The Probably Stolen starting scenarios guide covers nine different openings, and the choice sits apart from difficulty. Version 1.0 ships nine scenarios; after you pick one you choose one of four difficulty options, and difficulty changes rent, markup, permit prices and reputation multipliers rather than what you start with.
Probably Stolen Starting Scenarios Guide: What Each Start Gives You
| Scenario | What you start with |
|---|---|
| Apprentice | The generalist start with no product line of its own, pitched at beginners |
| Water Merchant | A water testing and purification kit, and the job of testing, purifying and re-labelling water |
| Fence | You buy and resell stolen merchandise at a discount, hide goods from Security and bribe your way out when you are caught |
| Rock Bottom | No product line, no starting stock and no cash |
| Hydroponic Farmer | Hydroponic machines and farming supplies for growing genetically modified crops |
| Gunsmith | A Class 1 weapon permit, a stock of firearms and ammunition, and the modification work that goes with permits |
| Chemist | Chemistry lab equipment and closely guarded recipes |
| Rat Wrangler | Hidden on the start screen until Playtest Patch 48.3.12 on August 7, 2026, with no product line of its own |
| Aquafarmer | A stock of Tilapia and recirculating aquaculture systems |
Three more starts — Organ Trader, Junker and Street Food Vendor — were announced for post-launch updates rather than shipping with 1.0.
How Difficulty Differs From Your Starting Scenario
Your scenario decides what is already in your hands. Difficulty decides the numbers you play against: retail markup, how fast rent climbs, what a vendor permit costs, and how quickly reputation moves in either direction.
A fourth option sits behind an arrow on the same difficulty screen and is the hardest of the four; players know it as Red Ink. The Rock Bottom page has the full line-by-line comparison of all four difficulties, and the first-week walkthrough covers what to do once you have picked a scenario.
Why A Starting Scenario Is Not A Job
A scenario is not a class. The extra jobs you can master during a run are water merchant, hydroponic farmer and organ dealer, and each one is opened by its own licence rather than by your scenario choice.
That distinction matters early. The Water Merchant scenario gives you a testing and purification kit from day one, but the water merchant job itself still sits behind a licence.