Author: Dylan Durrant

I have a few questions regarding the new Assist Action.

I have a few questions regarding the new Assist Action.

I have a few questions regarding the new Assist Action.

Does “ask the GM what you can do to help. If you accomplish it…” mean that the character might have to make another roll to accomplish an action before they can assist?

Because if so, isn’t that just “Set-Up” but with an increase in position instead of effect? Speaking of which…

If you then “improve their position by one step” must your assistance, in the fiction, improve their position?

Because I often find that improving your position is hard, at least the way I run things. You’ve charged headfirst into the central compound of the Lampblacks in an attempt to rescue a captured teammate; everything you do is Desperate. If a player asked me, “what can I do to improve this position?” rather than “what can I do to help?” I would say “do you have a magic wand to hand?”

Essentially, so far, I’ve been taking Position to be at least a little literal. When you’re trying to Prowl through the streets of Whitecrown, you’re Daring, there’s very little things I can think of that would make you Dominant. Maybe if you managed to make the vast majority of the Bluecoats patrolling the District to disappear. But that’s a Mission, not an Action.

Leviathan saves Whisper’s life, asks it (agender character) to kill a crew of Leviathan Hunters by performing a…

Leviathan saves Whisper’s life, asks it (agender character) to kill a crew of Leviathan Hunters by performing a…

Leviathan saves Whisper’s life, asks it (agender character) to kill a crew of Leviathan Hunters by performing a little old spell that requires sacrificing the life of an innocent (defined as someone who has never taken another life) out in the wasteland. The crew is like, “sure, whatever” with the exception of deciding they were scrupulous enough to not kill a kid. They find a target, I tell the Whisper how they are definitely innocent, not only that, but their soul is radiant, like they have never hurt a fly.

I ask the players, “so, how would you like to kidnap this innocent woman and murder her in order to serve a dark god?” They suddenly discard their “sure, whatever” stance and get a bit cagey. I ask the Whisper if it actually told the how radiant this woman’s soul was. Whisper says it did not go into detail, just said they were an innocent. The crew says, “well, alright then” and assemble their pool for a Group Action.

I say, “Devil’s Bargain: no matter what happens, the woman tries to kill one of you at some point,” and then stare at them with a huge grin on my face, saying nothing while they argue back and forth, obviously weighing the dice against the possibility that their innocent might suddenly not end up so innocent while they are in the middle of the wasteland (and they already fucked up finding an innocent once beforehand).

Telling whether they took it or not and what happened next would spoil it. I just wanted to tell a story about my sixth or seventh session of running Blades in the Dark, the moral scruples of a gang of Thieves and when you’ve got a good offer (that’s not just: “your cat dies” repeatedly, although I will keep saying that) how great the Devil’s Bargain mechanic can be.

P.S. Release the game already.