Hi all

I'm thinking of giving my PCs a heist based on "The Train Job" episode of Firefly. Obviously plenty of inspiration there to start off with, but I was wondering if people had any advice about designing this sort of encounter.

Most of the encounters I've designed so far have obvious entry and exit points - the PCs are coming from X and going to Y, with the encounter something that happens on the way. Something like this, though, feels like it should be more open ended - the train is a moving target, and the PCs will have to come up with the best way to try to get the package they're after (none of them is a pilot, so I don't think they'll actually be able to do the Firefly thing successfully). I guess my question is this: does anybody have any suggestions about the best approach to designing something like this?

Thanks in advance.

That is a really neat idea for an encounter.

When it comes to the "entry"; if they can't do a fly-by, give them the option or ressources to stop or otherwise derail the train temporarily.

Then there is also the westen style, approaching the train with speeders or other mounts, and maybe using the chase mechanic to keep up and or move along the side of the train.

Or maybe they could manage to aquire their own train cart and chase the train and attach to the rear end and then progress through the train itself.

In all cases they would have to move the "package" through or off the train, wich would certainly be more interesting if the train is still moving.

As for the the "exit":

Fleeing with the package from the disabled train, while being chased.

Get the package on the speeders and then swoop away.

Get the package to their cart and detach and either drive the rail back or bail on the cart.

Just some ideas.

Since you want it to be open ended, you should lay out as many approaches for them as possible.

One more:

Since it is a moving target it would be interesting to have a time limit.

The train is headed somewhere, and if they don't get the cargo off before it arrives at the presumably heavily guarded station, then **** really hits the fan.

Either they would have to bail beforehand or fight through even tougher encounters and situations.

If it comes to something like this make it harder for them to still complete the mission, but not impossible.

I always like to have a "fail-forward" option of progression in my encounters.

Need some Heist ideas? How about this thread?

Use some ion weapon or a specialized ion bomb in the main drive. By the time it's up and running again, the package is loaded onto the waiting ship.

Things to keep in mind:

1) The object or person that the group is targeting. This needs to be 100% crystal clear to them, mainly so they do not turn into a wandering mob of murder hobos.

2) Where the object is located. Again, this needs to be 100% clear to them so the can adequately plan for it.

3) Do not let your presuppositions as a GM railroad the party. Just because you have an idea as to how it should go, make allowances and be prepared to throw that plan out the window as soon as your PCs get rolling. Remember the old military axiom, "A plan rarely survives first contact with the enemy."

Of the 3 guidelines, the 3rd is the most important as it lets your Players come up with ideas that their PCs can do (or sometimes not do)

Movies to watch:

Oceans 11, 12, and 13 (With Oceans 12 being an example of what happens when a plan goes sideways)

The Bank Job

Heist

Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels (also an example of a heist gone very wrong)

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Any of the Mission: Impossible Movies

JalekZem's advice summed up the basics of any heist, or pre-planned play. I highly recommend being prepared.

There couple of styles to this scenario, based on your focus in play, or... why are you really GMing a heist and/or a train.

For me its scenery. Encounters to be based on the structure of the train and its porpoise (like ffg capital ship encounters or classic dungeon crawl), with possible free-form scaling across to the finish line. This is how I would run it...

1) The object or person that the group is targeting. This needs to be 100% crystal clear to them, mainly so they do not turn into a wandering mob of murder hobos.

2) Where the object is located. Again, this needs to be 100% clear to them so the can adequately plan for it.

3) Do not let your presuppositions as a GM railroad the party. Just because you have an idea as to how it should go, make allowances and be prepared to throw that plan out the window as soon as your PCs get rolling. Remember the old military axiom, "A plan rarely survives first contact with the enemy."

This is excellent advice, thank you.

JalekZem's advice summes up the basics of any hiest, or preplanned play. I highly reccomend being prepared.

There couple of styles to this scenerio, based on your focus in play, or... why are you really GMing a hiest and/or a train.

For me its scenery. Encounters to be based on the structure of the train and its porpouse (like ffg capital ship encounters or classic dungen crawl), with possible freeform scsling across to the finish line. This is how I would run it...

Good point - I'll have a think about the train and the environment. Cheers.

Drawing together some of RicoD and JalekZem's advice, make sure there are opportunities for the players to recover if their initial plans fail. You don't want to get into a situation where they fail to get on board, the train speeds away, and it's moving too fast for them to catch up with. Heist over.

With that in mind, plan some sections of the track or some random obstacles which will force the train to slow down, allowing them an opportunity to catch up and try again (though perhaps with the guards alerted). Bends in the track, rock slides, inconvenient fauna, all of these things can allow you to justify moving the time limit forward so that they get additional chances. Conversely, if they're doing well and they have a specific window planned for their escape/pickup, introducing unplanned delays can keep things tense.

The 2 heist sessions in my campaign were my players favorites... basically they planned the heist during the session and then executed it, the formula is pretty simple you only need to give them the objective clearly and plan obstacles in the environment protecting the objective, and how to get the PCs to learn about the obstacles... it's up to them to figure out how to overcome the obstacles and you should say "yes" to anything plausible that they come up with, and even suggest small embelishments that makes THEIR plan better. My heist sessions were the easiest sessions to run... a good idea is to include as another sub-objective an obstacle to the main objective which if overcome makes the main objective a lot easier, this results in a "heist" within a "heist" (they plan and execute a way to overcome the obstacles protecting the sub-objective obstacle to main objective)

Also, read the Jewel of Yavin and do the opposite of everything that the writer(s) have done. That is basically a dungeon crawl masquerading as a heist.