The Heist

RailCowBot Train · Rules v0.8.1

Move the crates
Avoid the paperwork

RailCowBot recruits a suspiciously available crew during RailCowGirl’s train streams. Everyone attempts to move the fictional banana crates without creating an international paperwork incident.

No bet · No purchase · No real prize

Joining is free. Rewards are virtual RailCowBot points with no cash value and can never be exchanged for money or real-world prizes. RailCowBot is irresponsible, not a gambling operator.

Quick start

01
Wait for RailCowBot to announce recruitment in YouTube chat.
02
Type !heist for an automatically balanced role — or add the role you want. Automatic assignment fills one of the least represented roles and favours your strongest trained role when the crew needs it.
03
Recruitment stays open for three minutes. At least two players are required.
04
Cover all five roles before departure to unlock the Full Crew Bonus.
05
RailCowBot handles the dice automatically. You can keep watching the train.

The next Heist time is deliberately hidden. RailCowBot does not publish criminal timetables. A complete mission normally lasts 10–15 minutes.

The three phases

Infiltration

Find the route in, avoid patrols and try not to wear a reflective vest marked “definitely not suspicious”.

The operation

Locate, transfer or liberate the banana crates while RailCowBot updates the manifest using crayons.

Getaway

Leave before the paperwork becomes self-aware. A getaway involving a locomotive is still a getaway.

Every phase produces one complete narrative result in live chat. The effective difficulty stays visible; detailed dice remain hidden so the game does not bury the conversation. After the mission, !heist rolls shows your own rolls.

An optional AI narrator may vary the wording, but it never decides a die, difficulty, outcome, XP award or reward. The game engine remains in charge.

Dice & roles

d6One six-sided die

d12One twelve-sided die

2d6 [4+5]Two dice · total 9

Your Action Die

Every active participant rolls one d6 in every phase. Rolls from 4 to 6 are successful actions. Three successes give the crew +1 Crew Support; five successes give +2. If nobody succeeds and at least two players roll a natural 1, Crew Support becomes −1.

Roll	Typical result
1	You are spotted, cornered or create an impressive new problem.
2	You lose equipment, make noise or require adult supervision.
3	You escape a problem by an uncomfortably small margin.
4	You complete your task. Competence enters the operation.
5	You help or rescue another participant.
6	Heroic action. RailCowBot briefly runs out of insults.

Choose a role

Each role has one specialty phase. During it, you roll your persistent Role Die in addition to the normal Action Die. A Role Die succeeds on 4 or higher. One successful Role Die gives the team +1 Role Support; two or more give the maximum +2.

01 · Infiltration

Trackside Scout

!heist scout

Reads patrols, signals and bad hiding places. The crew’s rented common sense.

02 · Getaway

Corrupt Dispatcher

!heist dispatcher

Rearranges signals, routes and inconvenient facts. Ethics were apparently optional.

03 · Operation

Banana Loader

!heist loader

Moves crates without moving the entire terminal by accident.

04 · Getaway

Getaway Driver

!heist driver

Gets everyone out before the paperwork develops teeth.

05 · Operation

Inside Cow

!heist inside

Knows the doors, manifests and which clipboard controls reality.

Role Assists

Every successful personal Role Die is permanently recorded as a Role Assist. All successful specialists receive an assist, even when the team has already reached its +2 Role Support limit. Role Assists do not add a separate reward or hidden modifier. Use !heist assists for your totals or !heist profile scout for one role.

Build your Role Die

Level	Minimum Role XP	Role Die	Chance of 4+
1		d4	25%
2	100	d6	50%
3	400	d8	62.5%
4	1,200	d10	70%
5	3,000	d12	75%

XP belongs to the role you played. You earn 10 XP for completing a Heist, 5 XP for a successful Role Die and 5 XP for rolling at least one heroic Action Die result of 6, up to 20 XP per completed Heist.

Weekly caps are 300 XP per role and 600 XP across all roles. Role Assists continue to be recorded after either XP cap is reached.

The mission roll

RailCowBot acts as Game Master and rolls 2d6 in every phase. Player rolls create support modifiers around it.

Total = Game Master 2d6 + Crew Support + Role Support + Late Modifier + Momentum
Margin = Total − phase DC

DC means Difficulty Class. The effective number and label are shown in chat.

Margin	Phase result	Final score	Next-phase momentum
DC + 4 or better	Clean	+2	+1
DC to DC + 3	Complication	+1
1 to 3 below DC	Setback
4 or more below DC	Disaster	−2	−1

Easy ≤ 9Moderate 10–11Hard 12–13Extreme 14Nearly impossible ≥ 15

Outcome & rewards

6+Jackpot250 points

3–5Success150 points

1–2Partial60 points

≤ 0Failure0 points

Each Clean phase adds 25 points when the overall mission does not end in Failure. Covering all five roles before departure adds another 25-point Full Crew Bonus per participant on Partial, Success or Jackpot. Late arrivals can receive a Full Crew Bonus that was already unlocked, but cannot unlock it after departure. Failure receives no bonus.

A complete example

Five players join a terminal operation: Scout, Loader, Inside Cow, Dispatcher and Driver. Nobody joined late, which RailCowBot finds deeply suspicious.

Phase 1

Infiltration

9 + Crew 1 + Roles 1 = 11 vs DC 10

Complication · final score +1

Phase 2

The operation

12 + Crew 1 + Roles 1 = 14 vs DC 10

Clean · final score +2 · Momentum +1

Phase 3

Getaway

8 + Crew 1 + Roles 1 + Momentum 1 = 11 vs DC 11

Complication · final score +1

Final score 4 · Success · 200 points each

That is 150 base points, 25 for the Clean phase and 25 for Full Crew.

Late arrivals

You may still join after the mission starts. Your first active phase adds a red Late Arrival die. A roll of 5 or 6 can add +1 when you bring a useful role the crew is missing; a roll of 1 can cause −1 when those useful roles are already covered. All late arrivals together are capped at +1 or −1 for the phase.

Six-month seasons

Role XP resets every January and July so new players can join fairly. Points, completed Heists, jackpots, lifetime statistics and permanent Role Assists never reset.

Useful commands

!heist

Join with a balanced role, or show the current status

!heist <role>

Join as Scout, Dispatcher, Loader, Driver or Inside Cow

!heist status

Show the current mission and phase

!heist profile

Show seasonal Role XP, dice, weekly XP and career totals

!heist profile scout

Show detailed progress and Role Assists for one role

!heist assists

Show permanent Role Assists and Role Die attempts by role

!heist season

Show the current six-month Role XP season

!heist rolls

Show your own rolls from the latest completed mission

!roles / !heist roles

List the five available roles

!top heists

Show the top ten players by completed-Heist participation

!rank heists

Show your Heist rank and strongest seasonal role

!help heist

Show the short in-chat overview

!help dice

Explain dice notation

!help heist rolls

Explain hidden live rolls and personal retrieval

!help heist assists

Explain permanent personal Role Assists

!help heist late

Explain Late Arrivals

!help heist xp

Explain Role XP, levels and weekly caps

!help heist rewards

Explain rewards and the no-betting rule

!points / !balance

Show your virtual RailCowBot point balance

Both successful and failed completed Heists count toward the participation ranking. Late arrivals count; cancelled missions do not. !heist rolls reveals only your own results from the latest completed mission and marks each successful Role Die with ✓.

The short version

Join for free · Choose a role · Survive three phases

Improve that role’s die through XP and help the entire crew. If anything goes wrong, RailCowBot has already assigned the blame to a clipboard.

Open the live stream

Move the cratesAvoid the paperwork

Quick start

The three phases

Infiltration

The operation

Getaway

Dice & roles

Your Action Die

Choose a role

Trackside Scout

Corrupt Dispatcher

Banana Loader

Getaway Driver

Inside Cow

Role Assists

Build your Role Die

The mission roll

Outcome & rewards

A complete example

Infiltration

The operation

Getaway

Late arrivals

Six-month seasons

Useful commands

Join for free · Choose a role · Survive three phases

Move the crates
Avoid the paperwork