Archive for January 25th, 2011

I’ve run Leverage RPG a couple times since PDF release[1], and I’ve run into a bit of slowness when it comes to people deciding what to do next. So I made this framing device for the game I ran last Sunday, and it worked well. But I’m looking to flesh it out a bit more.

A Tool for Leverage Masterminds

So you’re planning for things to happen during the job, Mastermind? After all, that’s what you do. But you got to think on your feet and come up with loose, flexible plans — you never know what Assets will come into play, what Complications will arise, or what Opportunities will present themselves. And you don’t want to bog down play by coming up with a detailed plan that’ll go to hell in 30 seconds. So when you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a formula:

“Let’s go [Action] [Action or Condition] [Condition]!”

Actions

• Steal _____________
• Pose as _____________
• Convince ______________
• Access ______________
• Get ______________
• Plant _____________
• Gather ______________
• Track ______________

Conditions

• At ____________
• Before ___________
• While __________
• Without Alerting ___________

Combine two Actions and a Condition or an Action and two Conditions. That’s it. Then go. With that, you have all you need to move onto the next part of your Job. You’ll do this a few times during the game, as you gain more intel and see the results of your labors. This may seem over-simplistic, but it’s not — it’s TV logic, and while people in real-life heists need to meticulously plan, watching the plan unfold is far more interesting for playing and watching.

What I need from you

So, this list is woefully incomplete. If you have more ideas for Actions or Conditions, I would love to hear them! Or other thoughts as well, but I’m really keen to flesh this out, because it’s working as a pretty useful framing device.

- Ryan

[1] Disclosure: I was on the design team for Leverage RPG, and am on the editing team for the supplements. Which is to say, I’m disclosing being involved in something totally awesome.