Picture this: you’re sitting around a table with your friends, dice in hand, plotting to take down a corrupt CEO who’s been dodging justice like a cat dodges a bath. You’re not just any group of do gooders you’re a crew of hyper competent con artists, thieves, and hackers, pulling off heists with the finesse of a perfectly executed Ocean’s Eleven caper. Welcome to Leverage: The Roleplaying Game, a table top RPG that lets you live out your fantasies of sticking it to the rich and powerful while cracking wise and rolling dice. Buckle up, because we’re diving deep into this gem of a game with all the enthusiasm of a grifter spotting an easy mark.
Table of Contents
The Setup: What’s Leverage All About?
Leverage: The Roleplaying Game, published in 2010 by Margaret Weis Productions, is based on the hit TNT television series Leverage (2008 – 2012), a show about a team of reformed criminals who use their shady skills to help the little guy. Think Robin Hood, but with laptops, lockpicks, and a penchant for snappy banter. The RPG, designed by a talented crew including Cam Banks, Rob Donoghue, and Clark Valentine, captures the show’s vibe perfectly: high stakes heists, clever cons, and a touch of heart. It’s a game where you don’t just play heroes you play competent heroes who rarely fail at what they do best, but always find themselves neck deep in delicious complications.
The game uses the Cortex Plus system, a lightweight, narrative driven engine that’s less about crunching numbers and more about telling a rip roaring story. If you’ve ever watched Leverage and thought, “I want to pull off a con like that,” this RPG is your ticket to the big score. It’s set in a modern world that feels like our own, where the powerful exploit the weak, and your job is to provide… well, leverage. You’re not just stealing wallets you’re stealing justice, one carefully orchestrated plan at a time.
The Crew: Who Are You Playing?
In Leverage, you don’t roll up a generic adventurer. You’re part of a Crew, a dysfunctional but highly specialized team of five roles straight out of the show: the Mastermind, Grifter, Hacker, Thief, and Hitter. Each role is a love letter to a specific archetype, and the game works best with five players, each taking one role to form a well oiled (or occasionally creaky) machine.
- Mastermind: The brains of the operation. You’re the one plotting three steps ahead, coordinating the team, and probably muttering, “I have a plan” while everyone else panics. Think Nate Ford from the show, or a less chain smoking version of Hannibal from The A-Team.
- Grifter: The smooth talker who can charm the socks off a snake. You’re all about disguises, lies, and making people trust you just long enough to ruin their day. Sophie Devereaux would approve.
- Hacker: The tech wizard who can break into any system, reroute security cameras, and probably order pizza without leaving their chair. Hardison, anyone?
- Thief: The sneaky one who can slip past lasers, pick locks, and steal the unstealable. Parker’s your gal, and you’re probably a little unhinged in the best way.
- Hitter: The muscle. You bring the fists, the tactical know how, and the ability to stare down a room full of goons. Eliot Spencer would nod approvingly, then punch someone.
Character creation is a blast, thanks to the “Recruitment Job,” a collaborative process where you play out a mini heist to figure out how your Crew came together. It’s like a pilot episode for your campaign, complete with spotlight scenes that define your character’s strengths and quirks. You assign die ratings (d4 to d10) to your Attributes (Agility, Alertness, Intelligence, Strength, Vitality, Willpower) and Roles, with your primary Role getting a beefy d10 and your secondary a d8. You also pick Specialties (focused skills like “Kung Fu” or “Social Engineering”), Distinctions (descriptive traits like “Cocky” or “Loyal”), and Talents (rule bending abilities like “Duck and Weave”). By the end, your character sheet called a Rap Sheet feels like a love letter to competence porn.
The System: Cortex Plus, or How to Roll Dice Like a Con Artist
The Cortex Plus system is the beating heart of Leverage, and it’s as sleek as a freshly printed counterfeit bill. Unlike crunchy systems with endless modifiers, Cortex Plus keeps things simple: you roll a pool of dice based on your Attribute, Role, and any relevant Specialties, Distinctions, or Assets. You take the highest two dice, add them up, and compare the total to the opposition’s roll (set by the Fixer, aka the GM). The twist? Rolling a 1 creates a Complication, a narrative snag that might come back to bite you later like a security guard noticing your fake ID or a mark getting suspicious.
Plot Points are the game’s secret sauce. These are narrative currency you earn by failing rolls or embracing Complications, and you can spend them to do cool stuff: create Assets (like “Borrowed Security Badge d6”), trigger a Talent, or best of all call for a flashback. Flashbacks are Leverage’s signature mechanic, letting you retroactively declare how you prepared for a problem. Picture this: the mark’s goons have you cornered, but you spend a Plot Point and say, “Flashback to last night, when I bribed the janitor to leave this door unlocked.” Boom, you’re out the door, and the table cheers. It’s like scripting your own heist movie, complete with that satisfying “it was all part of the plan” reveal.
The system’s elegance lies in its focus on storytelling over mechanics. You’re not bogged down by hit points or inventory lists your Hacker doesn’t need to track RAM, and your Hitter doesn’t need a gun (the game avoids gunplay to keep things family friendly, just like the show). Instead, the dice support the narrative, ensuring your Crew feels unstoppable but always one bad roll away from chaos. It’s a delicate balance, and Leverage nails it.
The Job: Structuring Your Heist
Every session of Leverage follows a three act structure ripped straight from the TV show, making it feel like an episode you could binge on Netflix. Here’s how it breaks down:
- The Briefing: A Client approaches your Crew with a problem. Maybe a shady pharmaceutical exec ruined their life, or a mobster stole their family business. The Fixer lays out the Mark (the villain), their Problem, and why they’re untouchable by normal means. The Crew researches, uncovering the Mark’s weaknesses and planning the con.
- The Job: The plan kicks into gear. You’re forging documents, impersonating CEOs, or crawling through air ducts (because no heist is complete without air ducts). Halfway through, a plot twist throws a wrench in things maybe the Mark’s security is tighter than expected, or there’s a double-cross. The Crew adapts, often using flashbacks to reveal their foresight.
- The Takedown: The final act is where it all comes together. The Mastermind’s plan (or Plan B… or Plan Z) clicks, the Mark goes down, and justice is served. You wrap up with the Client’s gratitude and maybe a few lingering Complications for next time.
The game provides tables to generate Jobs on the fly, from Clients to Marks to twists, making it perfect for pick up games. Want to improvise a session? Roll a few dice, and suddenly you’re conning a corrupt senator with a weakness for rare coins. The structure keeps things fast paced, with sessions clocking in at about two hours perfect for a night of gaming without committing to a Tolkien length campaign.
The Fixer’s Role: GMing with Style
The GM, or Fixer, has a unique job in Leverage. You’re not just throwing monsters at the party you’re crafting a puzzle for the Crew to solve. The Fixer creates the Mark, their goons, and the Complications, using dice pools to represent challenges (like “Corporate Security d8” or “Skeptical Mark d10”). Your goal isn’t to beat the players but to make them look awesome while keeping the pressure on. The book’s advice for Fixers is gold, urging you to embrace the Crew’s competence and let them shine, even when things go sideways.
One quirk: the rulebook playfully warns players not to read the Fixer’s chapters, then immediately says, “If you follow that advice, you’re not in the right mindset for Leverage.” It’s a cheeky nod to the game’s ethos trust your Crew, but always be ready to bend the rules. The Fixer’s toolbox includes tips for pacing, creating memorable Marks, and handling flashbacks without breaking the game. It’s a masterclass in running a narrative driven RPG.
Why Leverage Shines (and Occasionally Stumbles)
Leverage is a triumph of design, blending mechanics and theme so tightly you can practically hear the show’s theme music. The flashback mechanic is a stroke of genius, capturing the heist genre’s love of reveals and making players feel like master planners. The Cortex Plus system is accessible yet deep, perfect for newcomers and grognards alike. The game’s focus on cooperative storytelling means everyone gets a moment to shine, whether it’s the Grifter sweet talking a guard or the Thief dangling from a skyscraper. Plus, it’s just fun. The tone is light but not silly, with room for drama, comedy, and heart.
That said, it’s not perfect. The rulebook, while gorgeous, can be wordy, burying mechanics in flavour text that’s delightful but occasionally overwhelming. A concise cheat sheet would’ve been a lifesaver. The art, mostly stills from the show, is functional but doesn’t pop like the game’s writing. And while the flashback mechanic is brilliant, it can feel underpowered compared to other Plot Point uses, requiring some GM finesse to make it sing. Finally, the game’s laser focus on the Leverage formula means it’s less flexible for non heist campaigns, though clever Fixers can hack it for other genres (think Mission: Impossible or even a superhero caper).
The Verdict: Should You Play Leverage?
If you love heists, competence porn, or the idea of outsmarting villains with style, Leverage: The Roleplaying Game is a must play. It’s one of the purest adaptations of its source material, turning the TV show’s formula into a game that’s accessible, replayable, and bursting with charm. Whether you’re a fan of the show or just want to pull off the perfect con, this RPG delivers. It’s not without flaws, but its strengths narrative focus, clever mechanics, and sheer fun make it a standout.
Sadly, Leverage is out of print, and Margaret Weis Productions’ license has expired, so you’ll need to hunt for secondhand copies on eBay or Noble Knight Games. Digital versions are scarce, but if you snag one, you’re in for a treat. If you can’t find it, systems like Cortex Prime or Fate can approximate the vibe with some tweaking, especially with resources like Fate Worlds: CrimeWorld by Leverage co creator John Rogers.
Final Thoughts: Let’s Go Steal an Adventure
Leverage: The Roleplaying Game is like a perfectly executed con: it hooks you, keeps you guessing, and leaves you grinning when the plan comes together. It’s a love letter to the heist genre, wrapped in a system that makes you feel like a criminal mastermind. So gather your Crew, grab some dice, and get ready to take down the bad guys. As the show’s tagline says, “Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys.” Now go steal yourself a game night.
