“It’s a simple in and out.”
It never is, you think. Never.
Capitan got us the plans, Shawan got us the passkey to get in, and we have Kims waiting down in the basement with the car. We go in, grab the stuff, get out, Kims drives us away. One and done.
Your heart sinks still further. The weather fits your mood, as thunder rumbles and the rain goes from “falling” to “smashing down like hell itself”.
“Check it out,” murmured Suicide. “That rain is something. And lookit the waves out in the bay!”
Biblical. The thought enters your head unbidden. Something more than normal. Like the job.
Out loud you ask, “Where did this job come from anyway?”
Winky says nothing. Just looks. “What’s it to you? Something wrong?”
Seconds tick past but not too many.
“I can ask whatever I like. And I haven’t said yes to any of it yet.” You can’t back down at this point. This is it. The point of no return.
On any normal job Winky would have thrown you out at this point. Out the door, out of the phone contact list and out of luck. Instead, the tension dissolves, the thunder rumbles on, the rain gets louder. And Winky says,
“It’s a big cut of the money, brother. A big cut. Everyone who got asked has the skills and no one is saying they don’t. Everyone got invited personally.”
Interesting. No dismissal, no threats. Winky isn’t his own man any more, clearly. Which meant someone else was in charge. Which meant there was nothing normal about this job.
A group is put together. Crooks, one and all. Get in, steal, get out.
The Client: 2d6
Dice roll / client
2 Vampire
3 The leader of a group of Men in Black (Holy Inquisition)
4 Magician
5 Immortal or God
6 a Cult
7 client unknown but there are a series of fronts concealing their identity
8 a disembodied alien intelligence
9 one of the group being sent in by “the client”, but this is concealed from everyone else
10 Lich
11 an evil concert promoter
12 Alien
The Victim 2d6
Dice roll / victim
2 a Cult
3 an organised crime boss
4 a Vampire
5 a popular entertainer
6 a slaver
7 a Wizard
8 a superheroic crime fighter or local avenger of wrongs
9 a Ship Captain
10 an obscure religious order
11 a Dragon
12 supposedly, a rich Merchant
The Loot:
Dice roll / Loot
2 an ingot of weird metal, origin unknown
3 a map
4 an oil painting
5 an ancient sword
6 a music box
7 a silver key
8 a glass phial of blood
9 a strange Egg, in a strongly bound and armoured container
10 a Treasure Chest containing a fortune in Gems
11 a small flask of liquid. What it is -is none of your business
12 a secret formula contained in a Book
What is actually going - 2d6
Dice roll / The Truth
2 it’s a straight heist but the defenses in place are wildly different from what is expected and originate from eldritch horror and stygian darkness
3 the client is also the victim. He or she is waiting in the building to kill the group, skin them and put their skulls with the previous thieves in his or her trophy room. If by some miracle the group or some part of it survives, the Loot is real and it’s all theirs. Fair’s fair.
4 The building is haunted by murderous ghosts.
5 While the group is making their way through the building a tsunami strikes, flooding the lower half of the building. The surging waters are infested with sharks, diseased debris and other hazards.
6 a second team is sent in after the group to kill them once they succeed and take the Loot back to the client. No loose ends.
7 While the group is going through the building the whole structure is plunged into complete and absolute darkness. At the same time, several of the windows are smashed and the raging storm outside blows through various rooms and levels.
8 suspecting something, the potential victim releases a pack of ferocious wild animals into the building to hunt the group.
9 the group reaches the Loot at the same time as the victim of the robbery is being killed by …something
10 the group gets to where the Loot should be… and it isn’t there. It doesn’t look like it’s ever been there.
11 the client is actually a maniac slasher. There is no Loot and no victim. As soon as the group is in the building the building goes into lockdown and the group is then stalked and killed by one by one unless they fight back or escape
12 it’s all a complete set up to get the group caught or killed due to some tangled beef between criminal gangs