Putting Together a Heist Crew for DnD 5e
Whether you’re putting together a crew for Keys from the Golden Vault or just working a heist into your regular campaign, a heist crew has a few different roles than your average adventuring party. Stealth and deception are often more important than damage output, and casting Fireball on a guard is sure to bring every guard in the area down on you.
These 6 roles are made to solve problems that come up on heist adventures. This isn’t a checklist, but this can give some direction if you’re trying to put together a party for a heist adventure or campaign.
The Cat Burglar
Need to sneak in through a ceiling window? How about scale a castle wall to find a way for the rest of the crew to get in? This is where the Cat Burglar comes in. While things like trap detection and lockpicking are useful for Cat Burglars, the biggest thing they bring to the table is mobility. You don’t need the whole team to be able to scurry up into the rafters—having one character who’s good at it and can lower down a rope for the others can get your whole party into an advantageous location.
Martial classes that improve mobility or offer a climbing speed are great for this. Almost any Monk will excel in this role, but the Thief Rogue has several skills that apply, and even a Path of the Beast Barbarian can be a great climber. Some races, like Tabaxi, also offer a climbing speed, so a literal Cat Burglar might be your best option.
Flying characters are so good at this that it’s almost cheating. Flying races like the Owlin, Fairy, or Aarakocra can make any class work, or a simple Broom of Flying can offer flight options to any character. Many spellcasters also get spells like Fly or Misty Step that can get them where they need to go.
For your skills, a high Acrobatics skill can really help, since you’ll likely be running along narrow beams or tightropes, and even if you have a climbing speed, proficiency in Athletics can help with climbing difficult surfaces. Stealth is a given. Even if you have someone on your team who specializes in picking locks (more on that later), having proficiency in Thieves’ Tools can be useful if you come across a locked window or door.
To fill the Cat Burglar role, there’s some essential gear you’ll need. Ropes, of course, are great, and you should have a few with you. (A Rope of Climbing can be useful if you can get your hands on one.) Similarly, a hammer and pitons make it easier to use the ropes. If you want to be able to lift something heavy with your rope, a block and tackle can make that much easier. If you have a long way to climb, a Climber’s Kit can mean the difference between life and death. If that sounds like a lot of gear for your character, you might need a Bag of Holding or Handy Haversack to carry it all around in.
The Charmer
Whether convincing guards that you’re supposed to be there or persuading a mark to reveal vital information, a Charmer will always have a place in a heist. Generally, this means a high Charisma score, but some classes (like the Samurai Fighter or Fey Wanderer Ranger) have other ways of calculating social skills.
Bards are the gold standard for charmers, and they do very well in the role, but other classes can also succeed.
Warlocks can be amazing Charmers. Their reliance on Charisma makes them great at social skills, and certain Warlock invocations, like Mask of Many Faces, make it easy for a Warlock to play any role needed. A Warlock with the Mask of Many Faces invocation and the Actor feat can essentially become anyone at a moment’s notice.
Sorcerers are also Charisma casters, but will have to use their limited spell selection on things like Disguise Self to work in this role. They can work, though.
Rogues can perform admirably in this role. Some subclasses, such as the Swashbuckler, need a high Charisma score, while others, like the Mastermind or Assassin, have abilities that make it easier for them to mimic others. Arcane Tricksters can also choose Disguise Self as a spell. In a pinch, a disguise kit can get you through a lot of scenarios.
Paladins typically have a high Charisma score and can technically be good at this. Just make sure you know how to reconcile the espionage with your Paladin oath before going down this route.
Trickery Clerics are perhaps the most surprising option, but they’re a great fit in regards to both spell selection and character theme. They’re also typically a little less Wisdom-reliant than other Clerics, so they can spare the points for a higher Charisma score.
If you want to play a Charmer character, just make sure you’re ready to improvise—things rarely go as planned.
The Fixer
The Fixer focuses on making problems go away. If you’re breaking into a building and need to break a lock or window to get in, that’s going to be a dead giveaway to patrolling guards that see it. A Fixer uses magic to either fix or cover up any evidence of your break-in. There are ways to do some of this without magic, but magic makes this job a lot easier.
Sometimes, a humble cantrip, like Mending or Prestidigitation, will be all that’s needed. Blood on the carpet? Prestidigitation can get that right out. Did you cut or rip a banner getting into the throne room? Mending can fix that. In a pinch, even the Minor Illusion spell can divert the attention of passing guards, but to really cover something up, you might need more powerful magic.
Illusion spells like Silent Image, Invisibility, Major Image, or Hallucinatory Terrain can cover up a lot of mischief and mean the difference between the guards calling for a full lock-down and you continuing your business undetected.
Being able to do things from a moderate distance can also be helpful. The Mage Hand cantrip can be useful, but it’s more useful if it’s invisible—being an Arcane Trickster Rogue or taking the Telekinetic feat will allow you to stealthily pick that vase up from the shadows. The 5th-level spell Telekinesis takes this ability to the next level; it’s available to Sorcerers and Wizards, but a Ring of Telekinesis can give this ability to any character.
Bards and Wizards have access to a lot of the useful spells for this role and are amazing, but Warlocks and some Druids and Sorcerers can also fill this role, if built for it. Some Clerics and Artificers can also fill this role in a pinch.
The Lookout
Ah, the Lookout. An eye in the sky that warns the crew of danger and coordinates everything. A good Lookout can also scout a room before having the crew move into it, potentially saving them from an unwanted encounter with the guards. Having a good Lookout may not be essential for every heist, but when you need one, it will be hard to get non-specialized characters to fill this role.
This is probably the role most analogous to a traditional party role. If a character would make a good scout in a traditional party, they can serve as the party’s Lookout. The core parts of it are a good Perception score, the ability to sneak around undetected, and decent mobility. The reigning champ of scouting is the Ranger, and they fit that bill amazingly well, but Monks, Druids, and even some Clerics can be great at it, and Rogues and Fighters can be built to be great Lookouts.
If you have a smaller party and want to combine some roles, the Lookout and the Cat Burglar can often be the same person—there’s a lot of overlap in what makes a character good at each role.
Once you have a character that can sneak and scope things out, the missing piece is being able to tell the party about it. You might look at the Message cantrip, but that’s hardly necessary. The Horn of Silent Alarm is a common magic item that can be used for this (one blast to proceed, two to retreat), or your DM might let you improvise some bird calls to attempt to communicate stealthily. A pair of Sending Stones can function as walkie-talkies during a mission. If the crew can see each other, a signal mirror might suffice. There are lots of ways to communicate with your party.
The Muscle
The ultimate goal in a heist is to not get caught, but if shit does indeed hit the fan, you may need someone who can hit that observant guard so hard that he can’t call for help. The catch is that, if shit does not hit the fan, you need someone who’s not going to give away your location. A frontline warrior who can sneak does limit our options a bit, but there are a few ways to achieve this.
Barbarians can, surprisingly, make excellent Muscle characters, with their Unarmored Defense making it easy for them to sneak around and still have decent AC. Just talk to your Barbarian before the heist to make sure he won’t start yelling or banging a drum when the guards approach. Use small words.
Monks are excellent in this role. Their AC may not be as high as a Fighter in platemail, but their high Dexterity, mobility, and natural stealthiness will make it much easier to get through the rest of the heist.
Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers can all perform in this role as long as they’re built around Dexterity and light armor.
Even Rogues, who are not often thought of as frontline warriors, can do well here with the Swashbuckler subclass.
The thing to remember is that Muscle characters in a heist are a backup plan, so make sure these characters have something else they can do when not fighting.
The Thief
Perhaps the most vital role in a heist, the Thief is someone who can pick locks, get past traps, and pick the occasional pocket when needed. Rogues excel in this role, of course, but there are many other ways to get proficiency with Thieves’ Tools and Sleight of Hand.
Artificers are amazing at this, having natural proficiency with Thieve’s Tools and having the option to build around Dexterity. Choosing the Urchin or Criminal background can make any character into a makeshift thief. In a pinch, multiclassing into Rogue for even a single level can get you there.
Investigation is another useful skill for Thieves, as checking for traps is a vital role. This once again makes Artificers a solid choice, as their high Intelligence will give them a solid boost to Investigation. Even characters without a high Intelligence can gain proficiency or even expertise in Investigation, though, giving you some options for character builds.
If you don’t have a Rogue for whatever reason, the 2nd-level Knock spell can be used to open most locks, and it’s available to Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards. The 2nd-level Find Traps spell is also available to Clerics, Druids, and Rangers, but be aware that this confusingly-named spell does not actually find traps; it merely tells you that traps are present.
About the Author
Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory is a web developer and writer in the Kansas City area. He's been playing TTRPGs since 2020 and is involved in the disability-related TTRPG podcast Tales from the Crips. He's into classic movies, mental health, and, of course, DnD. Also, he's in a band. One time, they rocked so hard it killed a man.