Your first heist¶

"Don't think of it as theft. Think of it as redistribution with elegant timing."

You've been around Ghelmyon a few weeks now. Friendly with a couple of NPCs. You've heard the name Lord Ashworth in the Velvet Curtain - old money, big villa, said to keep papers in his desk that other people would pay good gold to see. Maybe you've been to a notice board. Maybe somebody pinned a job.

Welcome to the /scene heist track - the game's most deliberately-structured infiltration loop. One target, one night, one chance to get in, find what you came for, and get out clean.

This article walks through the loop without spoiling the ending. The heist arc is the model the rest of the visual-interactive /scene paradigm will inherit; learn it on the villa first.

At a glance¶


When to try this	Week 2+ - after you've got a feel for the engine
How long	30-60 minutes a heist, real time
What you need	At least 1 rank in stealth-adjacent skills; lockpicks; basic kit
First target	Lord Ashworth's villa (Velvet Curtain district)
Loop	intel → plant → execute → exfil

The four phases of a heist¶

Every /scene heist follows the same loop, deliberately modeled on the Kings Quest verb-driven puzzle pattern plus MYST hot-spot exploration. The phases are sequential but you can pause / save / leave between them.

1. Intel¶

Before you ever enter the villa, gather information.

Talk to NPCs who know the target. Servants, suppliers, former employees. Trust matters: Acquaintance gets you a shrug, Friend gets you a layout.
Walk the exterior. Note guard patrol times, lit windows, servant entrances.
Read notices and rumors that mention the household. The Thieves' Guild fence will sometimes drop intel in exchange for a favor (or a percentage of the take).

The intel phase has no time pressure. Spend as long as you like. Better intel = easier execution.

2. Plant¶

Before the night-of, you may want to plant assets.

A pickpocketed key, smuggled in by a sympathetic servant.
A bottle of dosed wine left in the staff kitchen.
A bribed guard's promise to look the other way at a specific window during a specific phase.

Planting is risky in its own way (failed plant = the target knows you're coming) but a well-planted asset makes the execution phase dramatically easier.

3. Execute - the verbs¶

This is the heart of the heist. You're inside the target location. The clock is ticking. Every action carries noise + suspicion costs.

The full verb suite:

Verb	What it does	Noise
`examine <thing>`	Inspect an interactive object	Very low
`look`	Standard room description	None
`peek <direction>`	Glance through a door / keyhole	Low
`listen`	Hear what's beyond a wall / above a floor	None
`sneak <direction>`	Move quietly to a connected room	Low
`hide`	Tuck yourself behind cover / under a bed	Low
`lockpick <thing>`	Pick a lock on a door or container	Moderate
`force <thing>`	Force a lock open with a tool	High
`knock <thing>`	Spell-knock a stuck lock open (the magic rail; costs mana)	None
`magic_open <thing>`	Spell-open a locked door (the magic rail; costs mana)	None
`take <item>`	Pocket an item from the room	Low
`search <thing>`	Examine an interactive object thoroughly	Low
`distract <thing>`	Knock a glass over, kick a chair	Moderate
`leave`	End the scene (back to pre-heist location)	None

Each verb credits a small amount of noise to the heist context. When total noise crosses a threshold, an NPC nearby will investigate. When total noise crosses a higher threshold, the alarm sounds. When a watching NPC's suspicion crosses their personal threshold, they challenge you.

Tactics that emerge naturally:

Lockpick before force. Lockpick is a moderate noise verb that requires the skill but is much quieter than force. Force is a get-out-of-jail card when your lockpick is too low - pay the noise tax knowingly.
listen is free. Standing at a door costs nothing and tells you whether someone is on the other side. Use it constantly.
hide is your reset. If you've drawn an NPC's attention but they're not committed, hiding before they round the corner can drop their suspicion back to neutral.
distract buys a turn. Knocking a vase over in the east room while you slip out the west isn't free, but for the cost of one moderate-noise verb you get a whole NPC to walk the wrong direction.

4. Exfil¶

Once you have what you came for (or the alarm is sounding and you're cutting your losses), you leave. The scene ends, the engine restores you to your pre-heist location, and the consequences begin.

Three possible outcomes:

Clean. Nobody saw you, nobody knows you were ever there. The target may not even realize anything was taken for days. Maximum payout. Quest chains often branch on a clean run.
Witnessed. Someone saw you but couldn't identify you. Heat in town goes up for a few days. Vendors charge a small markup; certain NPCs greet you more warily. Mostly cosmetic.
Identified. An NPC named you to the Watch. There's a bounty out. The Thieves' Guild may know (and may be pleased or angry depending on faction politics). You can leave town, lie low for two weeks, or face the consequence chain.

Lord Ashworth's villa - the canonical first heist¶

The Ashworth job is the engine's reference target. It's deliberately authored to teach the verb suite without killing you. Some specifics:

Three floors. Ground (servants + reception), first (main rooms, study), attic (where the prize is).
The thing you're after is in a locked drawer in the study. You need a key (find it in the bedroom, on a ring), a lockpick (pickable around DC 10), or force (loud but guaranteed).
Patrol routes rotate on a 4-phase cycle. Listen at every door before opening it.
The window of opportunity is around midnight, when the household sleeps. Approach earlier and the staff catch you in the kitchen.

If the heist arc rewards you, you walk out with:

Documentary evidence with multiple uses (leverage on Lord Ashworth; faction-rep with the Thieves' Guild; potentially evidence for a Watch case against him).
A modest gold haul.
A small heirloom piece (see Rare and unique items).
The first solid Thieves' Guild reputation bump.

Common first-time mistakes¶

Forcing every lock. Force is loud. The first time you force a door, an NPC investigates. The third time, the alarm sounds. Lockpicks first; force only when committed.
Walking instead of sneaking. Bare go <direction> inside a heist scene is loud. Use sneak <direction> every move until you're past the danger zone.
Ignoring listen. Listen is free. Use it before every door open.
Trying to talk your way out. talk doesn't work mid-heist - you're past the point of negotiation. The conversation track is the intel phase, not the execute phase. The verbs ARE the conversation now.
Greedy take. Every item you pocket adds a tiny bit of noise + commits you. Take the prize and leave; the silver candlesticks aren't worth the heat.

After the villa¶

The Ashworth job is the prototype. The engine is designed to scale beyond it - second and third targets will surface naturally as you gain rep with the Thieves' Guild and faction reputation makes new doors openable.

The verb suite stays the same. The targets get more elaborate: better-defended manors, faction strongholds, specific NPCs whose secrets are the prize rather than their gold.

If the heist track speaks to you, keep going. If it doesn't, you can skip it entirely - every heist target is opt-in, and the main story doesn't require you to ever take one.