How to Run a Heist Adventure (Patreon)

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Heists typically involve a theft with a focus on planning, execution, and the aftermath. We’ve all enjoyed heists in countless movies, television shows, and books. While running heist scenarios in tabletop RPGs has received greater support in recent years, as gamemasters we might not know when and how to actually run a heist in our game.

Your group of players might not be criminals, but sometimes a heist scenario can be a new and exciting way for them to achieve their goal. Even if you don’t want to run a full heist adventure, incorporating elements of a heist – which encourage players to consider alternative strategies such as careful planning and stealth, rather than just resorting to brute force or combat – can be quite engaging.

Something to Steal

It can be anything valuable: a priceless jewel, secret plans, a powerful weapon, an important magic relic, or even a McGuffin. Tweak the classic heist by making the goal a map to a buried treasure, a mythical creature to rescue, or an artifice to sabotage before it endangers the kingdom. The prize should be significant to your players, their adversary, or both, valuable enough to warrant their efforts to secure it and for their nemesis to protect it.

An important consideration is how the players learn about the prize. This detail can become a crucial plot point for developing twists later in the heist scenario. Were they hired by a patron to retrieve the prize? Has an old ally asked for help in recovering a stolen item? Did an old adversary approach them to join forces against a shared enemy? Or did they simply stumble upon the opportunity?

An Intriguing Location

The protected location of the prize is often more interesting and important than the prize itself. A heist targeting a mundane warehouse down the street is unlikely to stir excitement. An engaging backdrop for the heist is essential. Consider placing the prize somewhere intriguing, difficult to access, or both. The more unique the location, the better.

An evil temple sitting in the heart of enemy territory.

A vault deep below a castle or casino.

A control room located in a flying fortress.

A famous art gallery hosting a gala.

A location in a hidden dimension guarded by otherworldly hazards.

A luxury train traveling through the mountains.

A Nemesis to Hate

Like any adventure, it's crucial to have a character your players love to hate. Even with a valuable prize and an intriguing location, having a villain that the players are eager to outwit provides significant motivation. If you create a scenario where foiling their nemesis is essential, and obtaining the prize is the only way to do it, you're well on your way to crafting an engaging heist. Some methods to create a nemesis the players will despise include:

Having them steal something valuable from the players.

Using a recurring villain whom the players are already eager to thwart.

Planning the destruction of a place important to the players.

Pitting an ostensibly upstanding citizen against the players, then revealing their true nature.

Incorporate a personal connection, like a mentor, friend, or family member, who turns against the players.

Obstacles to Overcome

You have something to steal, a location, and a nemesis. It’s time to plan the heist. A heist goes beyond a mere robbery, necessitating a carefully crafted plan to overcome the formidable obstacles set up by the nemesis to safeguard the prize. Before the players even find out about the heist, you’ll need to set up obstacles to protect the prize. Create obstacles that will challenge each of the PCs and avoid having one player be the superstar.

Climbing, traps and stealth scenarios for your sneaky characters

Social, disguise or romantic scenarios for your charming characters

Goons to take out for your fighters

Magic and technology obstacles for your wizards and hackers.

Surveillance and sniping tasks for your ranged attackers.

Small places and spaces for your smaller characters to get inside.

Initially, the heist should be presented as difficult or even impossible. With some work by the players, they should find a gap in security, an unhappy insider willing to reveal secrets, or a short window when the impossible becomes possible. You shouldn’t have players fail during the planning stage. If they tell you they are going to run surveillance for a week, then let them know about the weakness in the security they found. If they need to romance the duchess to get a key, then have the bard learn that she will be at an upcoming ball. If they want to see a map of the bank, let them meet a contact at city hall with the original building plans. If they somehow miss vital information, employ an NPC to share the information with them. If there are skills they need that are outside of their proficiencies, change the scenario to remove that obstacle or provide them with NPCs to fill in the gap.

Dedicate a portion or entire game session for the players to be contacted about the scenario and for them to plan their heist. Give the players a hideout, a safe house if they are on the run or even let them build a replica of the vault in a warehouse to practice.

What a Twist!

Initially, the heist should be fun and reward their planning. However, in a good heist an unexpected event will occur that adjusts the scenario. A twist usually works best if it occurs after their plan is set and forces them to improvise during the heist or even in its aftermath. Some plot twists that will really throw things into chaos are:

The patron that hired them has turned against them or is their nemesis in disguise.

The characters are ambushed just as they secure the prize, revealing that their plan was known from the start, turning the heist into a desperate escape.

The prize is actually a trap set by their nemesis, triggering unexpected consequences like alerting law enforcement, unleashing a magical curse, or another terrible outcome.

The prize reveals itself to be sentient, possessing its own objectives that might align with or oppose the players' intentions.

The prize was a diversion to occupy the players while their nemesis successfully completed another evil plot.

You might want to let the players come up with their own secondary twist. If you tell them the patron has turned against them, give them a chance to get creative, even providing a flashback scene for them to add to their initial prep. If you are feeling generous, try some of the following prompts to help them with their own twist: 

Did they create a replica of the prize? 

Have they set-up any of their own traps, obstacles, or decoys?

Is there an ally or someone who shares their nemesis they can call upon for help?

Is there something unexpected they discover about the prize?