Is it fun to plan a heist?

[Blue]

In games like Shadowrun I have spent far too many sessions where the first half was arguing among ourselves trying to plan the heist and making information gathering checks, 12 minutes of things going to plan, and then the rest of the session dealing with either something we overlooked and alarms are going off or one of the party got trigger happy and alarms are going off. In every case I've played, plan has not been enough and planning characters are shown to be some degree on non-competent at their primary function.

I've played Blades in the Dark, and the ability to deal with an obstacle via flashback changes the dynamic completely.

1. We've just saved half the session. Let me repeat that: WE'VE DOUBLED OUR PLAYTIME IN THE SESSION. Absolute win.
2. The narrative supports that we're competent and knew about this ahead of time to put in place a solution. CHARACTERS WHO NEED TO PLAN CAN BE COMPETENT AT IT.
3. We can still information gather and plan to the point it's fun, and none of that takes the currency (Stress) to have a flashback. So literally anyone who likes to plan can do so - up to the point where it's a more fun use of session time to move forward. Let me repeat this again: IT CONTAINS ALL THE GOOD AND NONE OF THE BAD OF THE PLANNING SO AT IT ABSOLUTE WORST IS EQUAL AND IN ALL PRACTICAL CASES IS SUPERIOR.

Conclusion: Even if you love to plan, live to plan, and planning is everything, having a flashback mechanic can't hurt you and can only improve the experience.

 

[Nakana]

I suspect GMs think planning a heist is more fun than the players do. I ran a casino heist (Oceans 11 style) using BRP — once.

I won’t say it was a total bust but some of my take-aways:

Planning is planning, not playing. There was a lot of deliberation and then the actual play of it… the part where you would say “action” and actually game was pretty short. Most of the plan worked as expected with a couple of monkey wrenches thrown in that required thinking on their feet. THAT was the best and most rewarding part.

I think rules like Fiasco, Fudge, or even one of those “yes, and; no, but” style games would probably work better than BRP or GURPS. Narrative vs trad?

Abstract the details and focus more on the action. I’d almost say skip the planning and just do it, no one plans a dungeon crawl they just do it. So don’t plan a heist just jump right in and DO the heist.

 

[Emberashh]

I've found if you don't appreciate or care for sessions where you don't do anything but improv and rudimentary world interactions you're not going to like planning.

 

[Tonguez]

A short montage to invesrtigate, set up and coordinate then go, use pauses and flashbacks in media res…

 

[Lord Shark]

A hour of valuable game time spent planning, and then suddenly rendered useless because someone biffed their Stealth roll and alerted every guard for miles around, is not fun.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Planning, like investigation, is the meat of the game. Working with finite time, limited information (dynamic lighting is a must), and only the gear they have to hand really sets the mood.

 

[Jd Smith1]

A hour of valuable game time spent planning, and then suddenly rendered useless because someone biffed their Stealth roll and alerted every guard for miles around, is not fun.

So don't build a plan where a single skill failure can wreck things. That seems very obvious.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Abstract the details and focus more on the action. I’d almost say skip the planning and just do it, no one plans a dungeon crawl they just do it. So don’t plan a heist just jump right in and DO the heist.

Good way to lose PCs or even get a TPK at my table. The NPCs will have a plan, the quality of which is based on circumstance,

 

[jdrakeh]

I think it can be. It's best, for me, if the mechanics of the game being played support and engage the planning (e.g. Blades in the Dark, Leverage RPG) rather than planning being a thing that isn't directly supported or engaged by the mechanics of the game (e.g. D&D). That said, if stewarded by a good GM, planning a heist can be fun in any game. I think that requires some experience, though.

[Edit: I'm currently editing a FitD (Forged in the Dark) game and it is AMAZING for planning heists/missions/quests.]

 

[overgeeked]

Planning a heist is the most boring waste of time I can imagine. Hours spent going in circles over minute details the players and their PCs are mostly wrong about and whatever half-assed plan they do come up with is immediately and inevitably foiled by the first NPC they encounter or the first failed roll. Complete and utter waste of time.