My friend and regular player Bryan Mullins wanted me to reflect a little on how I do devil’s bargains in Blades in the Dark. Here is my answer!
https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2016/10/01/devils-bargain/
Blades in the Dark lives and breathes most gloriously when the game is built out of pieces the players choose. Character action resonates through their environment. Themes and motifs emerge. Players take interest in things and they become important to plots that surround the characters. Challenges emerge, and are overcome, but the consequences of those actions resonate into the future.
The way devil’s bargains unfold during a heist or downtime can be pretty temporary. Ideally they are functioning as a tool for both the player and the GM–for the player, they grant a momentary advantage, a welcome extra die. For the GM, they are part of a conversation with the game table about how far the characters will go, and what complications may persist into the future.
https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2016/10/01/devils-bargain
Great stuff – some extra food for thought / angles I hadn’t considered
Good write up and examples. Definitely will go back to this when I get a chance to run blades again
Would you say these guidelines are good for setting up complications after the dice have been rolled as well? How do you balance those two instincts. If they take the devil’s bargain how do you follow up on a weak roll?
THANK YOU! I love it!
great read; being creative with the DB in a way that appeals to players (but have fictional bite) is probably one of the tougher things to master in this system
Thanks guys!
Aaron Berger I struggled with complications until they were nailed down a LOT tighter many versions ago. Page 9 and 11 of v. 7.1 reflects the clarity.
Put simply, the complications are working with what’s already in the fiction (for the most part) or plot twists based on what’s plausible in the situation. Complications are governed by the risk of the position, and by whether the complication is paired with success or failure. So, there’s lots of sliders already built in to modulate those.
I would say complications should usually be squarely character focused instead of player focused. The idea of focusing on general complications, contextual complications, and character complications is still applicable, sure.
Also, any time complications have the opportunity to pull from past game play or character interest or player interest, yes! There’s no harm in tying as many things together in the game as you can, as long as the game is also sprawling out in new directions too.
So after a minute of thought, I’d say there’s overlap, but complications and bargains also have their own more unique territory.
Players accept possible outcomes when they know the positioning and decide to roll. They also accept the consequence of a devil’s bargain before getting the die.
So in a case where they have a devil’s bargain AND a failure, then yes, they have to cope with all of it! =) The player consented to the risk, and if it doesn’t pan out, it’s time for the pain. That’s what resistance and stress are for!
Great article
Yes! So good.
That’s makes a lot of sense. Complications only complicate in proportion to the current fiction.