacking as a solution. Also for inspiration, I would suggest the movie Sneakers. It has some fun preparation scenes and puzzle solving.