CRIME QUESTS

If you're a criminal, you're either affiliated with a thieves guild or you're not

With a thieves guild, you get a percentage of earning, though you might make more or less selling ill-gotten goods to an independent fence.

A fence rips you off if they think they can get away with it.

If you work on thieves guild territory and refuse to pay up they might not take kindly to it...

Thieves guild hierarchies:

gang/chief

guildmaster/kingpin

family –> matriarch/patriarch

oligarchy

board of directors/council

cell structure with loose central affiliation/leadership

Affiliated: you're expected to donate per week, for which you receive your earnings + bonuses from specific heists/jobs or by bringing in more than expected

Types of Criminal Enterprise:

pick pocketing

lifting

bribery of officers, governing officials, or other authorities

short con:

three card monte, my horse won but I can't collect the winnings, trunk full of valued possessions (actually a co-conspirator), pottery scam, relic scam, zig zag, expensive carriage ride, discount gem, discount art, married man in a bar extortion, quack medicine, money change, fortune telling switcharoo, macguffin (generating interest in a relatively worthless product), hush money, road toll, church donation, change-raise, sick baby+psychic medicine, lost jewelry scam

street spying

secret peddling

slander milling

community favors (roughing up a bully, etc.)

racketeering: protection, extortion, shake-up

business disruption

illicit market – drugs, prostitution, unsanctioned gambling, poisons, exotic animals

contest fixing (animal races, pit fighting, animal fighting, card game)

loan sharking

debt collection

bounty hunting

second-story cat burglary

armed robbery

piracy

tomb raiding/grave robbing

long con

infiltration and espionage (church, business, government, military)

dungeon delve

assassination

heist

quests should vary in complexity

not as easy as break into a room and grab the goods and go.

Gain information, business detail, secret locations, passwords, trap disarming, forgery, disguise

difficulty slider on checks:

damn near automatic +50-75%

very easy +30%

easy +10-25%

average 0

difficult -10-25%

very difficult -30%

damn near impossible -50-75%

Damn near automatic shouldn't require a roll unless there's some reason

Damn near impossible should require the right tools, right situation, or improvement to allow a roll at all.

Base/Initial chance of success vs adjusted/final chance of success

Any elaborate criminal act, such as a con or heist, has a base chance of success 1-99%

Elaborate criminal acts require anywhere from 1-10 different rolls based on the phases of the act.

Each success gives bonus toward “adjusted chance of success” (everything going as planned)

Each failure causes penalty toward “adjusted chance of success” (complications, suspicion, police involvement, etc.)

Goal of thief is to get adjusted chance of success as high as possible before committing to final phase. If the thief doesn't like their chances, they can bail.

Degree of success, 0-1 (optionally face a minor complication; if you botch this, your crime is a failure. Either you are caught/exposed/witnessed, or the mark fails to deliver.)

Degree of success 2-4 (succeed without complication)

Degree of success 5+ (receive double the reward, and lay groundwork for future endeavors)

Degree of failure, 0-1 (optionally face a minor complication; if you succeed at cleaning it up, your crime is successful; if you fail, authorities are alerted)

Degree of failure 2-4 (fail without chance to recover; mark gets away, treasure room is empty, authorities become aware of your crime; will cost money to protect anonymity)

Degree of failure 5+ (caught red-handed, dealing with undercover authority, botched, authorities are involved on-site, chance to bribe is low or cost is very high)