Recently remembered I backed this and found the quick start rules, 4b. My current Tuesday night game is sans DM at the moment, so I thought I might step up and try to give Blades a shot.
Any recomendations for a novice DM in regards to this system? š
The rules are deceptively complicated. Take the time to read them over carefully, and play slow in your first session or two. When all the fiddly bits are allowed to interact as intended, the game sings, so it’s worth taking the time to make sure you’ve got a good handle on them.
Devil’s bargains can be hard to come up with on the fly, so feel free to use them only when you can think of a good one, or, give them over to the players to invent.
Talk about tone with your players ahead of time. My Blades group had three serious players and two silly players, and there’s no real mechanism in place to limit the silliness, other than social convention.
Take your time with chargen and ask LOTS of questions about the setting and the characters. Write all that stuff down on index cards with headings of the NPC / Location / Item.
Encourage everyone to Draw all over the map.
Only useĀ the basic mechanic to begin with, choose one of the scores suggested, get the players to choose a plan and detail and cut straight to the action.
Re-incorporate like crazy!
Can’t reinforce enough Nathan Roberts suggestion to reincorporate; Keep a list of interesting people, places and groups, and always check to see if there’s one that can be made to fit a need before you create a new one. This makes the game feel ‘tighter’ and helps keep your GM load down.
Yeah, all that stuff on the character sheets is gold – contacts, gear and vice are so full of juicy tidbits to grab onto whenever you can.
Here are some suggestions, with a big “Your mileage may vary” stapled on them.
If you have time and inclination, you may want to do what I did. I boiled down the rules I need to reference while running to a few pages. By lifting them out that way, I could see them next to each other, see how they fit together better.
In play, I didn’t have to go flipping around the loose landscape pages to try and figure out where the thing I was missing could be. (I find this difficult with no table of contents or index.)
Here’s one I did all the way back in 3f. Needs updating.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-5YMhxwwPVSY45kTl_HjC7b0y71wXp8pxRsjbRGA4oM/edit?usp=sharing
Some of this just isn’t going to click until you run the game, so keep a light touch and experiment.
Remember to assign position before they roll, and interpret their result based on the roll’s outcome. That’s the most important thing system wise.
Don’t make system challenges and fit player fiction into those challenges. Wait until they do something, then figure out mechanics, make sure the players understand the stakes (and have a chance to change their minds), then follow through. Use clocks, inflict harm, add complications, and so on based on that fiction, then system, then interpretation model.
Aim for what makes the game sing, what it does best. Blades in the Dark is built so you can immediately get into a heist, planning retroactively while it is in process. Then characters get to do things in the down time between heists, and they’re on to another heist.
Honor that rhythm, try and showcase how the game perpetuates its own adventure by adding complications through play, and focus on what the game does well instead of trying to make it run like a more traditional game. The rhythm is what sells this thing for me. =)
You can also type “gm advice” into the community search and get opinions spanning back across all of 2015. =)
You are all awesome. I’m loving all of this. It feels a little daunting, as I’ve only ever ran DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder really, but I love it so far.
Another question: The quick start rules have a little of everything. Should I parse out the player stuff to hand to my players? Or just share with them the entire document?
I initially just gave my players the player reference, and the playbooks and crew sheet, but subsequently, I just handed out the whole document.Ā (This is not actually planning, I just got lazy as new versions came out)
I think that for a first session, you might want to hold onto the main document to avoid ‘spoilers’ but after that, I don’t think there’s any reason to worry about it.
Good luck, Matthew! Let us know how it goes. I’m happy to answer questions, too, but everyone has it covered so far.
Matthew SiadakĀ I only gave players their playbooks. I know my players well enough to know that they would just glaze over if I gave them anything more. They’ve been learning the rules slowly just by playing them. That of course puts all the pressure on you to be very well versed on the rules.