Hirelings: A Fantasy Heist RPG

by Michael Augusteijn

In a realm of high fantasy, hirelings must settle for a life of menial dirty work for arrogant and greedy adventurers … until now! A daring fantasy heist awaits!

A 2024 DriveThruRPG PocketQuest Game Jam RPG.

Hirelings is a rules-lite fantasy heist RPG where a crew of plucky hirelings has uncovered the inside scoop on a magnificent magical treasure of immense value. But it is guarded by a fearsome foe, perhaps a dragon or lich, in its treacherous lair. The party is not nearly strong enough to take the prize by force, but if they plan it right, they might just be clever (or lucky) enough to pilfer it!

This booklet provides your group with all the rules and details needed to undertake a fantasy heist adventure in a brand new realm. Use it as a one-session diversion from your usual game, or continue the hirelings’ adventure with a campaign of many heists.

• A compact, playtested and easy to learn rules-lite system inspired by such games as MÖRK BORG and Dungeon Crawl Classics. This game is more lighthearted than those perhaps, but still potentially lethal.
• 10 races for players to choose from, including fantasy favorites plus new ones like the Forgotten Familiar and Stalkfolk.
• 10 professions for our hilrelings, such as the Agnostic Acolyte and Tactical Chef.
• For the GM, rich random generation tables including lists of minions, boss characteristics and weaknesses, lair features, heist complications and magical prizes. These tables, plus concise advice, allow the GM to roll up an exciting heist adventure in as little as 30-60 minutes! Create a unique adventure for your players every session.

• Players quickly roll up their hireling characters: ability scores, personality traits, worst fears, weapons, armor, items and perhaps a scroll or two.
• The GM creates a table of lair details for the heist. The players roll off that table to see what they know going into it. Then they gear up and plan for the heist accordingly.
• Next, the heist begins! The GM presents the party with a series of known and unknown situations and challenges. The party sneaks, smooth-talks and fights their way through the lair until the final moment when they must steal the ultimate prize from a fearsome boss monster.
• This game works best with two to five players, in addition to the GM.
• A typical session has a playtime of around 3-4 hours.

Hirelings: A Fantasy Heist RPG is available through DriveThruRPG in Print and PDF.

---

Please note:  The links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item the author of this post will receive an affiliate commission.