Fun question: Who feels Whispers are almost a necessity for a PC crew? I’m not saying the game suffers without one, but I myself would feel much better having one as a (hopefully) trusted crew member, especially if the crew is a Cult! 🙂
Fun question: Who feels Whispers are almost a necessity for a PC crew?
Fun question: Who feels Whispers are almost a necessity for a PC crew?
The crew in my game don’t have one and they were struggling with it in the last session when the first ghost came up and no one knew what to do and how to do it. I had a lot of fun. The crew has a Hound and a Lurk and my daughter thought long and hard about Spider vs. Wisper. I’m glad she took the Spider because every crew should have one. Awesome playbook.
Well since anyone can attune and every playbook has one ghost related move I don’t think the Whisper is 100% needed, but yeah they, much like the Spider and Leech, fill a role so specialized that while someone can sorta kinda cover it they can’t make full use, meanwhile anyone can be a good fighter/sneak/face even without the bonuses granted by the other four playbooks, just not as well but it would be a weak point instead of a hole.
I ran the game for a crew that compensated somewhat by using an Adept gang, who eventually got stubborn and held out for upgrades and combat pay because of what they were asked to do.
They also had a working relationship with a whisper that was willing to hire on for contractor work.
For the rest, they relied on occult tools that they could activate with Attune.
I agree a Whisper really helps rogues because they can more easily cheat and break the rules of reality in very flexible ways. A group handicapped by the absence of a Whisper does have ways to get around it somewhat.
It’s an understandable feeling. If you don’t have one, it’s easy to end up playing Ocean’s Eleven, The Game. Having one in the group really reminds everyone at the table that this is BitD, and ghouls, vampires, ghosts, deathseeker crows, demons, etc, are all a huge part of that setting. Without Whispers in the crew, it’s easier to lose sight of that or even be stingy with including it, which is unfortunate.
I’m not saying that without a Whisper the crew is weak. Not at all. I guess a better question would’ve been: “What fun shenanigans have occurred/have you thought of because there wasn’t a Whisper in the crew to deal with the devils?”.
The point about each playbook having a “ghost ability” is true and, depending on the circumstances, can shore up not being able to impale a Red Sash on an ice spike (shout out, Stras!). 😉 In fact, each playbook’s so good I’d have a hard time choosing.
Oh, how awesome is the Spider’s “Foresight” ability coupled with the Cult’s “Bound in Darkness”? Awesome stuff!
I am personally not that into all the ghosts and demons, if only because it is fairly hard to do make exploration of what being a criminal does to a person be the focus when there’s friggin show-stealing demons running around.
Even so, I really really appreciate how the inclusion of ghosts changes the… situation resting point of the setting? Like, in AW, when shit goes bad, shit usually goes bad in the form of it getting violent. If you’re good enough at violence, you are fine with that, and you actively go for those situations. However, there are no easy ways to turn a violent situation un-violent in AW. And so, the default resting point of AW is the Gunlugger (and not, say, the Skinner or Savvyhead. You could argue Brainer, but you’d be wrong).
The inclusion of ghosts adds a permanent possible complication that moves the resting point in a way that mostly benefits the Whisper (which I think is the reason this topic exists) but also has side benefits for the talky or indirect action playbooks, your Rooks and your Spiders. I think the inclusion of ghosts makes it so that a given campaign of Blades will inevitably have a “fuck, this is getting out of hand. We should try talking to someone about this” moment, and I find that way cool.
A group without a Whisper might try to avoid situations where they’d need one. Alternatively the challenge might be just what they want to liven things up.
It’s really a group expectation thing, and how much they enjoy being in control versus being overwhelmed.
Most of the players in my regular group are firmly in the first camp. Me, I like the second option.
I fully admit that I love the supernatural aspects of Blades, so as a GM not having a PC dive into that craziness would be a potential disappointment. That’s not to say I couldn’t bring it in regardless, just that a player wouldn’t be exploring it the same way a Whisper might.