Crime without the cell

Every crook in Vesper City ends up in a cell sometimes. The clever ones just do it less often. Here is how to keep the money coming and the cell doors closed. The rules of the board are in Crimes.

Pick the right job

Each crime card shows the nerve it costs, the take, the heat it adds and what happens if it goes wrong. Read all four.

• Start where you can win. A job you pull off most of the time beats a big one you rarely land. A failure pays nothing.
• Match your stats. Each crime leans on one of your stats. Train the stat behind the crimes you repeat (Gym and training).
• Read the "If it goes wrong" line. Some jobs end in jail, some in hospital, and petty ones let you walk away. Choose the risk you can afford.
• Mind your tools. Some crimes need a tool, others get better odds, less heat or a shorter sentence with one. Equip it first (You → Inventory).

Know your odds

Below level 5 the odds show only as words, from "Easy job" to "Long shot". From that level you can Gather intel on a crime for $100 per level of the crime, paid either way. If someone talks, you see the real odds for good. Do it on jobs you plan to repeat, not on one-offs. Doing a job often also teaches you its odds (25 successes, or being 5 levels above it).

Heat: build it slowly

Every attempt adds heat, and a failure adds double. Bigger jobs add far more: one big-time job adds as much as three or four street jobs. Heat cools off over time, and the more of it you carry, the worse your odds and the harder it hits when you are caught. So:

• Watch the gauge. It warns you before a beat cop takes an interest and before you're Hot.
• A beat cop only takes a cut of one job's cash, so treat him as a tax. Being Hot is worse: longer sentences and a bigger chance of getting caught. Stop before you get there.
• Don't chain risky jobs back to back. Mix in quiet, small jobs while the heat drops.
• Stepping away or going to bed? Lay low at your lodging first: it's free and the heat cools faster.
• Bribing a beat cop costs real money and gets dearer each time the same day. Save it for when you must keep working.

When it goes wrong anyway

• Jail. From level 10 the police watch remembers your recent arrests, and each one makes the next sentence longer. A quiet spell lets the record cool. You can wait it out (bribe and doctor prices fall as the clock runs), or use the ways out in Jail and hospital.
• Hospital. A crime that turns violent halves your health and sends you to hospital. Keep a healing item in your inventory: each one shortens the stay.
• Cut the time. Law School shortens jail time, First Aid shortens hospital stays, and careers can too (Jobs, Education).

Don't make it worse

• Drinking makes crimes less likely to succeed. Plan your nights out for after your crimes (Nights out and drinks).
• Don't push on when your nerve is nearly gone and your heat is high.
• Leave your cash in the bank: a bad day on the street shouldn't cost you your savings.

Climb the ladder

When your usual jobs feel easy, step up. Streetwise, Safecracking and The Big Time open higher tiers of crimes, and each district has a big job that takes your whole nerve bar. Higher tiers pay more and bite harder, so arrive ready.

Tips

• Gather intel on the jobs you do the most.
• Cool your heat before a risky job.
• Check what failure costs before you press the button.