Why I Love Stealing Stories for the Devil

If you’ve ever watched Ocean’s Eleven or Inception and thought, “I want to play that, but I don’t want to spend four hours planning a heist that fails in five minutes,” I have found your holy grail.

It’s called Stealing Stories for the Devil by Monte Cook Games. It is a zero-prep, narrative-first tabletop RPG that casts you as reality-bending thieves from the future. And it might just be the smartest heist game I’ve ever played.

Here is a primer on how it works, a review of why I love it, and some tips for running it yourself.

The Pitch: Reality is Broken. Lie to Fix It.

The premise is high-concept sci-fi gold. You play as Liars—individuals from the future who have traveled back to our time. Reality is suffering from “disruptions” called Zones of Improbability, where the laws of physics and logic are breaking down.

Your job is to enter these zones, pull off a heist to steal the “key object” anchoring the anomaly, and fix reality. But here’s the kicker: because you are from a future where humanity mastered metaphysics, you can literally Lie to reality. If you need a door where there is a wall, you Lie, and the universe believes you.

Primer: How the Game Works

Unlike many RPGs where you are a zero-to-hero adventurer, Stealing Stories assumes you are already competent, cool, and powerful.

1. The Core Mechanic: Step Dice & Hurdles

The game uses a step-die system. Your skills are rated by die type:

• Bad: d4
• Average: d6
• Good: d8
• Very Good: d10

When you attempt an action, the GM (called The Devil) sets a Hurdle (e.g., Average is 3–4, Hard is 5–6). You roll your skill die. If you roll higher than the Hurdle, you succeed. If you roll equal to the Hurdle, you get an “Almost”—a partial success or success with a complication.

If you have the perfect tool or help from a teammate, you get Harmony, which lets you roll an extra die and keep the highest.

2. The Structure: Three Acts

The game is strictly structured to emulate a heist movie:

• Act One: The Briefing (Planning is Play): This is the genius part. The GM doesn’t prep the map. The players and GM build the location together during the briefing. If your character is good at climbing, you might suggest, “There’s probably a skylight, right?” And just like that, there is.
• Act Two: The Job: You execute the heist. This is played out in Scenes. You don’t roll for every footstep; you roll at the Crux Point—the one moment that determines if the scene goes your way.
• Act Three: The Turn: Just when you think you’ve won, the GM plays a Turn Card. This is a major plot twist (e.g., “The client betrayed you,” “The building is on fire”) that escalates the stakes for the finale.

3. Mission Cards

Forget counting bullets or buying rope. You have Mission Cards that represent your preparation. Need a distraction? Play a card. Need to reveal you hacked the system yesterday? Play a card. It simulates that movie moment where the thief reveals, “I knew you’d say that,” without requiring the player to actually be a genius planner.

Why I Love It (The Review)

It Solves the “Planning Problem”

In traditional games like Shadowrun, players spend 3 hours planning a heist, only for the GM to say “the door is locked” and the plan falls apart. In Stealing Stories, the planning is the world-building. Because the players help define the obstacles during Act One, they are naturally building a heist they are equipped to handle. It makes them feel smart and competent.

“Lying” is the Ultimate Player Agency

The “Lying” mechanic is a brilliant narrative tool. It prevents dead ends. Stuck in a hallway with guards approaching? You don’t just roll to hide; you Lie to reality and say, “Actually, there’s a maintenance hatch right here.” It turns the players into co-authors of the scene rather than just participants.

Zero Prep is Real

The game claims to be “Zero Prep,” and it actually delivers. The GM only needs to know the basic objective. The players fill in the details of the security systems and layout during the game. This takes a massive load off the GM and makes it the perfect game for a last-minute game night.

Tips for Running the Game

If you decide to step into the role of The Devil (the GM), here is my advice for a smooth session:

1. Embrace Chaos and Don’t Railroad

This game requires you to surrender control. During Act One, the players will define the security measures, the layout, and the guards. Let them. If they decide the vault is guarded by a laser grid, don’t force them to fight a robot instead. Your job isn’t to block them with your pre-written story; it’s to facilitate the story they are building.

2. Embrace “Yes, And…” and “Yes, But…”

The “Lying” mechanic effectively weaponizes the improv rule of “Yes, And.” When a player Lies to reality, you generally have to accept it. But to keep the tension high, use “Yes, But…” (or the “Almost” result on dice) to introduce complications. Yes, there is a maintenance hatch here, but it hasn’t been opened in fifty years and is rusted shut.

3. Watch the Clock

Pacing is everything in a heist movie. The rulebook suggests a tight schedule: keep Act One (The Briefing) to under an hour, Act Two (The Job) to about two hours, and save the final hour for Act Three (The Turn). Don’t let scenes drag on. If the energy dips, cut to the next scene or throw in a Twist Card.

4. Keep it Cinematic and Have Fun!

Don’t get bogged down in physics or realism. If a player wants to jump a motorcycle onto a helicopter, let them roll for it. The goal is to feel like cool, hyper-competent thieves. If you and the players are laughing at the audacity of the plan, you’re playing it right.

Final Thoughts

Stealing Stories for the Devil is a masterclass in emulating a specific genre. It understands that heist movies aren’t about simulating physics; they are about competence, pacing, and the twist.

Rating: A Reality-Bending Must-Play.