Larceny
Larceny Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Lingo
Larceny uses some basic heist slang:
The Chief: The boss. The Chief is the one who directs the heist, explains the details of the Catch as needed, approves plans, and arbitrates each round. In most game variants, the Chief is a different player each round.
The Crew: Everyone who isn't the Chief. It's the Crew's job to actually plan the heist and acquire the Score.
The Score: What you're after. The Score deck is filled with desirable loot that the Chief needs you to acquire. Text in the Score deck usually provides context for why the Score is valuable, or at least what the Crew might be thinking.
The Catch: No heist goes exactly according to plan. The Catch is anything that might trip the Crew up. The Catch deck is filled with security measures, skilled investigators, or modifiers for the Score that need special attention during the heist. Text in the Catch deck usually provides the Chief and Crew interpretations of that Catch, but should not be considered the only way to define the Catch. Use your imagination, Chief!
The Fix: Every thief worth their salt has a few tricks up their sleeve. The Fix deck is filled with a lifetime of collected tools, tricks and contacts that might come in handy during a heist. The text in the Fix deck often suggests possible uses for the Fix, but like the Catch text, these are only suggestions. Be creative!
The Mark: The person that controls the Score (or the Site), and therefore the person you are stealing from. Often the owner of the Score, but could be a head of security, bank manager, etc.
The Site: Shorthand for "where the Score is".
Specialist: Anyone you can hire to perform a special service. "Specialist" cards all begin with "Hire a…", and have two functions. The card can play as a Fix, or can be discarded to allow the player to perform some special action. For example: you could Hire a Pickpocket as a Fix, or you could discard the card to pickpocket cards off one of the other players.
Setup and How to Play
First, everyone draws 7 cards from the Fix deck.
One player is designated the Chief for the first round.
The Chief draws one card from the Score deck, and two cards from the Catch deck. The Score is what the Crew is after, and might change how the Crew plans the heist. The Catch deck is filled with security measures, complications and traps the Crew must overcome to steal the Score. The Chief can provide extra details at this point or simply let the Crew decide based on the cards.
The Crew then plays one Fix per Catch, face down. Once everyone has played their cards, the Chief picks one pile, mixes it up, then lays the cards out, reading them as she does. Now it's up to the Chief to select which Fix, in her opinion, is the best choice for each Catch.
Opinion differs whether this should be done solely by the Chief or whether there should be some discussion. This is up to each Crew! Some play it poker face, trying to keep the selection a secret so the Chief can't pick based on who played the card. Some argue passionately, discussing their vision for each Fix, trying to influence the Chief. There is no wrong way to play, just have fun!
Once the Chief has picked her favorite Fix for each Catch, the Fix cards are discarded while the Catches are given to the winning Crew members. Each face up card counts as a point.
If one member of the Crew managed to Fix both Catches in a single round, they also get the Score. This likewise should sit face up in front of them and counts as a bonus point. Otherwise the Score is discarded.
Everyone draws cards back up to 7 and the role of Chief passes to the next player.
Continue playing until you get sleepy or you reach a mutually agreed upon number of points.
Gameplay Variants
There are lots of ways to play Larceny! Below are a few of our favorites, but feel free to invent your own! Let us know what you come up with, and check the website; we'll post new variants we like from time to time.
Best Laid Plans
In this variant, each member of the Crew uses multiple Fix cards to construct a plan. The Chief listens to each plan and decides on her favorite.
The Chief draws two Catches and one Score. Each member of the Crew plays at least two and no more than five Fix cards from their hand face down in front of them.
When everyone has a plan in mind, the Chief picks one Crew member to go first. Each player then reveals their cards while explaining their plan. These can be as involved or simple as they like, the only goal is to convince the Chief yours is the best!
Worst Laid Plans
Opposite day! Try to make the worst plan you can think of with the resources at your disposal.
This plays exactly like the Best Laid Plan variant, but the Crew tries to come up with the worst plan that still (ostensibly) gets the Score.
Note: Try to make a bad plan, not a stupid plan. In other words your plan should be "just crazy enough to work." At least TRY to get the Score, even if you do it in a profoundly silly way.
On the Run
The heist has gone bad, resources are low and the Crew is on the run! This variant forces the Crew to push their creativity to the limit, overcoming two Catches with a single Fix.
The Crew draws 3 Fix cards each, and the Chief plays 2 Catches. The Crew each plays a single Fix to cover both Catches. This might require explanation to the Chief.
Larceny with a Twist
This variant plays similar to the base game, but Catches can be modified based on the Fix played against them.
The Chief draws two Catches and one Score. Each Crew member picks a single Catch and plays one Fix against it.
The Chief then selects the smaller of the two piles and picks one card to modify that Catch. (In case of a tie it's Chief's choice; in case of no cards on one, she draws a second Catch to use instead.) It is up to the Chief to explain how the Fix modifies the Catch. There are no firm guidelines on how they have to relate: the Chief could use the Fix to negate a drawback, saying they are prepared for that sort of thing, to add a tool to the Catch's arsenal, or just to modify it in some barely related way that strikes her fancy.
The Crew draws back up to 7 cards at this point, then each plays a second Fix on this new modified Catch. Note: ALL Crew members play against this Catch regardless of which one they played against the first time.
The Chief then awards points as usual, selecting the best Fix, and awarding the Score to anyone who Fixed both Catches in a single round. An additional bonus point goes to the Crew member whose Fix the Chief selected to modify the second Catch.
Ex: The Hope Diamond is protected by Guard Dogs and Armed Security. Three of the Crew play Fixes on the Guard Dogs, while only one plays a Fix on the Armed Security. The Chief selects the smaller pile (Armed Security) and uses the card played (Kill the Lights) to modify the Catch. She tells the Crew: "Recon also says that the Armed Security is ready for a power failure. Each of them has night vision goggles, so anything that relies on stealth or darkness isn't going to work." The Crew must now account for this when playing their second Fix.
Heist
In this variant, the entire Crew cooperates to tell a good heist story.
The heist is composed of 4 rounds: Gather Intel, Get In, Get the Score, Get Out.
The Crew draws 4 Fix cards each (or 6 if there are 4 or fewer players). The Chief draws 8 Catch cards and 2 Score cards, and plays the Score she likes best. Then she plays a single Catch card that represents the primary obstacle facing the Crew as they Gather Intel about the Score.
The Crew can talk it over, show cards to each other and debate their best plan of attack. At any point, a Crew member can play one card and describe how they will use that Fix to overcome the Catch. Whether this occurs after careful planning and discussion among the Crew or whether one hot shot just goes for it will largely depend on the personalities in your Crew. She is in the field, and the heist has begun.
The Chief decides whether that explanation is sufficient to deal with the Catch or not. If it is not, another member of the Crew can play a card and jump in, explaining how she comes to the first player's aid. The only rule is that this must build on the card(s) already played. This can happen as often as necessary to convince the Chief the Crew has bypassed the Catch. Once the Chief is convinced, play progresses to the next phase.
Gather Intel is the setup for the heist, finding out where the Score is and what's guarding it. Get In is all about getting past the outer defenses. Get the Score is all about actually acquiring the Score, usually bypassing a final security measure. And Get Out is the getaway, escaping with the Score.
If the Crew has any cards left when the Chief approves their Fix for the final phase, they win! Discard any remaining cards and draw a new hand for the next round.
Note to the Chief: Heist gameplay is more about telling a fun story than it is winning. You could easily veto the Crew out of cards every round, but it's more fun to play it fair and see what they'll come up with if you let them.
Troubleshooters
The Crew plays both sides in this mode, competing to see whether they can secure or steal the Score.
One player is the Chief, and will remain so for one full hand. The group splits into two teams: one for the Mark, one for the Crew. The Mark team draws 7 Catch cards, while the Crew team draws 7 Fix cards.
The Chief draws a single Score. The Mark team plays the best Catch for defending the Score face down, while the Crew plays their best Fix for stealing it face down. Each team reveals their card at the same time. The Chief then decides which team was more effective and awards the Score to them.
Neither team draws cards; what they draw at first is what they have to work with during the round. The first team to secure or steal 4 Scores wins.
Note: This mode lends itself to discussion more than most, but remember the Chief's word is still final.
Black Bag Job
The Chief puts the Crew to the test in this variant that combines planning and improvisation.
The Chief outlines the heist as usual: one Score and two Catches. Then the Crew draws 10 cards, then discards back down to 7, preparing their black bag of tools for the heist. They need to be ready for the Catches they know about, but the Chief will also throw a surprise Catch at each member of the Crew so they have to prepare their black bag for anything.
The Crew outlines their plan just like in Best Laid Plans: they play between two and five face down Fix cards and explain their heist to the Chief.
The Chief then draws two Catch cards and chooses one to use during the first thief's heist story. The Chief can spring this Catch on the player at any time during their story. The player has to work it into their narrative and overcome the Catch with the cards remaining in her hand. The Chief repeats this (draw two, play one) for each member of the Crew.
Note: Black Bag Job works well for two players! Just tell a story and have fun trying to trip each other up!
Brainstorming
For those days when your Crew doesn't have much time, but needs to keep sharp.
The Chief plays one Catch, the Crew each kicks in a single Fix. Simple and sweet, designed for rapid fire planning to keep your Crew in heisting trim.