Liars, Cheats and Thieves
Robbing armored cash-in-transit trucks isn’t a particularly easy job. Not particularly fun, either. Predictable though. Usually.
Briefing (So What’s The Job?)
Our players- lifetime career criminals somewhere on the broad spectrum of ‘amateur professionals’- are briefed by a well-connected benefactor regarding an armored Brinks truck that follows a particularly long route along East 21st St in Tulsa, OK.
This armored truck, manned by two armed guards, should be ripe for the taking once it makes its final pick-up stop at South Lewis Ave’s Bank of Oklahoma. This benefactor- a Reverend by the name of David Dulland- estimates a score of between $1-2 million USD in bricked cash, bonds and valuables.
It is imperative that characters created for this scenario absolutely require the money that could be earned upon completion. This share of the money needs to be life or death for them- an owed medical bill that will quickly become lethal, a debt to someone dangerous or a custody battle that hinges simply on legal fees.
Reverend Dulland, affectionately referred to as ‘Reverend Dooley’, invites the players (henceforth referred to as ‘the gang’) to an outside Baptist service- a sermon delivered beneath a large, white canopy tent. When the sermon ends, he shakes hands, gives thanks, and breaks down the situation with the gang in private.
They’re provided a car, weapons, and tools. The plan: park at the Reeder’s gas station across from the bank, separated by a two-way four-lane street, wait for the truck, ambush the guards as one loads from the back, bag up the goodies, swap cars for an SUV stashed 15 blocks north, and leave Tulsa northbound on Route 75 to split the money somewhere in Kansas. And if they can’t catch the guards with the door open- luckily they’re provided with a nice hunk of plastic explosive wired to a handheld remote detonator.
It’s the perfect storm- large amounts of cash to be transported after a holiday weekend, a predictable, regular route, and, the cherry on top, one of the regular guards for this route- an ex-marine highly likely to play hero- is currently on a 2 week vacation to Aruba. He’s been temporarily replaced with someone much older and much fatter.
Murder is generally bad for business, and should be avoided if possible. The guards, Dennis Chambers (31), who thinks he’s finally settled down after job-hopping his whole life and Jonathan Murrell (57), a borderline alcoholic grandfather, will more than likely cave from shouts, threats, and weapon flourishes- although they’re both armed themselves.
The gang’s window is between 9:00AM and 9:15AM the following day- that’s when the truck will be making its last stop. Reverend Dooley’s best estimate on police response time is 3-5 minutes, and with the Brinks truck containing a radio, there’s little doubt that police will act quickly. The truck itself has a back door, and a cage for the goodies, but both are locked- each guard should have each key. Most importantly though, the truck has gun-ports on the back and right side, and if the guards are spooked early, they could dig in and hunker down- able to fire from within the truck and in cover.
Before cutting the gang loose, Reverend Dooley stresses his personal cut- 20%, to be delivered to him personally. He additionally reminds them that before tomorrow, he could get them any additional materials requisitioned that are within reason. Reverend Dooley does not reappear unless the Handler needs to apply pressure or reclaim his cut.
If pressed about morality, he frames greed as inevitable, even functional, and that survival is a virtue.
Background
Once the plan is spoken aloud, it begins to draw the attention of all manner of greed-seeking entities. Prior to play, assign an entity to each player by rolling on the table below. Once an entity is assigned, remove it from the pool for subsequent assignments:
| D6 | Name | Description |
| 1 | Bacchus | A black horse that reeks of spoiled wine, covered in boils, with its face peeled back to reveal the sinewy, rotting flesh beneath. |
| 2 | Jikininki | A disfigured, hunched leper, with moldy yellowish-gray skin. Body covered in scabs and blisters. Arms elongated, eyes glowing red. |
| 3 | Mammon | An obese, naked, horned figure with amber skin. Metal piercings in its ears, chin and on each of its sagging nipples. Its stomach has crude stitches on it, barely holding together a cross-shaped scar. |
| 4 | Penanggalan | A detached and floating head belonging to an emaciated, hollow woman. Long black hair drips with congealed blood, fangs glint and veins pulse on her exposed throat. |
| 5 | Avarice | A towering, radiant figure of impossible geometry. Nine wings sprout from its body at odd angles, each feature honed to a sharp edge. The air around it bunches up like a knotted muscle. |
| 6 | Tatzelwurm | A squat, scaled creature with the face of a feline- snarled and contorted- and the body of a reptile. It leaves a trail of smoke as it moves erratically in twitchy spasms. |
Before the heist, during discussions of the plan…
During the heist, if a gang member gets sticky fingers and holds onto something for themselves…
After the heist, during moments of division or isolation…
… the involved gang member(s) must succeed on a POWx5 roll, or have their assigned entity latch onto them. Only call for this roll the first time one of these moments occurs for each character, unless the Handler wants to escalate pressure, in which case call for it each time.
Once latched, the entity will appear in intermittent and random visions- in the corner of the gang member’s field of view, in a mirror, or blatantly visible in front of them. Regardless, the entity is only visible to the gang member in question- no one else can see it. These visions cost a gang member 0/1D4 SAN to unnatural. These visions should appear sparingly at first, escalating in frequency as trust naturally degrades.
If a gang member loses sanity in this way, they are overcome by the influence of their attached entity. Discreetly notify them of their character’s change in agency by providing them the following note:
“What first feels like reasonable suspicion turns to certainty- the others will not let you walk away with what you deserve. This score is yours. It should be yours alone. No matter the cost.”
Once overcome, gang members may attempt to resist or delay this paranoia by making a subsequent POWx5 roll- on a success, it is delayed for a single moment of clarity which quickly fades. The visions worsen and the certainty returns even stronger.
This influence may overtake some, all, or none of the gang. Those who feel the pull will stop at nothing to get what they believe they deserve- everything.
The Heist
This scenario is not about whether or not the gang survives the heist- it’s about whether or not they survive each other.
The heist can contain any number of hiccups- civilian witnesses, either guard feeling froggy enough to reach for the weapon, dye-packs within banded/bundled cash or unexpected police presence. Both guards will make a priority to radio for police intervention, but can steel themselves enough to pull a gun. If the gang moves quickly and methodically, the heist goes off without a snag, otherwise they run the risk of responding officers- or at worst- a police standoff that drives them into the bank. Even the sound of sirens in the distance are often enough to force decisions or begin the fracturing of trust.
If used, the plastic explosives will breach the rear door (but not the internal cage), but obviously risks alerting onlookers and perhaps police immediately. Mechanically, it would not damage any goods inside.
In total, the truck contains the following:
- 750k in bricked, wrapped cash (three large bundles atop wooden pallets)
- 250k in loose banded cash (5k-10k per stack) (32 stacks total)
- 500k in jewelry and valuables across 20 locked safe deposit boxes
- 200k in U.S. Treasuries/Corporate Bonds (10k-20k per bond) (26 total bonds)
The safe deposit boxes and loose banded cash are behind individually locked lockers and may need to be lock-picked by a gang member, and the bonds are held all together behind a locked panel.
Resolution
Whether or not the gang makes it to Kansas to split up the cash is completely in the hands of those who are overcome by their entity. They may very well tear each other apart in the middle of the heist, or shortly after. In any case, the resolution for this scenario falls upon those who survive. Possibilities include:
- A lone survivor, rich, but haunted and ruined by that which has a hold on them.
- Mutual destruction among the gang.
- A non-afflicted gang member escaping, poorer in every way that matters.
Any surviving character may encounter lasting consequences tied to their entity- continued paranoia, visions or even escalations to possession.
NPCs
REVEREND DAVID ‘DOOLEY’ DULLAND
STR 10 CON 10 DEX 10 INT 12 POW 13 CHA 11
HP 10 WP 13 SAN 65 BREAKING POINT 52
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Criminology 70%, Law 50%, Occult 60%
ATTACKS:.45 LC Derringer 50%, damage 1D10
DENNIS CHAMBERS
STR 13 CON 12 DEX 10 INT 11 POW 10 CHA 10
HP 12 WP 10 SAN 50 BREAKING POINT 40
SKILLS: Alertness 50%, Drive 50%, HUMINT 30%, Law 30%
ATTACKS: Sig Sauer P229 LEGION Compact handgun 50%, damage 1D10
JONATHAN MURRELL
STR 13 CON 12 DEX 10 INT 11 POW 10 CHA 10
HP 12 WP 10 SAN 50 BREAKING POINT 40
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Drive 40%, HUMINT 40%, Law 30%
ATTACKS: Colt M1911 handgun 50%, damage 1D10
POLICE OFFICERS - Only one responding officer carries a shotgun initially.
STR 13 CON 12 DEX 10 INT 11 POW 10 CHA 10
HP 12 WP 10 SAN 50 BREAKING POINT 40
SKILLS: Alertness 50%, Drive 40%, HUMINT 40%, Law 30%
ATTACKS: Glock 17 handgun 50%, damage 1D10; or, Mossberg 590 shotgun 50%, 2D8 (1D8 beyond base range)
Credits
Liars, Cheats and Thieves was written by Joe Campo for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HyzrULjuKhJL2Z4r_Q68LSxfNPb0sY8X2fu39O-sLBE/edit