Stealing the Throne
A thousand years ago, we built twelve giant mecha to fight a cataclysmic war. We called them Thrones. Down the generations since that great war, dynasties have formed, each drawing its legitimacy from the ownership of one of these ancient weapons. Possession of a Throne bestows wealth, power, authority over whole star systems, and a seat on the Galactic Council.
You're going to steal one.
Stealing the Throne is a storytelling game of giant mecha heists. Zero-prep and GMless, it's specifically designed for exciting one-shot play. Build a Throne, invent its fiendish defences, and then take them apart one-by-one with your crack team of thieves.
All you need to play is an ordinary deck of playing cards, a six-sided die, and 3-5 players.
| DETAILS | THEMES |
|---|---|
 3-5 players 1-3 hours GMless and zero-prep Rotating player roles |
 Epic heists Mecha sci-fi Galactic scale Explosive action |
Stealing the Throne is inspired by action-heist media such as Ocean’s 8, Fast Five, Rogue One and Leverage ("Let's go steal us a giant mech"), Battletech, and a dash of the decommissioned Jaeger scrapyard sequence from Pacific Rim: Uprising.
The rules draw from Lovecraftesque by Becky Annison and Josh Fox, Sol Survivor by W.H. Arthur, HEIST: Get Rich or Die Trying by Allie Bustion, John Wick’s Wilderness of Mirrors, and Facing the Titan by Nicolas "Gulix" Ronvel.
The 40-page zine contains:
- Complete rules for action-filled heist one-shots.
- Four Throne playsets to get you playing straight away.
The Throne playsets include beautiful full-page illustrations by four supremely talented artists:
- The Burning Soldier is illustrated by Si Sweetman.
- Belly Laugh is illustrated by Sam Tung.
- Justice Above is illustrated by Brandish Gilhelm.
- Tensword is illustrated by Galen Pejeau.
These playsets provide inspiration in the form of Throne-specific mech systems, background and obstacle prompts, and lists of thieves and their rivals. Use them as quick-start tools to launch your games, inspiration for building your own Thrones, or prompts to fall back on if you need a mid-game creativity boost.
Gameplay consists of three phases: planning, the heist, and the getaway. In the planning phase, you’ll decide which Thrones you’re going to steal, and where you’re going to steal it from. You’ll learn about its history and its capabilities, and figure out why you have to steal it.
During the heist, players take on one of three rotating roles: Throne, Thief, and Backup. The Throne sets a scene, describing the fiendish security measures the Thief must overcome to advance towards their prize. The Thief faces the challenge, making use of flashbacks and calling on assistance as needed. The Backup helps the Throne by adding details and roleplaying NPCs, and comes to the Thief’s aid if the situation gets dicey.
Once the security measures are defeated and the Throne secured, the thieves make their getaway. This is everyone’s chance to finally take control of the giant mech in a rapid-fire montage of big action and (potentially) big reveals. Will your thief escape with the prize, go out in a blaze of glory, or perhaps reveal themselves a traitor?