Touchstones: Films!

Touchstones: Films!

Touchstones: Films!

So… I finally watched Crimson Peak. Holy smokes that’s a perfect Blades movie. I’m adding it as a touchstone, and therefor adding a Film section to the touchstones.

Give me your recommendations for more good movie touchstones.

46 thoughts on “Touchstones: Films!”

  6. I’d say most Del Toro movies for atmosphere, but also some Heist movies (even if they are cheesy) like – The Score.

    Adam D ‘s comment reminded me of Plunkett & Macleane as well.

  7. Aesthetically:

    Vidocq

    A series of Unfortunate Events (I know, it’s a weird suggestion)

    From Hell

    Franklyn

    Thematically:

    Lock&Stock

    Snatch

    Reservoir Dogs

    Sin City

    Gangs of New York (which is also aesthetically perfect)

    For the TV section: Hustle (excellent for Grifters, which are probably the hardest crew to play).

  9. Scorsese’s Gangs of New York seems like an obvious choice… Though I may just think that because we used the challenge battles as a basis for our Skovlander Breaker gang challenging Ulf Ironborn

  10. No The Great Train Robbery yet with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland?

    I think the Great Escape would be a good example too.

    Edit: I also feel strongly about Way of the Gun and a good number of Mamet con man movies.

  11. Of course if you’re allowing modern setting films in that fit with the style of BitD, a lot of heist movies work like Oceans Eleven.

    More period film I might suggest The Prestige

  13. OK, this might seem a weird suggestion, but “Casanova”, the 2005 film.

    In terms of the plot, it’s got a bunch of characters having relationships and dramas – with the events being driven by how they’re either challenging the status quo (by sleeping with too many women, by publishing feminist books, etc.) – it’s got a good sense of social alliances (the Doge/ruler likes Casanova, but has his own political considerations and can’t be seen to look too lenient)

    There’s a whole lot of ridiculous social comedy, as characters lie to each other, pretend to be people they aren’t, etc. – but that seems like great inspiration fodder for social scores.

    And the setting of Venice is also great. Towering buildings, claustrophobic alleyways, lots of canals. Because of the cramped city, at any given time, you’re usually on a street or in an courtyard, with only one or two obvious exits. But window ledges, rooftops, doorways that can be escaped through.

  14. The 2011 “The Three Musketeers” film is pretty ridiculously over-the-top, so might work as inspiration for a epic steampunk-style Blades game.

    But there’s a scene at the beginning where the musketeers break into a vault to steal some blueprints – it introduces each of the characters separately as they each do their part of the plan. It’s brilliant inspiration for how you can just “drop in” a new plot element in BitD, and great inspiration for why you might want to start the RP of score right in the action. The scene also escalates nicely by introducing dramatic consequences that escalate the danger – while also showing the musketeers responding to those complications with their skills.

  18. For the mood of how things can play out, I’d say RocknRolla. Not the right time period or aesthetics at all but that’s what I think of when I think of some of the crews I’ve seen. I can’t think of/remember anything better for aesthetics than what’s there or has been mentioned. I know there must be things I’ve seen but…

  21. I would recommend the Netflix series Narcos as inspiration for several reasons. The first is that it shows The elaborate ways that cocain was smuggled. Secondly it gives a great example of a structure of a criminal empire with the relationships between Pablo Escobar, his inner circle, his business partners, his rivals and outside forces. Finally it gives an excellent example of how an empire can crumble due to rival criminals, the actions of the authorities and decisions that the leadership makes.

  22. Not movies, but the “Lockwood & Co” books are absolutely amazing inspiration for the supernatural side of the setting.

    It’s set in an alternate reality sort-of-modern-day London, where “The Problem” is now a few decades old.

    Dead people sometimes return as ghosts. The ghosts are dangerous – just being touched by one is deadly. Adults can’t really perceive ghosts, but children can. Some better than others.

    So there are “companies” that deal with hauntings by sending in an adult supervisor and some child agents, where they’ll find the ghost’s anchor object and safely contain it in solver or salt and destroy it.

    It’s great, partly because it gives a lot of really interesting ways to tell stories about ghosts and hauntings.

    It also gives a great setting of how life continues, even in the face of this supernatural threat. How some people even thrive on it, with some of the richest companies profiting from the ghost epidemic. (e.g. the companies that sell iron bars for doors and windows, so people can sleep safely without worrying a ghost will get into their house – which in BitD would probably be considered a ghost ward)

    It’s also great because of the multiple different ways agents deal with the ghosts. Phospherous bombs. Spreading salt. Circles of iron chains that they can lay out so they can retreat back to. Leaving candles that get blown out as the ghost passes. Silver-covered rapiers that can be used to ward back attacking ghosts. It also gives good story reasons for why the characters need to leave those protections (it interferes with their psychic senses. So it’s better to leave the protection, so your senses are keen and you can see the ghosts coming rather than being surprised, but retreat to them or use the bombs if things go badly.)

  23. Mission Impossible really showcases the play of Blades in the Dark as far as team mechanics go. Everybody playing a role to get Ethan Hawke into position. Not much else really there though I think.

  33. Oh! I thought of another! Lucky # Slevin a crime/mystery/thriller with the pretty stellar cast of Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, and Morgan Freeman. That is a movie with some great over the top and powerful urban factions competing against each other and ruthless police, putting our protagonists in the middle. It’s got some solid brutality in it, fitting the tone of Blades, and the way it twists and turns the story by shedding more light on events as time goes on feels a lot like a) playing to find out, and b) flashing back to set things up.

  34. I thought of another “old” movie, Ronin from back in 98 with Robert De Niro, Stellan Skarsgård and Sean Bean. That one has got to be one of the best “criminal crew movies”. It’s modern setting, but it feels very classical and so “mineable” for plot and story ideas, although the one crew member who betrays the others has become somewhat of a clishé.

  44. Adam Brimmer I just added everything here to that inspiration list you have going (goo.gl/Kt9YrB). Thanks for that. I plan to run BitD as soon as I can carve out some time and that sheet is an excellent resource.

    Also added two:

    1999’s Sleepy Hollow for the creepy mood, costuming, and examples of a Leech and Whisper in action.

    The new Luke Cage series on Netflix is surprisingly good at illustrating several mechanics in Blades, and what they look like in action. Reputation and hold, faction/friend relationships, complications, heat and entanglements, are all there. Episode 5 shows how a gang war limits the effectiveness of a character until it’s resolved. Episode 3 shows the “Misdirection” special ability from Sean Nittner’s excellent Vigilante playset. As an added bonus, Luke himself is clearly a Cutter who is Not To Be Trifled With.

  46. Pusher(1) (either the Danish original or the 2012 remake) by Nicholas Winding Refn is a great example when you fail one desperate roll after another (and don’t die). Also a great performance by Zlatko Buric who play the Serbian crime boss Milo (in both the original and the remake). Milo is how I see Baszo Bas. Affable until you cross him, then it’s hell to pay.

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