Andrew Shields – Page 15 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

What do I think a Spider could do? Let me brainstorm some special abilities (not refined, just thinking aloud.)

* Blackmail network. There is a good chance the Spider knows people who have the goods on others, either blackmailing them directly or compelling them to force their underlings to do/allow odd or illegal things.

* Forethought. All flashback stress costs are reduced by 1 for the crew if the spider helped plan.

* Tracking goods. The Spider knows how illegal material moves in the city, and adds effect to efforts to procure equipment or trace fenced goods.

* Mentor. The Spider can borrow up to 2 stress from a crew member once per heist per character. The Spider helps by preparing through role-playing encounters ahead of time, thinking through contingencies, pacing out the ground, or other preparatory methods.

* The Useful Detail. Once per heist, the Spider can recall a seemingly irrelevant detail and snap it into contextual focus, knowing something that was otherwise highly unlikely the crew would know. This useful detail is fictional, but can be translated to provide a way to continue a course of action, an escape route, +1 effect level, or an increase in position.

* Debt Collector. The Spider trades in favors, buying and selling them with other like-minded individuals. The Spider can spend 2 Stress to encounter an indebted individual as part of a heist or down time action.

* Counterintelligence. Each time the Spider advances a down time project by two, the Spider may reduce another faction’s down time project clock by 1, or reduce Heat by 1.

You may want to take a look at the 2011 Secret Santicore.

http://gibletblizzard.blogspot.com/2011/12/secret-santicore-2011.html

Check out pages 54-55. Mike Evans did a piece called “Bandits, Rapscallions, & Riff Raff.” Of the three columns, two are useful; the first column has a gang name and composition, the last column has a gang leader and description. (The middle has encounters and plot hooks, which don’t line up as well with Duskwall.)

Print this one up two sided and keep it handy for when you need a crew in a hurry.

Meanwhile, you might want to look around in Secret Santicore. It isn’t groceries, it’s a spice rack; you don’t devour it or use it whole, but something in there will add flavor to any game you run!

EDIT: OOOH! Also 80-81, “Fifty Bizarre & Eclectic Urban Locations” by Chris Weller.

Session 9 of the Unrecommendables.

https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/blades-in-the-dark-unrecommendables-inspired/

Here we see the system used to try and prop up an artist’s flagging inspiration and will to complete an operetta. Also assassinating an old woman bureaucrat who finally took a step too far. And further unraveling of the tangled mess that results when the Outsider touches a mortal on the material plane side of the Mirror.

https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/blades-in-the-dark-unrecommendables-inspired

Just for fun.

http://www.tickld.com/x/sp/56-victorian-slang-terms-that-we-should-definitely-bring-back

One thing that might help focus character and crew generation is a motive, a unifying purpose.

One thing that might help focus character and crew generation is a motive, a unifying purpose. If the group can agree on one, that can shade the rest of the process. Here are some possibilities.

Resisting Theft. All members are connected to an event or tradition in their neighborhood where the powerful take from the weak. This may be removing children from parents, unfairly jailing a target population, severely under-paying for work, and so on. The characters have formed a crew so they will gain enough power so they can protect themselves and those they care about, resisting the casual theft enforced by those who currently have power.

Going Legit. It is impossible for someone who is not connected to succeed in business and have a life of wealth and comfort. So, the objective is to use illegal means to amass power, then convert that power into legitimate enterprise, so you and those you care about CAN be connected enough to succeed in business and have a life of wealth and comfort.

Only the Best. Your crew is formed out of a vision of collecting those who have certain talents, and learn to work together to be professionals of the highest caliber. Everyone has a role to play, and the future vision is to take on ever-grander schemes and ever-tougher targets, proving skill and wits. Your crew will be famous for their audacity and reliability.

Devotion. The crew is an extension of a religious group, or is formed by zealots. The crew plans to carry out the objectives of the power they worship, relying on divination and oracles to aim their service. Perhaps they were formed by a portent, gathered by divine coincidence, or assembled for just one job (and worked together well.)

Revenge. A person or faction has wronged everyone in the crew. The crew will gain power and wealth so they can destroy their target. It costs coin to collect secret weaknesses, turn trusted agents, assume various personas, and manage the other methods for wreaking vengeance. This is beyond a killing spree or assassination; the target must be punished, then destroyed.

Once the objective is in place, then players can build related material into their character’s back story and resources. From the start, the group has an agreed-upon objective that guides decisions and activity. Can it change over time? Of course! Setting up a motive at the beginning, before making characters and crew, can help point everyone in the same direction and cut down on working at cross purposes.

A few thoughts on “setting effect.” I’m looking at page 22 of the quickstart version 4 print friendly version.

A few thoughts on “setting effect.” I’m looking at page 22 of the quickstart version 4 print friendly version. Either I have it wrong, or the example does.

When I have run Blades in the Dark, I have not discussed setting the effect “level” as part of the expectations I share with the players. (I think the example MEANS to talk about factors, not effect levels.)

As I see it, a player character tries to do something, and what we intend the result will be BECOMES the full effect. If they get limited effect, the result is less than what they were trying to do. Greater effect is more than what they were trying to do.

The effect is what they were trying to do. What that means can be adjusted up or down, but that’s the full effect.

This is where I get itchy in assigning limited effect or greater effect before the dice are rolled.

The advantage of a fiction first system is that the “effect” has no independent meaning. “Full effect” is you get what you were after when you made the action roll.

As GM, that means I can negotiate for what “full effect” represents. Take the example in quickstart 4 printer friendly version page 22. In the example, the GM says the situation is difficult, so he will have a limited effect.

In previous versions, what I would do there is to say that the situation is difficult, so if you’re successful the most you can reasonably hope for is to convince him to give you the amulet in exchange for something, and the terms are not likely to be favorable.

If the player and the GM are cool with that, then you roll; if you get a failure then the conversation is over and you don’t get what you want. Limited effect might be the conversation continuing, but the position escalates to desperate. Full effect would be bargaining for the amulet, but at a steep cost. Critical success would be to get the amulet in exchange for a minor cost, or a symbolic act.

In the current version on page 22, the GM pre-ordains that the player is aiming for a limited effect because of challenges. What happens when the player rolls a limited success? Is there a subsection there of limited success within limited success? Unlikely. More likely, the GM is not being clear, and the action will have a -1 effect due to the potency of the boss’s backup. (So, just say THAT.)

I like the idea that the “effect” is what the player is trying to get out of the situation, and not modifying that with game terms until the roll comes out.

YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/164250/The-Price-of-Evil

If you want to pre-make a heist site and then evaluate it for what could tempt your characters inside, consider taking a look at the “Price of Evil” by Zzarchov Kowolski.

The format is a “buystarter” so it’s available in rough form for cheap, and if there’s enough interest then the funds it makes will go to copyediting, art, layout, and so on. Why might you be interested in this project?

You use poker cards and hands to determine the house’s main features and the inhabiting ghosts. There is guidance for heaping “oppression” on the characters so as they creak under the weight of their fear and choke on ghostly presence, the rooms get spookier and the ghosts get more powerful.

The system is not neutral, but it’s close enough to easily adapt to use with Blades in the Dark. The theme and feel is about 80% aligned with Blades in the Dark, so most of what you generate you can use as-is.

Making up a few haunted houses could be a pleasant afternoon’s diversion. Afterwards, you can use the names of those haunted places as references, tie in their family histories into your game, and what not until your players are hired to rob one, or cleanse it (especially if they have one or more whisper) or maybe they even target it on their own initiative. Maybe they even use it as a base.

Twenty six pages. Requires some time and investment to use, but building haunted houses may be its own reward. If you want some help coming up with haunted houses, this is a treat for you.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/164250/The-Price-of-Evil

Author: Andrew Shields

That’s a wrap for Season One of the Unrecommendables. Session report!

A great picture inspired by the Thief 2 video game, of the Mechanist fortress Angelwatch.

Reinforcing the “ghost neighborhood” idea we’ve kicked around before.