6 thoughts on “Overindulging”

  2. Sounds like you (or your player) have good reason to choose one of the other options. If you find yourself trying to force an option or if the effect feels like there is no real consequence for the overindulgence choose another.

    As for other options, I could imagine overindulgence in a church setting as taking things too far for the rest of the crowd or established doctrine. A character speaking in tongues is cool and all, until they are asked to leave for scaring the children.

  4. I like to embrace the absurd and come out creative on the other side. Unlike real life, running a Blades in the Dark game rewards a constant ticker tape of thinking “how could this go seriously sideways and wreck the status quo?”

    Like you say, it’s unlikely someone would be cut off from overindulging in church. How could that even work? We are aiming for a point that’s bad enough to get them kicked out, but not bad enough to affect the crew’s Heat or get characters arrested. Ideally it’s embarrassing, and angers the wrong people, but doesn’t escalate to involving the legal machinery.

    Well, what if the church is compelled by politics to allow an aristocratic heretic or heathen to participate, and the character screws it up by ejecting the micro-famous person (and donor) in a fit of righteous wrath?

    What if the character delves deep into a spiritual relationship and discovers a leader in the church is secretly a ghost addict, and unmasks that leader?

    What if the character is weak from purging the flesh and fasting, and the character has a spiritual breakthrough that offers crucial correctives to the church’s teachings? The character sees the truth, sees how a cruft of secular concessions has grown around the purity of belief, and offers an enthusiastic and ecstatic defense of a frowned upon practice like severing body parts to make reliquaries to the power of flesh while still alive? And the disenfranchised find fresh hope and belief in this offshoot, infuriating the establishment?

    What if the character is chosen for a lay leadership position (or priesthood) just in time to take the fall for the leader who misbehaved in the role and needs a patsy?

    What if an aristocrat pockets something crucial in the church and points heavy circumstantial evidence on a known rogue for doing the deed, and gets the rogue banished from the congregation?

    What if the church leader’s child develops an irresistible crush on the character and isn’t subtle about desperately wanting to consummate that burning lust? (Or better yet does it all the time, and is seriously irritating the more sedate members of the congregation who are repeatedly subjected to witnessing poorly hidden trysts.)

    To spur creativity, look at the various groups that are annoyed with the crew–and the friends of those annoyed with the crew. Then think about how those groups might use their influence to deny characters the comforts of their vices.

    For example, if they’ve angered the Lampblacks, it turns out a prominent Lampblack member is also the head of the membership roles in the local congregation, who offers higher levels of membership to those who successfully snub, shun, and eject members of the rival crew.

    Looping existing animosities into concrete in-world consequences is part of the engine that drives this drama.

  5. Back when I was religious (long long ago) I saw many people get cut off from church. Some churches looooove demonizing and ostracizing members that don’t fit whatever narrow ideology they have.

    Charities constantly have in-fighting and turn-over in membership, for all the ubiquitous, petty reasons that all human groups have — especially when someone is too good and makes other members insecure.

    “We just don’t feel like you’re a good fit here.”

  6. It’s universal. I’m from a highly catholic country (divorce was only made legal some seven years ago). There is fierce rivalry between church parishes – my saint is better than your saint. On the feast of one saint there used to be police in the border streets to prevent anyone from crossing over into the other side and starting fights. I started working this concept into a dark industrial rpg built around factions some two years ago and my writing partner then directed me to the Blades kickstarter…

Comments are closed.