It's Always a Caper  
  The Heist, planning and execution  

 A Cyberpunk Masterclass (for GM) second advice : It’s Always a Caper. (CRB p.393)

My friends and I spent a lot of time planning heists when we played Shadowrun a long time ago. u/Sparky_McDibben asked me if I had any advice. I don't know if it will be useful for her him. But I bet some newly GM and players might get some good stuff from it.

The general idea is to get the most out of the skills available in the game and ensure that everyone finds their place.

Depending on the heist and the target, the Fixer gives fees to increase the chances of success. These fees are independent of salary. 

It all starts with intelligence. Without information, it's impossible to make informed decisions and therefore to plan a course of action. That's why the biggest mistake a GM can make is to limit access to information.

My players are looking for :

• Location plans

• NET architecture structure and defenses

• Guards and special Enforcers

• Entry point

Active Intelligence

They mingle with the environment, especially the bodegas, where certain people could provide information or rumors about their target. (Acting + Conversation / Lip reading)

They find out if there are any illegal activities linked to their target (Streewise or Local expert to identify important and "underground" people in the area (fixers, gang leader, etc...) and then Conversation, Bribery or Persuasion).

They generally stake out the area they wish to attack/plunder. They obtain information on certain rounds of guard duty, on the people who work in the area under surveillance, on the comings and goings of important people, etc... They then follow one or two targets to identify where they live.

This phase is very important depending on the result I will provide :

• The names of certain employees/members of the organization who manage their target.

• Human Resources weak points: the name of a member who takes drugs, who loses a lot of money gambling, who is unhappy with his internal status, who has trouble seducing men or women.

• Security weak points : a kibble pizza delivery which doesn't follow the due process, an electric failure that will randomly black out the left part of the building, an antenna which boost the signal because it's hard to connect to the datapool, a guard badge easy to steal during is coffee break at the local bodega, etc....

• Location plan.

 With all the data gathered they will start planning.

The style: Based on the intelligence they will decide if the go stealth mode, Fight mode or a combinaison of the two.

Inside work: They always try to have an ally on the inside, which happens during phase C of intelligence gathering. They'll use him or her in the best possible way to sabotage the most dangerous elements inside the site. (Active defense, a guard with a heavy weapon, whatever).

Complementary crew: depending on the task at hand and the information available, they may hire a complementary crew member with a specific skill or piece of equipment they need. Sometimes they ask the fixer to do this, explaining that the job requires an extra person.

Diversion: They'll try to create a diversion to attract the attention of the NCPD or any other protective force. A gang is the best solution. It costs a little money, but they've learned that delaying the arrival of the "police" is vital to their survival.

Escape routes: They always have two ways to escape. One safe, the other dangerous (passing through the combat zone as quickly as possible).

Infiltration:

• Entry point

• NET archi acces point

• Waypoints to the target

• Backup plan in case of alarm

Combat mode

• Type of weapon to use (depends a lot, you can't go full "boom" all the time)

• Entry point : this is crucial and they spend quit some times to decide where.

• Setting priority. Examples :

  • • • Kill the Heavy weapon user as soon as possible.

      • Kill the autofire dude ... he will use suppressive fire and that's gonna be an issue.

      • Go the the server room then establish a security perimeter

They have a squad leader (Tactics), they have a communication devices and spare. They test it and have a backup plan in case they have no communication for one reason or another. They have a role in the combat team and try to follow established tactics based on the information they have. 

Infiltration

1. They want to access a NET architecture and will let the Netrunner do is magic

2. The infiltration team will then process to advance toward their goal.

3. The back up team (guys with low level in Stealth) are waiting nearby.

 They like it because I provide them with intelligence when they use the right method to gather information. They like it because sometimes... everything goes according to plan. They like it because sometimes there are unpredictable variables that derail the plan. They like it because it's fair. They like it because I take into account their original ideas when they are credible.