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All Rules in Building a Heist

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Step 3: Devise Obstacles

Source Ultimate Intrigue pg. 120
Even the most complex heist can and should be broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks of work that eliminate obstacles standing between the crew and their goal. Most should be suitable for an individual or a team of two or three, using their skills and knowledge. They are usually dependent on a tight time frame or a particular sequence, giving each member a moment of glory. A GM should consider what sorts of challenges her players will enjoy playing out and the types of NPCs they love to thwart.

GMs should focus on challenges that test the skills and resources a party already possesses; alternate challenges may exist, but PCs are less likely to investigate leads they can’t accomplish. Each obstacle should challenge one or two characters, with roughly an equal number of challenges for each character. If some characters have similar abilities (such as two combat-focused characters with few skills), remember they’ll be competing for the same pool of obstacles and might want to work together on them.

Obstacles should have at least two solutions to prevent the game from grinding to a halt and to encourage group cooperation to overcome the challenges before them. Don’t just look at the group’s skill bonuses and give them challenges that only one character can meet. Rather, start by thinking of the types of challenges a character likes to take on and set the difficulty based on what makes sense for the circumstances. The level of difficulty—and even the skills used—can easily change while you’re running the heist.

For example, the party needs to swap the magical ring on a nobleman’s finger with a fake. The rogue in the group is good at impersonation and smuggling, so challenges that emphasize those talents may include posing as the nobleman’s manservant to convince a jeweler to craft a cheap replacement gem, then later sneaking a sleeping potion into the manor so another character (who has gained an audience with the nobleman, but only after being carefully searched) can slip it into his host’s food.

Number of Obstacles: A heist’s scope determines the number of challenges each PC should face. For a moderate or complex heist, work in stages so that there are break points in the heist. There could be several obstacles the PCs can overcome during a noble’s banquet, several more to face in town using what they’ve gained during the banquet, and another set once they’re ready to go into the fortress using what they picked up in town. A heist might even become extended if one member of the party gets captured and the rest want to rescue him.

Not every task needs to be mandatory for the PCs. GMs should have some idea which tasks are essential and which provide advantages but aren’t strictly necessary. The scale listed in Step 3 provides a starting point, with the minimum number of tasks (three per person for a moderate heist, for example) as the necessary obstacles to overcome. Optional obstacles or multiple paths with varying obstacles help flesh out the rest of the heist. When the PCs overcome smaller obstacles, they’re steadily advancing toward their ultimate goal.

Flaws: Heists work because of flaws in defenses. For most of the obstacles described here, the rules have builtin weaknesses—spells specify ways to circumvent them or can be dispelled, locks can be overcome with tools and skill, and traps can be spotted and disarmed. For intelligent opposition, like guards or NPCs the characters will need to interact with, have some vulnerabilities and vices in mind, and allow the PCs to discover them. For instance, a group of guards might be vulnerable to flattery, be overzealous in their patrols and therefore prone to diversions, or just not be very bright.

Obstacles

The most effective security set-ups employ multiple, mixed elements of the following obstacle categories. The list is intended as a starting point. PCs will likely want to exploit strange abilities or focused skills, and may offer GMs inspiration for new obstacles. Each obstacle category’s entry offers tactics that are typically strongest against those types of obstacles. Details about those tactics appear in the Running a Heist section. Alarms and Divinations: Passive in nature, alarms and divinations do nothing to stop would-be thieves from executing the heist, but do help other forms of defense, like guardians, to stay aware, and might reveal the identity of the PCs, potentially adding a complication even after the heist is complete. Alarms can include mechanical devices like tripwires attached to ringing bells, barking dogs (see Guardians below), or magical effects such as alarm or any of a number of sensing and scrying spells. A key advantage of this kind of defense is ease of concealment—if would-be thieves don’t know an alarm is there, it might be too late by the time they figure it out. The disadvantage, of course, is that it is fairly easy to circumvent passive systems with a little preparation. If the party fails to overcome an alarm or divination, it typically makes the other obstacles (usually guardians) stronger rather than putting up a barrier to the PCs’ progress. Stealth and countermagic can foil alarms and divinations, as can disguises in some circumstances.

Barriers: Barred doors, castle moats, gates, locks, and thick stone walls are useful in preventing a heist. Some barriers are simple but take time to penetrate (like walls). Special tools might be required to get through good-quality locks, and magic might counter a hallway filled with poisonous gas. Barriers are cheap and not designed to function effectively on their own, because given enough time, any barrier can be overcome. Force and finesse work best against barriers, though observation can clue a PC into a secret bypass. Barriers that normally require force to overcome might be bypassed by spells like gaseous form, phase door, or stone shape, or by teleportation spells. Defeating some magical barriers requires dispelling or a specific type of countermagic.

Guardians: Some obstacles take the form of intelligent guards who patrol an area and keep watch, dangerous beasts that attack intruders (trained dogs, giant snakes, great cats, or even abominations or planar creatures with preternaturally keen senses), or magical beings and constructs (gargoyles, golems, or animated suits of armor). Guards are proactive and often skilled in spotting intruders or unusual activity. Diverse tactics work against guardians. They’re especially vulnerable to diversions and bribery, but can also be bypassed by stealth or disguise or defeated through force. Sometimes, guards can be dispatched quickly with spells like sleep or deep slumber instead of a battle. Smuggling can be used to make a PC appear as though she’s not a threat, allowing her to bypass guardians while still carrying hidden weapons or tools.

Hazards: Dangerous obstacles that directly harm intruders rather than warning guardians or preventing entry fall into the hazards category. Hazards include mundane dangers like mechanical traps, as well as abjuration magic such as glyphs and other triggered defensive spells. Spells like explosive runes can be used to trap documents, adding a hazard that can have an effect late in the heist—or even after it’s over. Their advantage is that they are usually less expensive to create and put into place, but they are also typically easier to overcome, provided the infiltrators are aware of them and can plan ahead. Finesse and observation are the best tools against hazards, and some require dispelling to bypass.

Misdirection and Hidden Items: A well-secured fortress might appear to hold a modest treasure, when in reality the true prize is somewhere else entirely. Magical invisibility or illusions can aid in concealing an item. Extradimensional magic can secure a valuable item far from reach. Misdirection can be overcome with bribery, observation, or divination spells, any of which might allow the PCs to find the goal’s true location.