Getting The Gang together for a Heist

You know what adventure model works best for virtually any version of Dungeons & Dragons? 

The Heist.

The more old school your rules, the more the game supports heists too. 

If you are playing the original game, Basic/Expert, and AD&D prior to 2nd edition experience points meant getting gold pieces. Fighting monsters is a 2nd rate means to gain EXP (after the original greyhawk supplement) if playing by the rules the game is best played as a heist game. PC's don't have enough HP to really make combat a good option unless the players are darned careful in deciding when, where, and who to fight.

The very idea of character classes supports the heist as ideal play. Watch a heist movie and there's a team of assembled specialists ... those are characters with different classes.  Even with just 3 or 4 classes there's enough differentiation to support a heist setup. Everyone has a role and everyone gets a chance to shine and best of all...you can split the party and focus on briefly on one or two characters working towards advancing the heist for the whole party.

When adventures are heists and not saving thr world from unending evil it actually adds the chance for depth in play. There's less reason for characters to be murder-hobos. They are encouraged to bribe and trick NPCs into helping out on the heist not just killing everything and everyone while the experience points pop out. This allows for a much wider cast of foils and foes which may be against a successful heist but aren't threatening the lives of everyone in the campaign world.

I'm jumping about here but check out the spells from the 2nd Basic set and how they add to heist play.

First Level MU spells
1.  Charm Person- compromise a guard or foil.
2.  Detect Magic- not just for identifying scrolls and magic items, also good for spottign magical traps and alarms (which should be part of some heists).
3. Floating Disc- got to move that loot after all
4. Hold Portal- getting in and getting out are key features of a heist and those pesky doors are certainly an issue.
5. Light- when it's dark you have to see
6. Magic Missile-  this is a lousy heist spell unless there's some key guardian that must be taken out with magic and is easy to beat that the MU knows about.
7. Protection from Evil- not as big a deal in heist play.
8. Read Languages- research montage
9. Read Magic- to use a high level spell slipped to the PCs by a patron or contact at the wizards guild
10. Shield-  not so useful in heist play unless you want to have someone distract guards and draw a few arrows while the loot goes the other direction.
11. Sleep- Defeat a bunch of guards youhave no actual motivation to kill, they aren't likely to be going on a rampage and slaughtering a village after this and they are probably hired men-at-arms or draftees that have no strong need for revenge.
12. Ventriloquism- the opportunities this spell gives for a heist game give it much more utility than it has in default dungeoncrawling or world saving.

SencondLevel MU Spells
1. Continual Light-  a useful tool and a foil the PCs may have to defeat to sneak away with the loot.
2. Detect Evil- not a real biggie in heist play unless it can be used to detect people who are goign to con you.
3. Detect Invisible- pretty darned useful in a competitive heist or the mark uses invisibility.
4. ESP- very useful for planning, scouting, and look outs.
5. Invisibility- Much more useful to grab loot and scoot than it is to enable a sneak attack, also obviously useful for scouting ahead.
6. Knock- get that door open!
7. Levitate- get in that window or over that wall.
8. Locate Object- surely useful if the goal of a heist is a specific McGuffin.
9. Mirror Image- distraction is the a major part of the art of heist.
10. Phantasmal Forces- as above but even more so.
11. Web- another spell for neutralizing a number of foes without killing them.
12. Wizard Lock- a foil and a useful tool for covering up a theft.

Not a perfect summary but in those 24 spells there are 19 with direct and obvious utility in a heist.


The heist is a much more survivable adventure model for low level play than typical smash and grab dungeoncrawling. The game rules have always supported that style of play really. Just look at the reaction table, it's a little wonky in a dungeon bash but of great utility in a heist adventure. Played RAW a heist adventure works great with the reaction table. If the whole world isn't in the balance and not every NPC is an evil monster it makes sense fights will be rare and NPCs may help out the PCs on a whim.

Another cool thing from the DM point of view is the heist doesn't have to be a level-specific to allow PC to survive. You want a dragon in the heist go for it...defeating the dragon is not the goal. A troll guard on the front door..go for it, the party pulling a heist shouldn't be fighting their way through the front door. It's actually possible to have a campaign with a bit more verisimilitude by not having everything level specific.

The adventure can be quicker too. Want a quick adventure for a session or two? Have a heist where the Players have a map of the place, at least of the areas you want to feature. There's less bumbling around and fights with random monsters to deal with, motivations are clear and the whole campaign isn't over of the heist fails. A failed heist sets up a rescue from a dank cell or before execution.

The heist opens up a wider range of opponents and place for Dungeons and Dragons campaigns where the goal is loot and world-building instead of world saving or murder hobo hijinks.

Storming The Castle Wandering Guard Tables

I noted in my Review of Bloody Basic Sinew & Steel I noted there was an absence of Wandering Guard Tables for when the PCs are Storming A Castle. Here’s some Tables for Wandering Guard encounters in the Castle of A Petty Lord. 

There are Four States of Alert use don the following tables:
Lax for when the castle residents are letting their guard down and the Lord is not likely to be in residence.
Normal for when the castle residents are using a bit of caution and the Lord is in residence.
Wary means the garrison and staff are on edge and alert
Alarmed! the garrison and residents are aware there are intruders and they are under attack

Chance of Encounters in the Castle of a Petty Lord

	Lax	Normal	Wary	Alarmed!
Dawn	1 in 12 every third  turn	1 in 12 every other turn	1 in 10 every turn	1 in 8 every turn
Day	1 in 10 every third turn	1 in 8 every other turn	2 in 6 every turn	3 in 6 every turn
Dusk	1 in 8 every third  turn	1 in 6 every other turn	1 in 6 every turn	1 in 6 every turn
Evening	1 in 10 every third  turn	1 in 6 every other turn	1 in 6 every turn	2 in 6 every turn
Middle of Night	1 in 20 every third  turn	1 in 20 every other turn	1 in 8 every turn	1 in 6 every turn

Wandering Guard Table Ia, Outer Ward in Castle of a Petty Lord

2d6	Lax	Normal	Wary	Alarmed!
2	Lord of the Castle	Lord of the Castle	Laborer	Laborer or Artisan
3	Sergeant at Arms	Sergeant at Arms	Lord of the Castle	Page
4	Laborer	Laborer	Page	Lord of the Castle & 1d6 Knights
5	Child	Page	Sergeant at Arms	Guard
6	Sleepy Archer	Archer	1d4 Archers	1d6 Archers
7	Lowly Churl	Lackey	Knight	Sergeant at Arms and 2d6 Heavy Men At Arms
8	Guard, unarmored	Guard, lightly armed and armored	Squire	Guard, Heavily armed and armored
9	Turnkey	Squire	Squire	1d6 Heavy Men at Arms
10	Artisan	Turnkey	Steward	Turnkey & 1d6 Heavy Men At Arms
11	Steward	Steward	Turnkey	Lady of the Castle
12	Lady of the Castle	Lady of the Castle and Lightly Armed Guard	Lady of the Castle and 1d3 Knights	Squire and 1d4 Archers

 
Wandering Guard Table Ib,Mid-Wards and Outer Chambers in Castle of a Petty Lord

2d6	Lax	Normal	Wary	Alarmed!
2	Lord of the Castle	Lord of the Castle	Artisan	Artisan
3	Squire	1d6+1 Light Men At Arms	Lord of the Castle and 1d3 Knights	Child
4	Steward	Artisan	Child	Lord of the Castle and 1d6 Knights
5	Child	Steward	Steward	Steward
6	Laborer	Laborer	1d6 Archers	1d4+2 Archers
7	Washwoman	Lackey	Guard, heavily armed and armored	Squire
8	Artisan	Guard, lightly armed and armored	1d6+1 Light Men at Arms	1d6+1 Light Men at Arms
9	Mason	Mason	Mason	1d6+1 Heavy Men at Arms
10	Turnkey	Child	Laborer	Lady of the Castle and 1d4 Knights
11	1d4 Light Men at Arms	Turnkey	Lady of the Castle and 1d6 Archers	Turnkey&1d6 Men at Arm
12	Lady of the Castle	Lady of the Castle and Lightly Armed Guard	Turnkey	Mason

 
Wandering Guard Table Ic, Inner Ward and Inner Chambers

2d6	Lax	Normal	Wary	Alarmed!
2	Lord of the Castle	Sergeant at Arms and 1d4 Ligh t Men at Arms	Sergeant at Arms and 1d4 Heavy Men at Arms	Child
3	Artisan	1d4 Heavy Men at Arms	Artisan	Artisan
4	Sergeant at Arms	Lord of the Castle	Laborer	Laborer
5	Steward	Steward	Lord of the Castle and 1d4 Knights	Steward & 1d4 Heavy Men At Arms
6	Laborer	Laborer	1d6 Heavy Men at arms	Lord of the Castle,1d4 Knights and 2d6 Heavy Men at Arms
7	Child	Guard, lightly armed and armored	Knight and Squire	1d6+1 Heavy Men At Arms
8	Page	Child	1d6+1 Light Men At Arms	2d6 Light Men At Arms
9	Squire	Artisan	Child	Sergeant at Arms and 1d4 Knights
10	Turnkey	Lady of the Castle and Heavily Armed and Armored Guard	Lady of the Castle and 1 Knight	Lady of the Castle and 1d3 Knights
11	1d3 Light Men At Arms	Turnkey	Steward & 1 Knight	Turnkey & 1d6 men at Arms
12	Lady of the Castle	1d4 Light Men at Arms	Turnkey	Lady of the Castle

A Turnkey will have 2 or 3 HD and a set of keys that will open any door or lock in the castle eon a roll of 1-4 in 6.  He will typically be wearing a Gambseon and have a club. If he has time and the castle eis Wary or Alarmed he will grab a helmet and a morningstar.


A Squire will be a 1st level Cavalier in normal and Lax situations he will be unarmored and have himself a Bilbo or Dagger as as arms.  Given time he will armor up as a Knight.

A Guard will have 2 HD and be lightly armored with a Light Helmet most of the time and armed with a spear or club. If the castles wary or Alarmed the Guard will be wearing a Maille Coat and have a Heater Shield.

Laborers such as carpenters are often busty in a castle, one will also find weavers, bearers, and cooks among this category.

Artisans are masons, engineers, visiting portrait artists and sculptors. artisans will be unarmored and poorly armed.

A Steward will typically be a mature knight serving in there administration of the castle. He will be lightly armed and rumored (if at all) unless the castle is Wary or Alarmed and then he will fetch Byrnie and his old sword.

The lord of the castle will typically be unarmored or lightly armored in lax or normal conditions, given the chance he will don his best armor and grab his best weapons when the situation turned for the worse.

The lady of the castle will typically be unarmed (save for a dagger) and unarmored but many a lord will still see his lady has some armor and a sword of some sort on hand should she need it.
Castle Guard (and other) Reaction Table


Castle Guard (and other) Reaction Table

2d6 roll	Lax	Normal	Wary	Alarmed!
2	Hostile, raise alarm	Hostile	Hostile	Hostile
3	Hostile	Hostile raise Alarm	Hostile	Hostile
4	Neutral	Hostile	Hostile	Hostile
5	Neutral	Neutral	Hostile raise alarm	Hostile
6	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Hostile
7	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Hostile rasie alarm
8	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
9	Friendly	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
10	Friendly	Friendly	Neutral	Neutral
11	Friendly	Friendly	Friendly	Friendly
12	Friendly	Friendly	Friendly	Friendly

Each round of combat there in a 4 in 6 chance someone will raise the alarm (i.e. alert status will move form Lax to Normal, to Wary, to Alarmed!)

when the reaction tabel above indicates raise alarm those encountered will attemptto raisee the alarm with a 5 in 6 chance per round of being successful. If successful there is doube normal chance of an additional encounter in 1d4 rounds.

Neutral Guards may stand their ground and challenge strangers but will not necassarily raise the alarm in Lax or Normal Circumstance.

Hostile Guards will raise an alarm over immediate attack in Lax or Normal Situations.

Friendly Guards may offer bribes if in Wary or Alarmed circumstances to avoid a fight.