Hi all,
yesterday night I created my first crew of BitD with my friends.
They are Bravos (a Cutter, a Hound and a Whisper).
I have a question about engagement roll outcomes.
If the PCs are separated at the beginning of the score (for example, they are robbing a bank, the Hound is on a roof with his sniper rifle for cover and the other two are wrecking a bank’s door) how do you manage the initial position?
For example, if the outcome is 1-3, the position is desperate for all the PCs and you have to put on the screen to different dangerous scene for the two group? Or, according to fiction, just for one group?
Thanks a lot in advance.
What was the plan type they went with? (I.e. What was the initial challenge you discussed, who was interfering, and what could have went wrong?) Your answer usually becomes much clearer when you answer that
So, there is no need to make something go wrong for each group. You can, certainly, but so long as the job is desperate, it’s ok if not everyone is in trouble.
However, in purely practical terms, “the hound is watching from a sniping position” is one of those things that’s going to happen all the time, so it’s worth having potential tools in mind for it, so some things to consider.
– what does the Hound do after the crew goes inside? If the answer is “sits there” then that’s a flag. If the player is having fun contributing through flashbacks, then cool, but otherwise they’ve signed up to not have fun while other people play, and is that what they want? If the answer is something else – like coming down to join – consider making THAT the real entry point.
– what does the hound do if they sees something? Start shooting? (Bad for heat). Send up a signal? (Risky?) do they even know?
– there are fewer snipers nests in duskvol than you might think. Line of sight is a bear and the building across the street is not always abandononed. In seeking a position, the hound can easily complicate the job by drawing more attention
– classic trope: hound sees a danger to the group, but the only way to warn them is to reveal himself. Always a good option to offer
This is not to say “punish the sniper”, just that nothing else in Blades is a free pass to safety, so don’t let the Hound get one either. 🙂
For a desperate engagement roll, here are some things I’d consider.
* A nobleman comes to the bank with his heavily armed entourage, including the quiet types that keep an eye out for threats. A scout confronts a waiting crew member; if identity is revealed, then the noble may suspect the crew is planning to act against him. He’s notorious for holding a grudge, so if you kill his agent, he will investigate.
* Your plan is in motion when a crazy whisper tries to rob the bank with ghosts.
* Bluecoats and inspectors and maybe spirit wardens are chasing a fugitive that ducks into the bank.
* Fire drill! =)
Rob Donoghue
“- what does the Hound do after the crew goes inside? If the answer is “sits there” then that’s a flag.”
I think this is less an indicator to tell the Hound PC they are SOL, choose a different approach, and more of an opportunity to introduce complications the Hound is going to be interested in.
Or put another way, if the Hound thinks they need to cover for danger outside, why not have there be actual danger outside? The fact the PC picked that playbook indicates they are interested in those types of scenarios.
/sub
I have a blog draft I’ve been working on tentatively titled “Schrödinger’s Scoundrel,” There’s a lot to unpack on this topic and there are a lot of different, interesting and fun ways to handle it, all within the guidelines (both explicit & implied) of the Blades system.
Matthew Gagan One thing I tell people when they get into the action in Blades in the Dark is that it’s useful to have some people fictionally ambiguous. Don’t decide where all your assets are; you may need to put them somewhere in a flashback. =)
Omari Brooks 100%! But that’s why you flag it – it needs attention to make sure what actually happens (whether it’s hand-sitting, or the Hound having a parallel solo adventure or whatever else) lines up with what your table wants!
Yeah. That’s the main crux of my post, Andrew Shields. It’s not explicitly called out in the rules but it seems a natural mode given the flashback element of Blades & some of the cultures among people who enjoy some of the games which influenced Blades.
Obvious to some. Less so to others and I’ve seen AP where the “crew” defaults to a “party” that you don’t split and which you’re always explicit about the location of each “mini” at the outset of the “encounter.” Not always the right fit in the heist/caper context & can even be a stumbling block.
Matthew Gagan Part of that is trust. If you’re used to a GM who will crow that you didn’t expressly say you had a thing, then you need to be clear you’ve got the thing, and point out where it is, and so on.
This game is different, and it can take time for that trust to build.
Thank you very much for the advices.
I would only apply the position from the engagement roll to the main contact person in the score, if the group is split up. If it is social, it is the main talker who is in a desperate position when the police inspector shows up at the mark’s tea party. Or if it is a choice between a Hound on the roof and the crew at the bank door, pick one to suffer the full wrath of the position rolled, and the other will get whatever seems appropriate given the situation.
Justify it to the players as it being a case of letting the Engagement dice lay as they may.
One of my favorite examples of complicating a score was when the scoundrels were going to rob a warehouse. They picked a night when there was a big sporting event that the target crew was enthusiastic about, so almost no one would be there.
The complication was that Baz’s bastard son wrecked his favorite wagon, so he and his entourage had to miss the game as they sat in the warehouse, and an old man was set to watch them so they couldn’t even drink. Sober and pissed off and bored, a pile of young and virile guards added to the scene!
That didn’t target anyone in particular, it made EVERYBODY’s job more difficult. =)
The scoundrels won anyway. fictivefantasies.wordpress.com – Blades in the Dark: Mystery Box