Next Monday I’ll finally be able to try BitD with my group! I think I have a good grasp of the system by now (thanks for the amazing APs John Harper ), but I’m having some trouble with the Thieves crew sheet.
Can someone explain to me what is considered a “Hunting Ground”, give me some example and advice on how to use them?
Their hunting ground is the area the thieves operate in, with permission from the crime boss of the district. Jobs done elsewhere are more risky, involving dealing with another boss or keeping it secret.
When the group is talking about new targets to pursue for thievery, you can roll the quality of their hunting ground as a fortune roll to see how lucrative their current prospects are in the hunting ground.
Since the quality starts at 1, they won’t have great prospects in their hunting ground to begin. They can play it safe and go after smaller scores, or push their luck and branch out.
Thanks John Harper! So if the hunting ground is a part of some district, how do you suggest they might improve its quality, and how they can expand to new hunting ground in the fiction?
You might set a clock for that goal. Then actions like:
– Getting permission for juicier targets from the ward boss
– Gathering info on wealthy targets in the area
– Developing partnerships with other criminals (a crooked pub owner who spikes drinks so the thieves can waylay the victim easily)
etc.
… can advance the clock and eventually develop the quality of the hunting grounds. Also, sometimes something will happen in the fiction and someone might say, “Hey, does that improve our hunting grounds? Seems like it should,” and you can add a dot of quality right there.
The hunting grounds trait is ultimately just an indicator of the current fictional position. It’s a tool for thievery which the crew can choose to develop or ignore as they choose.
And now it’s all clear, thanks a lot!