So, I got this casino heist idea for a game.

The problem is that I have no idea how to actually run it.

I got the hook set, I just need to figure out the rest.

Scoundrels has some really cool stuff about pulling off a heist, including putting a team together and specialized gear. Worth a read if you are interested.

I ran a casino heist with my party. I will try and explain how they pulled it off and then follow up with some advice. It's a long read, but I think I have some good ideas that you can make your own.

The party consisted of a human pilot, a droid assassin, and a twi'lek slicer. The heist took place at a casino that was on a floating platform above a wealthy sector know as The Promenade on Nar Shaddaa. I took the locale from Star Wars: The Old Republic.

They started by casing the joint, basically just attending the casino on a busy night to see how operations ran. They had VIP clearance due to some connections that got them on the guest list; a Mon Calamari who was close to the owner. They learned about the rounds that servers would make, where all of the exits were, where security guards were posted, etc. They left and planned to do a second recon trip to learn greater details.

Their second trip was more planned than the first. They paid their connection to smuggle some minor equipment into the place: some slicing components for the slicer, a hand scanner for the droid who would be the lookout, and some holdout blasters incase things went sour. The pilot was good at influencing people, so he was able to make friends at a gambling table. He then caused a commotion by winning a few good hands and starting a fight, which distracted a good number of the security guards. This allowed the slicer to sneak into the depths of the casino, steal a server's uniform, slice a computer terminal, and learn the security protocols, location of the main vault, etc. The droid was keeping watch and scanning for life forms the entire time, serving as the operator and providing on the fly intel on where guards currently were and such. Once the slicer made it out safe, they left and started planning the heist.

The heist took place during a very busy night, when a few high-profile patrons would be attending. This kept a majority of the security guards on the casino floor to monitor the heavy crowds instead of in the depths of the casino. The droid was packed into a shipping crate along with all of the gear they needed and was smuggled into the cold storage freezer, while the slicer and the pilot went in through the front entrance, which required the pilot to talk their way in. Once inside, the pilot provided more distractions, much like the second night they attended, while the slicer snuck in and stole a server's uniform once again. He went and retrieved the shipping crate that contained the droid and wheeled it around until they were at the room with the vault. The pilot had left the casino and went to retrieve their speeder as well as a few explosive charges. The slicer and the droid got into a firefight in front of the vault that caused them a fair bit of wounds, but they were able to clear the room and slice the vault open. They loaded the stacks of cards into the shipping crate and wheeled it back to the kitchen, blasting away at any opposition along the way. The pilot, meanwhile, had driven back to the casino and planted charges on the exterior wall, where the kitchen was. They timed it so the explosives took out the wall just as the droid and slicer were coming through the kitchen. They wheeled the crate into the speeder and flew off to their hideout. They had to lose some CorSec forces on the way home, but they managed to get out alive, barely.

I know it is a long post, but good for you if you managed to stick with it. Hopefully it was moderately enjoyable.

My advice would be to give them a LOT of description. Don't try and short change them on information, or else they will be stuck. Make sure that you have a rough layout or idea of how you want events to play out. If you need to map out a rough layout of a casino just so you can have reference for yourself, I would encourage it.

Hope some of my ideas help you create your own exciting heist! Good luck and have fun.

Leverage is also a good series to watch as well. A little corny, but it's an RPG so you can actually get away with some corn.

If you're thinking about an "Ocean's 11, but not he sequels because they suck" type maneuver, here's what I'd kick around:

1) Inside man: When it comes to these hiests they tend to gloss over how the "Players" know what they are up against. Sometimes they just seem to mysteriously know. Or they just happen to "know a guy," or my favorite "Hacking, but we're Hollywood and don't know anything about computers, so essentially MAGIC! it's the same thing really" I'd say you can probably get away with doing the same. A Streetwise, a charm, a skullduggery and a Computers check, and you know everything there is to know about the target.

2) Absurd resources: In things like Ocean's 11 they invest at least a few hundred grand into the job, which they get from Eliot Goulds character. Good news, in EotE you can do this too, in fact it's an organic part of the system. Obligation. Reduce their Ob down a bit before you start so they have plenty to work with. Then make it clear that, if the players pull off the job, any obligation they accrue in the course of generating resources and tools to execute the job will be removed. Of course if they DONT pull off the job.... This should get them more willing to get a little crazier with their plan if they know they can just "get" stormtrooper uniforms, a LAAT, a luxury speeder, and a painting of Palpatine riding a zillo beast if that is what the plan happens to call for.

3) The plan (and the problem): So something you may want to do, spend a session with the players devising "the plan" and generating a "shopping list." You should be there to both get a feel for what they want to do, and to answer any important questions they may have about the target, as well as determine what can be bought, what can be obligated, and what must be encountered from the shopping list. Go through it all, and plan a more typical scripted adventure around it. In essence the players are bringing the plot to you, and you're returning a movie to them. This works for you twofold. 1) You can drop in complications at certain points (like how in O11 the demolition of Goulds casino also exposes the electrical flaw the crew was planning to exploit) and run single encounter side quests to fix it (stealing the EMP generator). 2)You can set up a nice little "unexpected" B-plot (Ocean's Ex dating the Casino owner) to run on the side.

4) What a Tweeist!: Now, like the Absurd Resources here's another point that you may work best if you just come out and tell the players to do. Destiny Point usage, especially during the session where the players actually execute The Plan should a be continuous back and forth. The GM should use it to regularly upgrade difficulties, and the players should use it not only to upgrade their rolls, but to make last minute changes to the plot and the plan. (Ocean is captured and can't execute his part of the plan....but DP! The biker he's taken to for a down beating is actually his friend, and he's allowed to sneak away into the air vents JUST AS PLANNED!. The SWAT team is called in to assault the vault and capture Ocean... but DP! it's really the rest of the party come to drop off the hooker fliers and haul off the loot!) While you shouldn't let them DP their way out of everything, I would say to be more lenient with how far they can go if it doesn't cause a character to be in 2 places at once, or otherwise destroy the fabric of space-time.

5) The crew (salt to taste): If over the course of The plan (and the problem) the players find they need an extra character or two to fill a role, niche, or character type, give it to them. Figure out the players current XP level, and offer to let them create a new character that can either be a Generalised character at full XP, or a Focused character at half XP (just to keep them from dumping everything they have into the skill they think they need. Also, "No Droids" is probably a good policy here). If you like, you can set hard limits on skill ranks and abilities if needed. If you don't trust the players enough not to take advantage of this, you make the character for them to play.

Well I think that's enough for now....

Rosvo1,

If it's any help, I have a map of, and stats for characters to be found in, a casino on my blog.

http://talesfromtheedgeoftheempire.blogspot.com/2013/05/natolis-nightclub-and-casino-part-1.html

http://talesfromtheedgeoftheempire.blogspot.com/2013/05/natolis-nightclub-and-casino-part-2.html

-Nate

Lord help them, for you give them a search bar and yet they do not see!

(Although to be fair, the search engine around here is shite)

Here - try this thread on for size: http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/109254-like-jewel-of-yavin-how-about-some-heist-ideas/

You should be able to file the serial numbers off at least a couple of those heists and adapt them for your use!

Whoops.

Sorry about that.

One more question.

How risky would it be for the players if I set it on Corellia?

I mean, I hear that the CorSec is super good.

You're the GM, so CorSec is as good or bad as you say they are.

Talking a page from O11 though, CorSec doesnt have to be the true opposition, the casino owner and security office will be the actual opponent, the cops don't get involved until late in the show, and even then they'll be limited to the casinos level of cooperation. If the casino is a correllian run operation, I could easily see the owner as the type that would give CorSec enough to keep the players on edge, but hold back any real evidence to ensure that the Casino is able to personally exact revenge. That was part of the deal in O11, the fued between the casino owner and Ocean was strong enough that the casino owner didn't really get the cops involved until the hiest was well underway, and by that point Ocean was able to start flipping D points and shout JUST AS PLANNED!!!!