# What's a good way to come up with a heist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 6, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695 "2023-09-06T16:35:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/21 "2023-09-07T11:44:30Z")
Yes, the best tale consists of an exciting and interesting fictitious story wrapped around a thread of truth. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/22 "2023-09-07T11:46:38Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > > > Completely serious question: are you a fan of _Rick and Morty_? > > No. I tried it, but the animation style and Rick’s character just turned me off. Why? Because there’s an entire episode on the formula of heist movies like _Ocean’s 11_. You’ve got to assemble a crew, have at least one double-cross, and a twist, for example. But being turned off by the Rick character is fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/23 "2023-09-07T13:30:56Z")
Get the protagonist to use hypnosis and other tricks to make the people with magical powers pull off the seemingly impossible heist. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/24 "2023-09-07T13:35:55Z")
Couldn’t you just cut them in on the take? We are assuming that for some reason in this society of magically and/or super powered people there is a need for money in the first place, so some of them must have less than others. The rest of the privileged snots will sneer at their poorer comrades much in the same way they do at you so it won’t take hypnosis to get them on board, ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/25 "2023-09-07T13:37:44Z")
I suppose it’s similar to writing mystery or crime novels. You have to see what strikes you as clever or scary and follow that vein of inspiration. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Couldn’t you just cut them in on the take? True-people are usually the weakest part of any security system. I did work in a casino at one point. Hmmm… Lots of good thoughts here. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/26 "2023-09-07T13:47:33Z")
So it be like the Weasleys conspiring with a muggle to rob the Malfoys? I like it. The whole ‘magical powers’ angle is a can of worms, though. What are the rules? There are no rules. Except when there are. Cascading paradoxes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/27 "2023-09-07T13:52:27Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Harlan Ellison got his ideas from an ideas service in Schenectady and every week like clockwork they sent him a fresh six-pack of ideas for 25 bucks. Hey, I could start a business like that! We could band together and make millions\*… I feel like that’s what everyone here does for me, every day. Thanks for the free ideas, suckers! . \*Plus whatever we make from pulling a heist using **\<3 Rhomboid** ’s story… ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/28 "2023-09-07T14:12:29Z")
A guy solicits plot ideas online, and suddenly there is a raft of crimes that are amazingly similar. It’s up to a lowly surfer to bring the culprit to justice. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/29 "2023-09-07T15:29:48Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > It’s up to a lowly surfer to bring the culprit to justice. _‘Surfin’ The Web!_ Now on Hulu! Starring \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/30 "2023-09-08T02:10:15Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > So I’m trying to write a story about a heist. The (possible) idea is that everyone else has magic or superpowers or amazing future tech, and he just has “ordinary” resources and skills. What stops magic/powers/futuristic types from pulling off a heist? Is it that their special abilities don’t work _at all_ there, putting them on the same level as the ordinary? Or is it that abilities become _worse_ than useless — say, against barriers that stop, or are powered by, mystical auras and the folks emanating them, or something? Or is it that the abilities pretty much work just fine, and the fantastic security is largely a matter of identifying culprits or tracking them down or otherwise playing catch-up afterward? Or maybe abilities work just fine, and so do the _also-works-just-fine_ abilities of the super-personnel standing guard? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695/31 "2023-09-08T07:17:03Z")
Could the heist be to steal some sort of material that renders the superpeople powerless (think Kryptonite), so having no powers makes no difference? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-way-to-come-up-with-a-heist/989695.md?page=1)