Probably Stolen Starting Scenarios: All 9 Starts
The full release has nine Probably Stolen starting scenarios: Apprentice, Water Merchant, Fence, Gunsmith, Chemist, Hydroponic Farmer, Aquafarmer, Rat Wrangler, and Rock Bottom. It also has four difficulty names—Cozy, Normal, Hard, and Challenge. A scenario chooses your business theme; difficulty is a separate choice. The official material does not establish one universally best combination.
All nine full-release starting scenarios
The official 1.0 release announcement names all nine starts. The descriptions below summarize the developer's October 21 pre-release introduction, so they explain each scenario's intended direction rather than promising an exact current inventory.
| Scenario | Officially described direction | What this page does not assume |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | A general introduction intended for beginners and gradual upgrading | That it produces the highest profit on every difficulty |
| Water Merchant | Testing, purifying, and relabeling water | A fixed profit or a risk-free economy |
| Fence | Handling stolen goods while keeping a low profile | A fixed current list of starting contraband |
| Gunsmith | Weapons and modification work | Exact quantities of every weapon and ammunition type |
| Chemist | Chemicals, recipes, and laboratory equipment | A guaranteed recipe list or income |
| Hydroponic Farmer | Growing produce with farming equipment and supplies | The current machine models, counts, or seed inventory |
| Aquafarmer | Raising fish with an aquaculture setup | Every fish species, starting water condition, or machine count |
| Rat Wrangler | Breeding and managing rats | A fixed current number or type of starting rats |
| Rock Bottom | Starting from scratch as a higher-challenge option | Identical conditions under every difficulty and tutorial choice |
The announcement specifically described Gunsmith as starting with a Class 1 weapons licence plus weapons and ammunition, Hydroponic Farmer with growing equipment and supplies, and Aquafarmer with Tilapia and a recirculating aquaculture system. These are announced asset categories, not a verified 1.0.0.12 item-by-item inventory.
Choosing a scenario without relying on a false tier list
Use the scenario descriptions as a choice of learning focus:
- Choose Apprentice if you want the developer's general beginner-oriented route.
- Choose Water Merchant, Hydroponic Farmer, Aquafarmer, or Rat Wrangler if you want a run centered on one production or husbandry system.
- Choose Fence or Gunsmith if you want the run to lean into stolen goods or weapons.
- Choose Chemist if you want chemistry equipment and recipes to define the opening.
- Choose Rock Bottom if the appeal is beginning with fewer advantages and building up from scratch.
This is a role-based choice, not a profit ranking. Player reports disagree about whether Water Merchant is an especially strong beginner start, and the research does not contain current, difficulty-controlled runs for all nine scenarios. A claim that one scenario is always best would therefore go beyond the available evidence.
The four difficulty names
The 1.0 release announcement confirms four difficulty options. The 1.0.0.12 patch uses the names Cozy, Normal, Hard, and Challenge when describing a difficulty-scaled story requirement.
Difficulty and scenario should be treated as separate decisions. The developer explicitly suggested combining Rock Bottom with a higher difficulty for an extra challenge, which means Rock Bottom is not itself a replacement for the difficulty selector. This page does not reproduce old multiplier tables: the available preview screenshots are marked VERSION 051 or VERSION 052A, not the current 1.0.0.12 build.
What the early 1.0.0.1 data can confirm
A traceable static capture for Steam build 26274380, mapped to version 1.0.0.1, records a core kit for each scenario. It explicitly says that the table is not a complete final inventory. The useful, limited takeaway is:
| Scenario | Core items recorded for 1.0.0.1 |
|---|---|
| Apprentice | Storage Bay, Peat, and Toothpaste |
| Water Merchant | Micro Water Purifier, Bottle Printer, and Water Trading Manual |
| Fence | Smuggler's Bay, Dream Dust, and 10mm Ammunition |
| Rock Bottom | No scenario-specific item in the static record |
| Hydroponic Farmer | Hydroponic Systems and two seed types |
| Gunsmith | 3D Printer, Gunsmith Storage Bay, and two types of .22 ammunition |
| Chemist | Blender, Heating Plate, Evaporator, Chem Finisher, and Composition Spectrometer |
| Rat Wrangler | Animal Cage, Rats, and Meat Cleaver |
| Aquafarmer | Recirculating aquaculture equipment, water tanks, and Industrial Fish Feed |
This table is useful for understanding the intended contrast between starts, but it is not a current 1.0.0.12 checklist. Shared items, tutorial choices, perks, later balance changes, and other inventory are outside the capture's stated scope.
The 1.0.0.2 patch separately confirms one narrow Gunsmith detail: its 3D Printer was updated to include an instruction note. That does not verify the rest of the Gunsmith inventory in later builds.
Version limits to remember before starting
The scenario names come from the official 1.0 release announcement, and the four current difficulty names appear in the official 1.0.0.12 notes. More detailed scenario descriptions came from a pre-release developer preview. The core item table came from a traceable 1.0.0.1 static capture rather than a played 1.0.0.12 save.
Consequently, use this page to choose a theme and understand the official lineup. Check the actual new-game screen and first-day inventory before following a purchase plan copied from an older build. Exact current cash, rent changes, item conditions, quantities, and difficulty multipliers remain outside the verified scope.
FAQ
How many starting scenarios are in Probably Stolen 1.0?
The official full-release announcement lists nine: Apprentice, Water Merchant, Fence, Gunsmith, Chemist, Hydroponic Farmer, Aquafarmer, Rat Wrangler, and Rock Bottom.
Which scenario does the developer present for beginners?
The pre-release 1.0 preview presents Apprentice as the general beginner-oriented scenario. That is an official description, not proof that Apprentice is the most profitable option in every build or difficulty.
Is Rock Bottom a difficulty setting?
No. Rock Bottom is one of the nine scenarios. The game separately offers Cozy, Normal, Hard, and Challenge difficulty names, and the developer suggested combining Rock Bottom with a higher difficulty for an additional challenge.
Does the item table show the current complete starting inventory?
No. It is a scoped record from version 1.0.0.1 and explicitly excludes a complete final inventory. It should not be used as a guaranteed 1.0.0.12 shopping or restart checklist.