How does Blades play with a small group? My current tabletop crew is myself and two players, and we’re curious how that would play out in a game with such heavy emphasis on teamwork.
They’ve enjoyed themselves in games like Torchbearer and Burning Wheel where the assumption is that you’re going to have to need a little help from your friends to pass most non-routine obstacles, so it’s not a matter of whether they’ll have fun even if it’s challenging. We’re more curious about whether there are “best practices” we should be keeping in mind with a smaller-than-normal crew.
Thanks!
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I played a few sessions with 2 people, generally I found it worked out just fine. You have less stress pool to work with so getting extra dice is harder and more or a cost benefit analysis as a player but it’s still entirely doable. The only problem I really had was just wanting more people to role play off of. Mechanically though it functions just as well as the 4 person crew I play in now.
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I think it works just fine.
I currently have two players in my group, and they run two characters each. There are also a number of supporting NPCs (two of which used to be PCs belonging to a third player). Works great, as we routinely split up the crew.
I think Blades does just as well, if not better, with smaller groups. Because the spotlight is shared through the fiction rather than a system, it’s very possible for 5+ person groups to have sessions where one or two characters fade into the background simply because the job’s challenges fit some skillsets or character interests better than others. It can be somewhat challenging to keep every character’s interests on screen at once, especially if the crew has a looser central concept or goal.
Some thoughts about a specifically 2-person session:
-With fewer people, there’s less competition for coin since jobs pay based on your audacity. It’s more likely that you’ll be able to throw around your money in downtime, or stash it up and for a nicer lifestyle. This can help even out the loss of other player’s downtime actions for things like heat.
-Cohorts can really help fill out a gang. Having 5 Loyal, Independant legbreakers or scholars or grifters that pursue the gang’s best interests in the background might be a good investment as a starting crew, or even someone cool enough to count as another member. Alternatively, acquiring gangs and friends as assets in downtime. You can still have your fingers in many pots/pies, just with a bit more trouble.
-With fewer contacts overall, the crew and each playbook’s contacts will be more in the spotlight, which is good since it’ll allow you to quickly establish what relationships the players have around town and how they operate.
-As you mark up and down factions, you won’t get anyone that’s ready for war or loves your group. That’s fine, and probably a good way to start with a broad base of friends and enemies to signal the factions your group is interested in.
-With only two players, the roleplay also falls on fewer shoulders. That can suck if one player’s having an off-day or something, but that’s true for any smaller game. Open lines of communication become even more important when there are fewer lines.