Heist

Heist is a members-only minigame which involves two opposing teams. Robbers try to secure loot undetected while guards attempt to uncover and arrest the robbers before time runs out. The game ends if all of the robbers have been converted to guards or if the robbers have collected sufficient loot. The minigame rewards Hunter and Thieving bonus experience as well as perks which may be used within the minigame itself. Heist was released on 17 February 2014.

The minigame may be accessed by climbing up a ladder just north-west of Falador, by the Taverley wall. It has several blue and red banners around it. Falador Teleport or the hot air balloon to Taverley are quick ways of getting close.

Waiting room
The waiting room is a platform supported by a number of prop engines and two ships with balloons. No items may be taken into the game, so players must deposit all carried items to enter a game - a bank chest is available for this purpose. The waiting area consists of three sections, one of which must be entered to join a game. Players may choose to begin the game on the side of the robbers, guards, or "neutral". Neutral players will be randomly assigned to one of the two teams before a game begins. After a sufficient number of players on both sides are ready, players are given the option to select one of two locations. The location with the higher number of votes is selected. Sir Vyvin and Liara are present on behalf of the guards and robbers respectively. Speaking to either of them provides options to learn about the minigame, convert reward points, and play a tutorial game.

You automatically join the Public instance at the end of each game. If you wish to re-join a Private one, you must climb back down the ladder and re-join it.

Gameplay
Players split into two opposing teams: guards and robbers. The robbers' role is to steal loot from around the town and deposit it in one of receptacles. To avoid capture by guards, they can disguise themselves and change form into the town's inhabitants, and then attempting to match their behavior by doing the activities they perform, such as sitting down on benches and wandering around randomly. The guards' role is to stop the robbers by trying to find the disguised robber and accuse them, thereby arresting them. After being arrested twice, the robber is sent to jail and after one minute the robber becomes a guard. The imprisoned robber can only escape if another robber opens the door or if they have either a key or a spade under the bed. The spade can be bought with reward points, while the key can be pick-pocketed from a guard (though the player is not guaranteed to receive a key when pick-pocketing and the key can only be received once).

Robbers can mainly find loot dispersed throughout the village, thought mainly in the bank. Each chest may only be looted once, after which it closes. Loots outside of the bank can also be locked by the guards, which in return can be pick-locked by robbers. The loot can be deposited with the Liara in the robbers' ship (the starting location), or deposit boxes located around the perimeter of the town.

A guard can accuse a character of being a robber, and if correct go in for the arrest by clicking the character again. After the robber is caught the second time, the robber will then be jailed for one minute, in which time if the robber doesn't manage to escape, they become a guard and join the guard's side. Robbers can escape by either using a purchased spade perk, or pickpocketing a key off a guard who has been jailed for incorrectly arresting too many NPCs.

If a guard accuses an innocent civilian three times the guard will be sent to jail by Internal Affairs, in which after thirty seconds the guard is freed or another guard can open the cell door before that time. A good method to use is the noticeboard, unlocked through reward points, to see the characters robbers have taken the form of. The incorrect arrest counter is not reset by a correct arrest, only by being jailed.

Guards can also lock chests that are located around the map outside the bank. If a chest is locked the robber must succeed lock-picking the chest before they can steal the treasure from it. A locked chest stays locked for 30 seconds.

Maps
Maps are modeled after cities in Gielinor. Two are chosen randomly before the match from the following list, and participating players vote between the two choices. Each map has features that are unique to it.

Canifis
The Werewolf town of Canifis is an available option, and was voted for in a January Power to the Players poll. It has a number of unique features, which include:
 * Gargoyle statues can be found around the map, which turn and look at robbers that pass by them
 * When a player clicks on a spade on a mound, there is a chance to encounter a random Barrows Brother, and if this happens, a thief is able to take their form. It is not recommended for a robber to take this form as it will directly give away the player. However, it can be used as a distraction as all Guards may be shocked and all chase you.
 * Infected are available, and spawn as werewolves.
 * Loot is more abundant.
 * There is no boundary around the map, and wandering to the edge will transport players, at the cost of some of their run energy, and NPCs to the opposite side of the map.


 * Disguises

Darkmeyer
The vampyre city of Darkmeyer is one of the available options, and is fairly unique in the fact that the White Knights are not involved. Although it was accessible on the first day of release, it is seemingly currently disabled. Its features include:


 * Guards play as Vyrewatch, and fly when outside buildings.


 * Disguises

Al-Kharid
The desert town of Al-Kharid is available, and its features include:


 * Valerio can be found dancing, and NPCs who approach him will do the troubadour dance with him. Robbers have the option to dance with him in order to blend in.
 * Robbers can hide in carts of hay.
 * Camels may be used as a disguise, and unlike other disguises, they cannot run. They are useful for stealing keys from Guards as they have no animation while pickpocketing.


 * Disguises

Burthorpe
The town of Burthorpe is unique in that it comes in two variants: Day and Night. There are not many differences between the two, besides the atmosphere.
 * Guards can climb trees and hide in them.
 * Robbers can hide in carts of hay.
 * Windows can be broken by both parties in order to access a house.
 * Castle ledges can be jumped off from.
 * Unlike other maps, Burthorpe is an island, and piers around the edge of the map can be jumped off in order to enter the water around the map, access the deposit boats and escape.
 * Infected are available, and spawn as zombies. Night exclusive.


 * Disguises

Random events
Random events may be encountered during the game. Helping one of these characters rewards the player with a piece of loot, if the player is a robber, or a temporary trail to a random robber, if the player is a guard. However, if the robber already has loot, they cannot receive more loot.

If the random event requests an item, the item can be obtained before talking to them.

Upset woman
On all maps, an Upset woman can be found who has lost her house keys. The keys are randomly placed somewhere around the map (this does not show on the minimap), and must then be picked up and given back to the woman for a reward. Rewards are: a random perk and one loot for robbers and two random perks for guards.

Injured man
On all maps, an Injured man can be found, and he must be led to a medical supplies crate in order to take a first air kit and heal him. Players with the man following them will walk slower, and other players can steal him by talking to him.

Shady stranger
On all maps, a Shady stranger can be found, who wants a wanted poster torn down because it is impeding his ability to thieve. The poster is a picture of a bot, and can be found anywhere on the map.

Boy
On all maps, a boy has lost his ball, which must be retrieved and given to him for a reward.

Shocked woman
A shocked woman has lost her beloved pet cat. Players must find the cat and lead it back to the woman for their reward.

Infected
Exclusive to the Burthorpe (Night) and Canifis maps are infected, which will be Zombies for Burthorpe and Werewolves for Canifis.

Every so often an infected will appear. Robbers can then disguise themselves as one, becoming infected. Once infected, any citizen that the robber turns into will become one of the infected too. This means that, eventually, all citizens could potentially look the same, allowing the robber to blend in better.

If guards have unlocked the resource chest, they have access to a vaccine that can be found in the jail. Guards can take 5 of these at once. When used, infected around the guard will be stunned for a moment and returned to their original forms, while robbers will be given a random one. Citizens will mutter something when they have been hit with the vaccine, but robbers will not. If the original infected is hit with the vaccine, they will disappear.

Rewards
One reward point is given to each player for each minute that the game lasts, regardless of whether they are on the winning or losing side. In addition, the players on the winning side also receive a win point, which can be converted to five reward points. Robbers who do not escape with loot or who are arrested and join the guard's side do not receive a win point. Guards who do not arrest a robber do not receive a win point either. A game must last at least 5 minutes for players to earn a reward.

The reward points can be used to buy certain "perks" such as the usage of the notice board and a deployable mine for guards or the use of a decoy and a spade for escape for robbers. Additionally, points may be redeemed for bonus experience in either Hunter or Thieving. The rewards interface is split between Hunter for guards and Thieving for robbers, but points earned by participating on either side may be redeemed for bonus experience in either one of the skills.

Each role may be levelled up by spending 250 points, resetting all bought perks. There is no advantage to levelling up, but it acts as a prestige system so that points may be accumulated to purchase perks again.

Guard rewards

 * Level up guard (250 points)
 * Bonus Hunter experience (10 points per purchase)
 * Reward points (5 per win point) - Converts your win points into reward points for you to spend.
 * Wanted Board (25 points) - (Passive Perk) A board appears in the jail which tells the reader all the disguises of all the robbers.
 * Friendly Wave (40 points) - (Active Perk) Wave at citizens and expect a friendly response.
 * Security Sensors (75 points) - (Active Perk) Mines which you can place which alert you to when a robber enters their proximity.
 * Undercover cop (110 points) - (Active Perk) Appear as a citizen for 30 seconds.

Robber rewards

 * Level up robber (250 points)
 * Bonus Thieving experience (10 points per purchase)
 * Reward points (5 points per win) - Converts your win points into reward points for you to spend.
 * Supercrook (25 points) - (Passive Perk) Taking/depositing loot fully restores run energy, and less energy is lost when you are spotted.
 * Resist arrest (40 points) - (Active Perk) Throws a smoke bomb, which stuns all guards in close proximity to the player (about 3x3 squares). This also makes sure that the robber can't be caught or accused for a few seconds.
 * Great escape (75 points) - (Active Perk) Once activated, the robbers can click on the bed to grab a shovel. Continuously click anywhere on the screen to dig your way out. A bar will appear above your head showing your progress.
 * Decoy (110 points) - (Active Perk) Duplicates the robber. This duplicate will then act as a player would, running or walking away. Helpful when being pursued by a guard.

Trivia

 * When Heist was first put into the game, guards had 5 accusations and the screen wouldn't blackout during the countdown.
 * During Heist's early stages of release, Burthorpe Night map was glitched and caused many players' clients to crash. It was fixed, however, after certain tweaks to the mini-game the problem persisted.
 * It is possible for some of the random event items or loots to be inaccessible due to the random map generator.
 * There was a glitch in the Burthorpe maps that, if a Guard, you are swimming chasing the robber and instead accuse a decoy in the water, arrested for internal affairs, you'll still be swimming on land. This has been fixed.
 * It was possible to cut cacti in Al-Kharid to gain woodcutting experience, but was patched with an update.
 * Roobers could get caught whilst performing certain animations such as diving or climbing. This has been fixed.
 * It was possible to do emotes within Heist, but it was later patched.
 * Guards can quickly change their accusation, whilist accusing an NPC, by clicking another NPC before their accusation registers. This is shown when the guard says," You...No wait, you!"
 * After an update chests with loot outside of the bank are now able to be locked by guards and pick-locked by robbers.