Planning the heist game

May 17, 2006 00:38

Based on responses to my last post, I guess a heist game is what people are most interested in, so I've been trying to think of how that should work.
So I talk about it )

rpgs

Leave a comment

Comments 14

huskyscotsman May 17 2006, 22:14:13 UTC
This sounds like a lot of fun. Is it worth mentioning any particular movies you have in mind, other than Ocean's Eleven? (Also, is that the original or the remake? I haven't actually seen either.) Obviously you don't want to get into fanfic territority with this, but it might help to keep everyone on the same page.

I would like to throw in The Italian Job (the original) if you haven't seen it already.

I guess there is also The Sting but I don't like that much at all. I feel it's lacking many of the classic heist elements that you describe, plus it doesn't have the same spark of camaraderie as Butch Cassidy, plus I found it too predictable.

Reply

inkylj May 17 2006, 22:48:01 UTC
Yeah, I'm mostly thinking of the remake of Ocean's Eleven as the Ideal Heist here. There are a couple other thriller movies with heist-like parts -- Bourne Identity, Charlie's Angels, National Treasure (not that I would recommend this last one). That's a good idea about The Italian Job. I'll try to see if I can get ahold of it for research purposes.

Reply


katre50 May 18 2006, 00:01:12 UTC
I am all up for heisting.

The thing I am most reminded of here is Shadowrun, actually, which is basically all about Assemble A Team To Break In Past The Security And Do Things And Get Away (although heists usually involve less bloodshed). Of course, you seem to be going for a less-dark turn, but it sounds like a lot of fun all around.

Reply


jrw May 18 2006, 14:45:19 UTC
That link you have to heist game gives a big Forbidden access denied message.

Reply


duchez May 18 2006, 15:15:00 UTC
It's not exactly a heist, but The Rock was all about planning, wasn't it? It's been years since I saw it.

Reply


jdyer May 18 2006, 18:03:47 UTC
The heist bit in the middle of Mission Impossible (1) is worth checking on.

Another nice one to go for is Sneakers.

In both cases a NPC needs to be distracted by one character while the other ones do the job.

Reply

jdyer May 18 2006, 18:09:21 UTC
Also, it might help alleviate your spotlight problem some if everyone had _two_ skills. It wouldn't be too absurd for your acrobat also be good at cracking safes, or your explosives guy also to be good with guns, or your con artist also to be a good pickpocket.

Reply

jotasbrane May 19 2006, 02:25:46 UTC
It might be interesting if the second skill (or third, depending on how many skills characters had total) could be made up on the spot during the planning stage of the game.
"It looks like those tunnels run right underneath the shark tank at the city aquarium. Can we get in that way?"
"Leave it to me. I used to go scuba diving every summer when I was in college, and I know all about dealing with sharks."

Reply

inkylj May 19 2006, 03:08:27 UTC
Yeah, I am certainly fine with this. Again taking Ocean's 11 as the gold standard here, it seems like a couple of the characters make the plan and then find people to cover the skills they need. When playing this out, presumably all the players make the plan and then design characters to fit, and we have little intro scenes as some of the characters solicit the help of other characters. So it seems like from the player's perspective it goes plan first, then skills as needed (and folks can call dibs on parts of the plan as they work it out).

Reply


Leave a comment

Up