So I’m running my first session of BitD in 10 days or so.

So I’m running my first session of BitD in 10 days or so.

So I’m running my first session of BitD in 10 days or so. It’s supposed to be a one-shot but I feel like it could spin off into a campaign. Now my dilemma is this: the quickstart rules tell me to either include the crew creation or to drop it.

On the one hand I see how including the crew rules can complicate and slow things down. Plus it’s totally unnecessary for a one-shot. On the other hand the “management” aspect of the game is one of its signature features and probably one of the most interesting aspects of the game. I’m sure this was already discussed before but still – what are your thoughts on this? Thanks for any opinions!

7 thoughts on “So I’m running my first session of BitD in 10 days or so.”

  1. John Harper has said he sometimes starts a game group off without making a crew, just making characters and starting play. They can make a crew later.

    To deal with one-shots playing with strangers, I made a structure that gives some advantages like having a crew does, but also helps the players indicate what sort of game they want to play, and what sorts of things they want to be involved. You can look at that if you like.

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QtJxtygvG33wWTfUt14Z10RxHUIkVbAICznRwwHwt3Y/edit?usp=sharing

  2. A one shot isn’t ideal if you want to delve into every part of the game. I’d focus on the fun of a score (and downtime and another score, if possible). Maybe also make pregen PCs if you’re really tight on time.

    Andrew’s gang format is cool, too!

  4. I ran a one-shot last week of BITD using a modified version of Andrew Shields’ doc, and I can confirm it worked out well. 

    We ended up talking about crew before scene 1; I was hesitant at first, but I already knew from the characters they were probably thieves or breakers. Once I got them talking about each other’s characters and what they think of each other, I just went ahead and opened the subject. I was secretly hooking them in each time I asked things before, and when I said “For what special talents is your crew known?” they already had the answer: “Killing.”

    I had taken one ability from each of the crew types early, and went with that. We did an abbreviated “stuff” detailing as described in Andrew’s doc, and then I described for them the situation with Lyssa (as described in the QS). This ended up a fantastic session where they decided they were planning to double cross her, but not yet: they were to pull a dual-crime (assassination-heist) with her juicy info and plan, and then stab her in the back later. so, yea, I plan to hook in some more players soon with this same setup, and I recommend bringing up crew even if in ancillary ways (like “you’ve joined together recently to start a criminal enterprise. what were you hired for in your last score? Did you do that, or something else to pull it off?”) It will add a lot to the first conversation in-character to let them hang themselves a bit 🙂

  5. Thanks for the wisdom and resources. Especially the pre-made characters will come in handy. I guess I’ll keep it simple and introduce the crew rules later on. A score plus downtime seems about right for an introductory session.

  6. I’ve started two games now. At first I felt like premade characters would be best, but then when it came time to decide if the whisper should have a dot in Command, Consort or Sway, I decided the player should be making that kind of decision. In the end the only thing I picked for my PCs was their starting playbook advancement, because I didn’t want to have to explain all of them for each player (and because I basically ignored things like potency and effect in my first session, and those pop up all over the place in the abilities). I just picked the abilities that give cool new powers (ghost veil, tempest, etc).

    I also saved crew creation for session two in both cases, and didn’t regret it. For my second group I asked what kind of crew they wanted to be (there weren’t multiple available when I started my first), but that was just for the fiction. I’ve also yet to mention claims or turf in either game, although my first game has been going for long enough that I probably should.

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