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Message: <blockquote data-quote="takyris" data-source="post: 3148266" data-attributes="member: 5171">Not exactly, but I did run a heist caper recently at a con -- a pick-up game made up of people I couldn't assume knew anything about running heists, beating security, or conning people. I didn't want to just tell them to make a Bluff check, so here's what I did. It took more work for me, but hey, it's my game, right?I had them make Knowledge or Research or Gather Information checks, whatever was appropriate, and I had a bunch of printed strips of paper ready (with more time, I'd have used 3x5 cards) with things like:DC 15: The bank itself sounds too hard to hit, but you might be able to run something on the guy who transports the money from the hideout to the bank itself.DC 20: You've got enough solid info on what kind of case the carrier uses to come up with a fake case.DC 25: The guy who transports the money grew up on these streets, and he can't resist showing off for the kids. A rigged game of some sort might lure him in and distract him enough to switch casesDC 30: One easy type of rigged game is the three-card monte. In this case, the dealer runs the game poorly, so the guy transporting the money can win the game a few times. The dealer then attacks the carrier in anger at being beaten, and while the carrier beats himi down (which the dealer lets happen), one of the onlookers switches the cases.When the PC made his check, I just gave them as much information as the check merited. Then they got to feel smart for coming up with a way to con the carrier out of his big case full of money.I could see you doing the same thing on a technical level. The higher the Knowledge or Research check, the more information you give them. You never give them all the information necessary to solve the technical puzzle, but you lay out enough information so that they can solve the technical puzzle themselves using combined information nuggets on the cards.Like I said, more work for you, but it lets them feel smart, and you get to run a hard SF game without scientist players.</blockquote>

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