Andrew Shields – Page 20 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

The Devilfish Platter!

The Devilfish Platter! A luxury feast indeed, in the shadowed city of Duskwall. In the game last night, one of the characters had bad news to deliver to violent people, so he prefaced his news with a devilfish platter to soften the blow.

https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/blades-in-the-dark-a-night-at-the-theater/

The head sac of the devilfish (octopus) was about the size of a human head, with tentacles about six feet long. The head was cut open and stuffed with succulent prawns. The devilfish skin had a light garlic glaze with herbs pressed against the flesh to form pleasing and tasty patterns. The removed beak was replaced by a bowl of crab cheese; not actually cheese, but yellow-orange, and spreadable, and salty/tangy.

The tentacles were neatly arrayed on the heavy tray, and in their “clutches” were rows of topbread (mushroom caps, toasted, a bread-like texture) and long-shrimp and crawdads.

There was enough for the crew and their gangs! From the chewy fun of the suckers to the smooth richness of the crab cheese, there was a lot to love on this gourmet dish. Maybe your crew deserves one too.

It took a while, but it was explained to me so I understand it.

It took a while, but it was explained to me so I understand it. “Fine” items give you +1 level of success unless you roll 1-3 or a critical. So, they help you on a 4, 5, or 6. Otherwise they don’t matter.

Last night I got to thinking. What if taking stress to help was switched with “fine” items? So, using a fine item gives you +1d, and if you spend 2 stress you can give yourself 1 extra level of success, or someone else can take 1 stress to give you 1 extra level of success. And, this can be done after the roll if necessary.

Really, it fails to satisfy. For me the problem is “if you fail then you just fail and there’s no help.” It takes too many words to explain to players, it feels too arbitrary. Especially since if you succeed you succeed better, with fewer consequences. But only if you succeed.

Still, I’ve played enough and this has been annoying enough to me, I’m starting to consider using the method I proposed months ago.

If you have a fine item, you get +1 on your highest die roll result. A 3 becomes a 4, a 5 becomes a 6, etc.

This has a few advantages. For one, you can still fail if you roll a 1 or 2, but on a 3 you can tip over to success. Also, if you succeed with complications, it can tip you over to not have those consequences. However, it will not give you 2 results of 6.

There’s room for 2 tiers of quality; +1 for fine gear, and +2 for best possible gear. The goal is to show it is still possible to fail, but the gear is still useful.

The main down side is it is the only mechanic that works in that way. Is that a deterrent? Eh. It’s still faster to explain than how quality will only help you if you succeed.

Because of that, I’d branch out and look at how effort works. +1 instead of +1d, for taking stress to help another or help yourself? Making that the same as quality? I could definitely see that, I could even see letting “effort” stack with “quality.”

Either I’m doing it wrong, or I really intensely dislike the new resist system.

I had a ghost backhand a guy off a balcony, he fell almost two stories and crashed down on rotted seats. Roll a resist test with Vigor. Rolled a 6. Eh, no big thing.

A ghost attacks from behind, slashing with an electroplasmic machete blade to cut your damn fool head off. Roll a resist test; got a 5? One stress to avoid.

All night it was like this.

There is no way to scale how hard it is to resist the roll. No way to use controlled, risky, or desperate difficulties. No way to apply fine items to help you. And if the dice are kind, it doesn’t matter how desperate the danger was, you shrug and it’s evaded.

I am a big fan of letting players choose between stress and consequence. HOWEVER, there absolutely needs to be a way to scale how much stress it costs to avoid a danger. Absolutely. Some things are a LOT more dangerous or hard to avoid than others.

The session was still great fun, but this is a problem that sticks in my craw.

I am excited about tonight’s Blades in the Dark game with the Unrecommendables.

I am excited about tonight’s Blades in the Dark game with the Unrecommendables. They will add a whisper from Carrow to their crew. They will also purchase a decrepit haunted theater for the price of back taxes. Then they will exorcise a couple ghosts from it.

The ghosts are a cross between the Muppets Statler and Waldorf, and gory menaces spraying blood a la Supernatural. In life, they were savage critics; they were hacked to death by machetes. In death, they are savage ghosts. I wonder how it will go!

If they can get it cleared, they’ll take on a new enterprise that used to belong to the Red Sashes before the recent unpleasantness. Then they’ll be up to Tier 1. Moving up in the world…

Play report!

https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/blades-in-the-dark-a-night-at-the-theater/

This game’s focus on “heist” and “down time” cycles with allowance for flashbacks makes it an ideal vehicle for…

This game’s focus on “heist” and “down time” cycles with allowance for flashbacks makes it an ideal vehicle for playing as monsters in a slasher flick.

When I originally planned to run multiple crews and also gangs for one-offs, I had no ambition that all of it would…

When I originally planned to run multiple crews and also gangs for one-offs, I had no ambition that all of it would be connected.

As it turns out, in practice, it’s all TOTALLY connected. Because otherwise I have to keep multiple versions straight.

So, what the gangs do for the Crows matters to what the Unrecommendables are proposing, and the Professors act against that backdrop as well. First, it seemed everybody ganged up on the Red Sashes, who are pretty much reduced to the rubble of insignificance now. What’s next?

A theme is emerging from all those divergent threads. A new faction is moving in to Crow’s Foot, and the illegal trade in leviathan blood is in the crosshairs.

I’ve got a Blades in the Dark game with the Unrecommendables tomorrow, and with Crow gangs on Thursday.

Author: Andrew Shields

The Devilfish Platter!

It took a while, but it was explained to me so I understand it.

Either I’m doing it wrong, or I really intensely dislike the new resist system.

I am excited about tonight’s Blades in the Dark game with the Unrecommendables.

This game’s focus on “heist” and “down time” cycles with allowance for flashbacks makes it an ideal vehicle for…

When I originally planned to run multiple crews and also gangs for one-offs, I had no ambition that all of it would…

Here is a disciple done by someone else too.

Do you want a ghost playbook? Here is one done back in May (not by me.)

I didn’t have enough players for my Lasers and Feelings game tonight, so I canceled it.

I recommend not going to parties with whispers. It doesn’t end well.