Etrius MacGuffin – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

I was having a conversation with my gaming group about gangs.

I was having a conversation with my gaming group about gangs. And the general feeling was that it simply doesn’t make any sense to worry about getting a gang until maybe Tier 2 at earliest, and probably Tier 3 realistically. The reason for this is that because of the way dice work, the Expert is the only thing that will really be useful at Tier 0 and Tier 1, and probably Tier 2, because they HAVE to be able to roll a few dice before they’re worth bothering with.While this a bit of a metagamey aspect of things, the math is also important.

I was wondering what other people thought. What’ve your experiences been?

How hard do you guys make people work for non-playbook items?

For example, I have a Whisper who wants to be sort of a Whisper-Lurk, sort of the Corso-esque magical assassin, and wants to acquire a Fine Shadowcloak. I’m trying to figure out how many clocks this sort of thing should take. Maybe an 8-clock for acquiring a fine item? Or a 12-clock for acquiring something that isn’t normally available to them which is also fine? Or two or three 8-clocks?

Any advice/input would be appreciated. Thanks!

A quick Rules Clarification if you guys would be so kind:

Does Fine Equipment give you increased Effect Level (1-3 becomes 4-5, 4-5 becomes 6, 6 becomes crit) during downtime rolls? Or does Fine equipment only affect non-downtime rolls?

In the Bloodletters campaign, John very briefly introduced a character named Zamira (Link:…

In the Bloodletters campaign, John very briefly introduced a character named Zamira (Link: https://youtu.be/y_i8qZzEom0?t=1h2m56s ) that was an Iruvian Whisper, and she was noted as having a demon whip. It was described as a coil of metal wire, and you crack your demon whip to make your demon do your bidding. I’ve just begun playing an Iruvian Whisper, and would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this that I might be able to borrow.

What do you guys imagine a demon whip might do, exactly, and how does it make your demon do your bidding? Is this related to the Iruvian version of the Compel power? Do the whips have any particular special abilities, like being the demonic equivalent of Lightning Hooks, and thus Potent against demons? And what do you think that the whip is made out of? Copper, or iron, or silver maybe? Would demons you don’t have under your direct power hate and fear you for carrying such a thing?

I was hoping there might be some info on when you guys will be streaming the next Bloodletters game, since it was…

I was hoping there might be some info on when you guys will be streaming the next Bloodletters game, since it was mentioned it would be Soon(tm)? Or should I just keep an eye on John’s youtube channel?

Hello!

I am hoping for some help finding a group. I love the idea behind Blades, I’ve devoured the podcasts that Lord Harper has done, I love this community, and I’m super excited to play it. Unfortunately, the group I usually play with aren’t terribly interested and stopped after two sessions. I’ve applied to several games on Roll20 without success. So, I was hoping one of you kind people might have or know of a game that could use another player. I’m North American Pacific time, but since I’m disabled, I can swing most game times. If you know of a game that might work out, please drop me a line at dalordetrius on gmail.

Thanks for your help!

I noticed most of the parts of building a Hull are Tier 6.

I noticed most of the parts of building a Hull are Tier 6. The Magnitudes table suggests this is Legendary. A couple of parts even reach Tier 7. If Tier 6 is Legendary, what is Tier 7? And does this mean that you’d probably never see a Hull outside of the Imperial City, because they’re essentially Legendary? Can anyone help me with this? I’m a bit baffled.

If we’re a Tier 2 gang with a Cohort that has both the Thugs and the Skulks type because we spent upgrades to give…

If we’re a Tier 2 gang with a Cohort that has both the Thugs and the Skulks type because we spent upgrades to give them the second type, and we’re Bravos with Elite Thugs, and we send them to sneak into a place… their Tier is 2, but do they get the extra die from Elite Thugs, because they do have that type… or do they only get the extra die when doing Thuggery things?

I didn’t really see a thread for it, so I guess I’ll go ahead and start a thread for edition-changes questions and…

I didn’t really see a thread for it, so I guess I’ll go ahead and start a thread for edition-changes questions and clarification requests. 🙂

1) Tempest seems as though it’s been simplified, but I’m unclear as to whether it has lost its extreme flexibility? Since it no longer costs Stress but instead requires pushing yourself (which, granted, cost 2 stress generally), can you still select a Magnitude for it, or somehow increase the cost to envelop a larger area or to last longer than a moment (or does it no longer last only a moment for the storm aspect)? Was that level of on-the-fly flexibility was deemed too much?

2) The Crafting rules are quite specific that you roll Study to design something and then Tinker to actually build it, whereas most of the system embraces the idea of having various skills you might be able to try. Is this purposeful, as opposed to just using Tinker to design and build a thing? A need to give Study more uses perhaps?

3) I noticed most of the parts of building a Hull are Tier 6. The Magnitudes table suggests this is Legendary. A couple of parts even reach Tier 7. If Tier 6 is Legendary, what is Tier 7? And does this mean that you’d probably never see a Hull outside of the Imperial City, because they’re essentially Legendary?

I noticed in Episode 10 of Bloodletters, it didn’t appear as though Oskarr is first spending an 8-clock /finding/ a…

I noticed in Episode 10 of Bloodletters, it didn’t appear as though Oskarr is first spending an 8-clock /finding/ a ritual, and then an additional 8-clock /learning/ the ritual. How hard do you guys make it to find interesting rituals, which must then also be learned?