Theft and robbery
Robbery by today's rules. People pay by card and phone, so tills hold little cash. Cash stays where people hide from taxes: in Cobalt's business, in bars, with prospectors, in casino cages and in armoured cars. In a drought, the most valuable things are water and fuel.
Kinds of jobs
| Job | Wanted | What's special |
|---|---|---|
| Pickpocketing | 0–1 | The phone is locked to its owner, who blocks the cards within minutes |
| Theft from a car | 1 | The alarm messages the owner, the dash cam films the cabin |
| Siphoning fuel and water | 1 | In a drought the owner often shoots before calling the sheriff |
| Copper, parts, cattle | 2 | The scrap buyer records your licence, cattle carry brands |
| Car theft | 1–2 | Each model has its own protection: immobiliser, keyless entry, GPS |
| Burglary | 1–2 | Owners with routines, doorbell cameras, neighbours, dogs |
| Hitting a shop, gas station, bar | 2–3 | A ten-minute time-delay safe, a panic button, a customer may be armed |
| Bank robbery | 4 | A time-lock vault, dye packs and tracker packs, the feds the same day |
| Armoured car and train | 4–5 | The armoured car is on the dispatcher's GPS, the crew won't open the doors |
| Hitting Cobalt | 1–3 | The police barely care, but the syndicate takes revenge and puts a price on your head |
| The casino cage across the river | 4–5 | Hundreds of cameras, a state line, a chase on the water |
| Fraud | 0–4 | Uncovered days or weeks later through bank records and messages |
These are starting numbers; we tune them in tests.
The job chain
Scouting. Sit in the diner across the street and count when the armoured car comes. Ask the bartender and the courier. Read Tumbleweed, where people post that they are away for the weekend. Walk in as a customer and see where the button, the safe and the cameras are. Watching too long is a tell too: the waitress remembers the man who drank coffee by the window three days running.
Preparation. Buy tools with cash and in different towns. The getaway car is old, without GPS, on someone else's plates, and a second car waits for the switch where there are no cameras. Bring a burner phone. Mask, gloves, overalls over normal clothes. The crew: driver, the "wall", safecracker, tech, lookout, rooftop cover.
The job. It runs in real time with no timers. Time is measured by events in the world: the cashier pressed the button, the alarm company reached the owner, a passer-by dialled 911, the first car rolled out.
Getaway and fencing. Change cars and clothes, switch off phones, drive where there are no roadblocks yet. Throw away the dye pack and the tracker pack. Sell goods to a fence, strip the car or change its numbers, rebrand the cattle. An honest pawn shop sends the police a photo of every item and the seller's ID each day, so it is a bad place to sell.
Aftermath. Doorbell videos spread on Tumbleweed overnight, and the Route 66 Courier runs the story in the morning. A detective works the case for days. The owner adds bars, hires guards or closes.
Someone else's house
Every house has an owner with a routine, keys and codes. Signs nobody is home: parcels piling up on the porch, no car in the drive, lights on a timer. Stashes match wealth: a coffee can and a mattress for the poor, a wall safe for the rich. Heavy things take both hands, and the neighbours see. And the owner may come back early, or watch you through a camera and say over the speaker that the police are on their way.
Wounds
The body has about 15 zones, and wounds work by location. Wounds bleed until bandaged, and a blood trail leads to the wounded. Field first aid: bandage, tourniquet, a shot. Wounds heal over days, not seconds: stitches, dressings and casts stay for several game days, and with a cast you aim worse. Deep wounds leave scars, and people in bars ask about them.
Hospitals and doctors
The Kingston City hospital heals fast and well, but by law it reports every gunshot wound to the sheriff, so you don't go there while wanted. Doctors who ask no questions: the vet in Oatesville, an ex-army medic in a trailer by the river, a nurse you know. Cheaper, but with a risk of infection and rough stitches. In a hideout you can dig the bullet out yourself, but it is slow and painful. Online, player doctors heal and ambulances run.
Source: design document tab «Theft and robbery», sections «How it works today», «Kinds of crime», «The job chain»; design document, sections «Wounds, blood and violence», «Hospitals and medicine». The game is in development: what is described here comes from the design document and may change before release.