Yay! First game tonight with my gaming group (with a L5R hack), it was really fun. I made them PvP and all sort of crazy stuff, but overall, everyone was happy and pointed out that it was a pleasure to just roll some dice, read the best and move on with the story.
I’ll made a proper report Saturday, but already wanted to thank John (it is really really really nice of you to give open access to the drafts) and the other contributors ( I don’t know why, but Andrew comes to my mind) of this community!
So, here’s what was difficult:
– one of my player really had a streak of bad luck and rolled at best a 4, but mostly 1-3. It was kinda sad for him since he failed almost anything he tried. On the other hand, I gave him some funy devil bargains that backfired interestingly for him.
-They disliked a bit the “on point” thingy and asked me if they could plan a bit together before answering. We’ll try it: I think it will be pretty much the same but they will feel a bit more free.
-they all complained that (compared to other games) they didn’t feel specialized a lot. The special abilities are to scarce at the begining to feel like a true warrior or a true courtier… if they took the same actions, they will be as effective as the other. Does it also happened at your table? maybe my abilities are a bit to much balanced (even though I essentially reworded the original ones).
-my take on magic (heavily customized to be a bit more like L5R )is a bit shaky. The Shugenja managed to roll exclusively kami (attune in BitD) for almost everything. I’ll have to watch him a by more closely next time to see if he is not bending the rules.
-I poorly managed downtime since part of it should have been “classic roleplaying” and some should have been BitD RAW. Maybe I planned too much (but it kinda feel like I have to if I want to give them a famility [crew] even if they come from really different backgroud) so the downtime part actually never happened.
So far I’m pretty much satisfied my players too, but I would really have love to get them in RAW BitD. Using an other setting brings expectations that might impeed the adoption of the ruleset.
Bad luck can be brutal. My first game I almost had a mutiny on my hands because my players felt they could only express their will through action on a 6; anything else felt compromised to them, and 1-3 not even good gear helps. It is difficult to be at the mercy of the dice in that way, with no player choices that can mitigate a disastrous roll.
I’m not sure what you mean by the “on point” part.
I agree that it is really difficult to port Blades in the Dark to another setting without significant customization. I’m not terribly familiar with L5R so I won’t embarrass myself by making lots of suggestions. I just know the culture and expectations of play are really different and bear consideration.
One of my favorite things about Blades in the Dark is its primary goal. Conduct heists on the fly, with minimal prep (for anyone), focusing on a flashback structure and overall obstacle management. Then play a mini-game between heists to manage the down time and empire building.
To convert effectively to L5R I think would require a focus on what replaces the heist and how the down time is flavored. I could see an example where each “heist” is an excursion against the monsters at the wall (I think?) so you pull in flashbacks to prepare to deal with certain specific expected threats as they emerge. Then for downtime, dealing with obligations to the family or somesuch.
Blades is very easy to port to another setting if you’re doing missions, downtime, and sandbox faction stuff. You pretty much just need to tweak the character sheets to your setting.
If you’re doing something very different, it’s harder to port, of course.
Yes it is John, and I give you much credit for that. That’s where I’m going, but it should happen only after a pre-campaign to give them legitimacy.
So here comes the AP:
We’re in Rokugan (a Japanese game of throne, wall included), and the heavenly emperor as asked the Crane Clan to organize the Topaz Championship ( a prestigious contest). The characters have been chosen to represent their clan in the competition and we meet them on the road to Tsuma where it will be held.
Isawa Hinata, a shugenja (mage-priest) from the phoenix clan introduced herself to a friendly scorpion’s one (look up to “Yogo curse” for further entanglement).
Akodo Shinji (Lion clan) tried to befriend his fellow competitor Matsu Kunai and was shut down rather harsly.
Utaku Neelung Wus, a goofy Unicorn groomed into a decent courtier by the Lion met her brother for the first time in ten years. The man was bitter, angered by the fact he has blood ties with a bad fighter and that this mockery of an Utaku got the privilege to learn from the clan if the greatest tactician ever. Saddened, she angered it all the more with a covertly insulting haiku.
They registered to the jury, learning the name of the other competitors and got some time to sleep.
Next thing they know, it’s the morning and they’re called for the melee (where I should have introduced a subplot and totally forgot). 16 wanabee samurai enter the tatami ring and fight till first blood with wooden weapons and non lethal magic. (That’s where I screw things up not letting them chose who was on point but asking them one by one ” what do you do?”)
The Shugenja played safe ( defensive spells in her corner) and got a 4. The situation got down to desperate for her next magic roll ( someone slipped in close before her defenses rose).
The akodo launched an attack on one of the 3 crane competitor (risky move) and felled him with a prefect strike to the forehead, but was immediately cornered by the two others.
The Utaku sneaked in close to his brother and next to a talented ronin.
The isawa generates a heatwave (non lethal fire spell, am I to generous in what magic can do?) to make her direct opponent faint and get a 6.
The akodo push his luck making a feint toward one of his foe and lashing onto the other and succeeded only to get hit himself by the remaining one (failed modified resist roll*).
The Unicorn poked the ronin and fell back behind her brother who was then quickly eliminated.
I don’t remember the rest precisely but the isawa won, using only the action Kami…
Then there was the official meal.
Neelung went to taunt her brother and Shinji received a love haiku from someone (Matsu Kunai, I had to appease the player after being the first out of the melee).
Then, it was the dancing contest. The isawa asked the Yogo to dance with her. He agreed and they made a wonderful performance ( he happened to be one of the greatest dancers there).
The akodo danced with his fellow matsu. There academical style was dull and the player accepted a devil bargain: no matter how good they danced, her partner will appear to dance better than him. And trust me, he was not a good dancer.
The Utaku convinced the mantis who had an improper style of dancing that her brother will be the better match for her, gaining an enemy in the process (since their dance was ridiculous). Then she danced good enough to pass.
On the evening, they had to prepare their gift for the gift giving contest the morning after.
The isawa prepared a poor looking painting.
The Unicorn, trained in the art of diplomacy already had some perfect gifts in her saddle bag.
The akodo wandered of the street and met a peasant who offered to make a little cooking contest and to give his best mochi cake to the winer. He got a 5 and his mochi cake but was trailed all evening by an admirative peasant who kept offering him unwanted services.
The game ended here, without proper downtime being played out as I originally wanted to.
*Modified resist roll:
Cost roll-1 stress.
On a 1-3, the GM is nice to you, but you take the biggest part of the consequences.
On a 4-5, the consequences go right one rank in the assessment table (desperate to risky, risky to controlled)
on a 6, nothing happen.
I wanted to try it due to the complaints Andrew had against the resist roll in the last draft, but didn’t really had time for it.