So I'm Watching Ocean's Eleven...

[Shallown]

I was in and have run a city based D&D game were we planned heist and other crimes as well as dealing with th general populace and thievs guild. It can be a blast to be a part of this type of game and never actually leave the city. About the onlything you can't use as much is wilderness encounters but sewers and their occupants can be almost as nasty and can work as a good replacement. Urban rangers can be very effective. If everyone takes a level or too of rogue then the game really develops nicely. you can be bad without being very evil. It is more a matter of enforcing consequences to actions than characters being extremely moral.

Later

 

[Zogg]

Am I the only person taken aback by dave-o's use of "rad" not once, but twice...and he italicized the word?

 

[takyris]

The thing that's tough about Ocean's Eleven is making the PCs work in a way that combines preparation and excitement.

I mean, part of the coolness of that movie was the things that the audience didn't know. They didn't know that Clooney was SUPPOSED to get dragged into a room to get beat up, but had already bribed the guy who was supposed to beat him up. They didn't know that there was nobody in the van. They didn't know that the guy who has the heart attack isn't really having a heart attack.

I'm trying to figure out a fair and fun way to incorporate these things -- letting players make "retroactive sense motive checks" when the bad guy springs a twist on them so that they can then say, "Yeah, we've been onto you from the beginning, and that giant atomic gun you just activated did nothing except signal your location to the U.S. military squad waiting a couple miles off the coast." Or letting them pass me a note that says, "Hey, this guy assigned to torture me? Any chance I knew about him (Knowledge:Streetwise +15) and maybe bribed or diplomacy'd him beforehand? (Diplomacy+12, Wealth+9)" And that way, even the other players think that Steve is being dragged off to get tortured, when in fact the "torturer" is just gonna give him a smile and the passkey to the second level of the secret fortress.

Dunno, worth a thought, though. If you could make it work, it'd be really fun.

Also, consider seeing the original movie. Very different, too long by today's standards, but interesting in a lot of ways. I was impressed by how the group handled racial stuff in an honest and buddy-like way, and unimpressed by how the group handled women.

 

[AuraSeer]

...a travelling band, always one step ahead of the law getting into trouble, helping people out, and stealing money, booze and cigarrettes wherever they can.

I didn't know there was a Scooby Doo RPG!

 

[Wolv0rine]

Or, alternatively, what other movies to you think would make a super awesome game? Off the top of my head: The Princess Bride, Army of Darkness, The Boondock Saints, The Big Hit, and Night of the Living Dead (after a cursory glance at my DVDs at hand).

Well, I don't know about the rest of them, but I'm in a d20 Modern Night of the Living Dead 2003 game being played on psionics.net. It's taken on aspects of other things (it has something of a hint of The Stand, Red Dawn, and Terminator to it, but still Zombie hell). It's been pretty kick-arse soo far, we just hit 8th level. At least we've been smart enough to NOT do anything the folks in the first movie did. hehe

 

[blackshirt5]

What I took from Ocean's Eleven (and good heist movies in general) is the are the scenes when they are putting together the team. I always thought it was kind of silly for a bunch of adventurers, highly-skilled and specialized, just happen to meet in a bar or were all childhood friends. I want to run a game where some Boss Dude assembles the group after studying the dungeon for months. "We need a trap-breaker. Someone get me Lidda! Someone's got to bluff our way past all the guards; Gimble, that's you. Tordek's our muscleman, in case we can't finesse the guards. There's a horde of wights guarding the inner door - Jozan and Alhandra, I'm looking at you. Now let's get moving!"

Dude, I so wanna do that now.

 

[Amal Shukup]

How about 'Glengarry Glenn Ross'?

Combined, as it happens, with an 'Ocean's Eleven' style heist.

Set Up:

PCs are members of a powerful big-city Thieves' Guild, and make up a multi-talented 'special projects' team.

Times are tough, though... The local constabulary is turning up the heat. A new, very nasty, rival organization is setting up shop. The much respected and beloved Guildmaster has, er, retired... The new Guildmaster considers himself a 'visionary', and wants to 'trim the fat'.

Gonna have a little contest: Three teams will each be given a more or less equivalent (and hideously impregnable) target. The team that accomplishes the most succesful heist (lowest profile, most loot etc.) wins 'First Prize'.
...................................
"First Prize? Why, that would be promotions all around, a big heap o' wealth, key to the executive washroom... The good stuff."

"Anybody wanna hear about second prize? Second prize is a masterwork set of thieves tools. Personally monogrammed..."

"Third Prize: The, er, 'third-place' team will be left for the constabulary - trussed up, geased, and accompanied with sufficiently damning evidence to ensure rapid conviction and grotesque execution. Always good to throw the coppers the occasional bone..."
...................................

The fun bit is that there are two teams of NPCs attempting to sabotage the PC's efforts, political unrest within the guild itself, and direct opposition by the 'target' and law enforcement. The new 'rivals' are a wild card that can be tossed in if things are going too easily.

The heist itself requires a number of set up heists to accomplish, making for a series of linked adventures that take place over time, and that require a variety of skills to overcome - investigation, stealth, violence, magic, diplomacy etc.

Never got to run the durn thing, though. When given the choice, the players opted to play 'heroes' - not scoundrels. Wimps... Ran a much more traditional campaign instead. (Sigh)

Amal

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

I'm trying to figure out a fair and fun way to incorporate these things -- letting players make "retroactive sense motive checks" when the bad guy springs a twist on them so that they can then say, "Yeah, we've been onto you from the beginning, and that giant atomic gun you just activated did nothing except signal your location to the U.S. military squad waiting a couple miles off the coast." Or letting them pass me a note that says, "Hey, this guy assigned to torture me? Any chance I knew about him (Knowledge:Streetwise +15) and maybe bribed or diplomacy'd him beforehand? (Diplomacy+12, Wealth+9)" And that way, even the other players think that Steve is being dragged off to get tortured, when in fact the "torturer" is just gonna give him a smile and the passkey to the second level of the secret fortress.

This is the BEST. IDEA. EVER.

Consider it *yoinked*

Seriously, I am all about letting the players help guide the plot. You've got 4 other people around the table - you telling me they might not occasionally have a better idea than you, Mr. DM? This is precisely the kind of mechanic I'm looking for. RAD! *


* Hey, some of us never stopped using that term.

 

[Macbeth]

I'm trying to figure out a fair and fun way to incorporate these things -- letting players make "retroactive sense motive checks" when the bad guy springs a twist on them so that they can then say, "Yeah, we've been onto you from the beginning, and that giant atomic gun you just activated did nothing except signal your location to the U.S. military squad waiting a couple miles off the coast." Or letting them pass me a note that says, "Hey, this guy assigned to torture me? Any chance I knew about him (Knowledge:Streetwise +15) and maybe bribed or diplomacy'd him beforehand? (Diplomacy+12, Wealth+9)" And that way, even the other players think that Steve is being dragged off to get tortured, when in fact the "torturer" is just gonna give him a smile and the passkey to the second level of the secret fortress.

Y'know, I like this idea, and between this and some ideas I've come up with, I'm begining to really like the idea of running a heist-type PbP. I'll think about it for a bit longer, but consider the possibility of a me running a Oceans Eleven style game highly likely.

 

[Christian]

I can't believe noone's mentioned the 13th Warrior yet.
Many people have noted its similarity to D&D adventures.

Well, in a way, that's already been done. Wasn't Beowulf in the list of influential literature at the back of the 1st Ed. AD&D DMG? It was certainly the inspiration for The 13th Warrior (check the author's notes in Eaters of the Dead, the book the movie was based on); and even if Gygax didn't explicitly mention it, it's almost definitely at the root of the whole fantasy adventure genre. So, the game based on the story & culture of The 13th Warrior is ... D&D.

Sort of.