The “Blueprint” Heist
Picture this if you will. You are getting ready to sit down for your regular roleplaying session and you tell your players that they are going to help you prepare. With a smirk, you gently slide an outline of a building in the middle of the table. You tell your players that they are going to plan a heist and that the blueprint before them contains everything they will need to do just that. And with that, you turn it over to your players to ask their questions while you build the encounter around these questions and the answers.
In one of my favorite sessions I ever ran for my players, I drew what I thought was a cool looking building on the chalkboard. We were playing Star Wars: Edge of the Empire by Fantasy Flight Games and the players were trying to rescue an important NPC from a secret high security prison. The group’s patron provided the players with the full technical readouts of the prison they were attempting to break into along with a line of credit for any gear that they would want to purchase. I began the session by encouraging them to ask any questions that they wanted about the facility and I made up an answer on the fly and added it to the board as we went forward. After about two hours of questioning, planning, and preparation, I had the players take a break while I wrote down some additional items and prepared the encounters based on the notes I had taken from the players' questions. I then added a few details based on the questions they did not ask, added a few twists and complications, and tada, I had a fully fleshed-out session. All of my prep was done at the table. The players loved it and it was exciting to see them come up with creative questions and creative and unintended uses for some of the specialized equipment in the game. In the end, the party was able to infiltrate and exfiltrate with their intended target unharmed. We had a great session and it was largely due to the collaborative force my players and I brought together to the table.
With a few tips and tricks, you too can plan a similar experience for your table. First, consider what the goal of the heist is; this will help to suitably motivate the party to focus on achieving this goal. The next step is to consider what makes this location special, including electronic or magical defenses. Then, consider who their adversaries will be at the location. Perhaps a prison warden and his goons or a paramilitary private security firm equipped with the latest state of the art weaponry. No good plan survives first contact with the enemy. Finally, focus on what your players didn’t ask questions about or couldn't have prepared for. Perhaps a guard-shift changes early or the security codes change when the players were not expecting it or perhaps it was all a trap all along! Throw in some exciting twists to see how your players react and to make the location feel alive.
Some of my favorite things about running a blueprint heist session is that it encourages player engagement, creative thinking, and cooperation. It is also very prep-light for the Game Master. You just have to show up with a goal and of course the blueprint (or draw one on the fly like I did). If you are looking to encourage your players to think outside the box, find yourself running short on prep time, or just want to try something new, I encourage you to take this idea and run with it!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
