Author: Erik Bernhardt

I’m thinking of replacing “Stash” with “Intel” on my espionage-focused hack, since accumulating cash isn’t really the focus of the game. Players could choose to focus on scores that get more Intel or more Coin, depending on their current needs. Set up kind of a dichotomy between being prepared with knowledge vs. being prepared with gear, assets, other things that Coin buys you.

Since an element of the game is players as information brokers, I think I’ll keep the 2:1 exchange rate for Coin (with maybe opportunities to bring it down to 1:1 in certain circumstances).

I’m planning on having players be able to spend it to either gain +1d (or maybe +1 result level?) on Engagement rolls, representing their greater knowledge of what they’re getting themselves into.

I’m also considering letting them spend it to take +1d to an action or resistance(?) roll, so long as they can narratively justify / make up how a piece of intel gives them an edge in the situation. I’m thinking this might throw the math out of whack, though. Maybe allow it to upgrade position or effect instead might be better?

Finally, I’m thinking about having “tiers” of Intel, like how having a certain amount of Stash gives you a bonus on “lifestyle” checks, having a certain amount of Intel might give you bonuses on Gather Information checks.

Comment and critique are welcome. As you can tell, I’m not sure which way to go with these mechanics, and was hoping to get some advice. Could be the whole thing is a bad idea, too, which’d be good to know as well.

I’ve been working on some campaign rules, inspired by Tim Groth and Michael Atlin’s excellent “Radicals” playbook. Essentially, a rough outline for how a campaign might be built around starting (and, hopefully winning) a revolution in Duskvol.

After a bit of playtesting, I’m ready to present my beta draft of “The Messengers”, my “Secret World”-inspired urban fantasy and conspiracy hack of Blades. Comments and critique are welcome!

http://bit.ly/MessengersDraft

Called Shot Mechanic

From reading some of the examples and playing a bit RAW, I’m struck by how much the outcome of “I shoot him in the goddamn head” is “scalp injury” or “shot in the throat.”

I think there’s a disconnect between the intended fictional function and the mechanical outcome, based mostly around effect. You can say your shooting someone in the head, but if you only get standard effect, your still only filling two ticks. The bad guy therefore can’t be dead, because there’s still a few more ticks in the clock, so I guess that whole “getting shot in the head” thing wasn’t that huge a deal.

There are obvious work-arounds already written. From a fiction-first perspective, if a player says “I shoot him in the goddamn head,” the GM could reply “OK, it sounds like your pushing yourself to shoot him in the head and get better effect.” or “Sounds like your trading position for effect, so this will be a desperate roll.

But these don’t quite work for me. To me, a “called shot” is a question of proficiency. Are you good enough to make the shot? As the action roll dice are the closest measure of proficiency in the game (roll X dice depending on how good you are to see if you do the thing), they track well for a called shot mechanic. In my mind, a called shot is trading proficiency for effect, ie, 1d off the action roll for +1d effect later.

Obvious caveat is if your using this mechanic, and a player does a called shot, don’t have one of the consequences be “reduced effect”. That’d be kind of a dick move.

The Mechanic

Called Shot: When a character attempts to do something that requires increased accuracy with the benefit of an increased effect, they may lose -1d on their action roll to gain +1 effect.

Heat and Wanted for Sense8-style Hack

Advice needed!

Hey folks! So, I’m working on a Blades in the Dark hack that revolves around a group of PCs that are psychically interlinked with one another, similar to Sense8 if you’ve seen that show.

I’m having some trouble coming up with a way to mechanically express a few ideas I have rolling around, namely:

The PCs are pursued by a “bad guy” entity that is better able to track them as they grow closer to one another / more psychically intertwined.

Here’s what I have so far:

Relationships

At chargen or shortly afterward, players right down short, Fate-style aspects describing their relationships with their fellow PCs. They’re created and can be modified based on mutual concensus of the players involved, two players don’t need to have the same aspect for one another.

Intimacy Bennies

Players have “intimacy” points that effectively act as Bennies or Fate points. They can use them by invoking a relationship they have with another character to gain a re-roll or some other mechanical benefit. Players start each session with X amount, can gain more by invoking a relationship against themselves to worsen their position. The entire “crew” can only have a maximum of Y intimacy points, and points are spent out of a collective pool.

Heat

Whenever players use these intimacy points, it increases their “Heat” level. When “Heat” reaches 9 points, it increases their “Resonance”

Resonance

Resonance is the big one, it makes it so the “bad guy” entity is better able to track the players. This is what I’m planning to replace “Wanted” with.

Rites

PCs can perform special Rites to protect their shared conciousness from the “bad guy.” Right now, I’m thinking they involve PCs making special contracts / commitments to one another, or collectively sacrificing some of their abilities. By doing so, they can lower their “Resonance”, perhaps reduce the maximum level of Resonance they can attain?

Entanglements

This is the big one, that should tie all these mechanics together. Frankly, I’m not sure how to do it yet. I want it to feel like the “enemy” is getting stronger along with the players, and mustering greater forces against them as they pose more of a threat. Then, when the players start using Rites, they’re able to start taking some of the power back, without negating the threat completely. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!