Author: John Harper

New Effect System Idea

New Effect System Idea

New Effect System Idea

Here’s a new thought for handling Effect and Resistance. (See the linked Cutter sheet for reference).

When you make an Action roll, your highest die is your action result. Your second highest die is your Effect result. That’s how many segments you mark on a progress clock.

This number is modified by your character’s Effect ratings, as shown on the Cutter’s sheet. If the Cutter was attacking someone with Force, then their effect result would have a 0 modifier. But if they were scrutinizing something with Insight, they would take a -1 segment modifier to effect.

A fine item adds +1 segment. Teamwork will affect this as well (TBD).

For Resistance you make a roll just as you do now to determine the stress cost, using the number of diamonds in your effect rating as your dice pool. There are no other modifiers to this pool! So no more devil’s bargains or anything to modify resistance and slow down the process. You just pick up that many dice and roll, easy peasy.

What do you think?

A few notes:

– Critical results might change slightly. I’m still thinking about that.

– You could have the option to choose which die counted for action and for effect (keeping the highest for effect and second highest for action, say). That might be good, but I’m sticking with no-exceptions to the rule for now.

– If you don’t have a second die result, it counts as a 1.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lbgak3hzf30eaeh/blades_new_effect_cutter_sample.pdf?dl=0

Diceless Effect and Resistance

Diceless Effect and Resistance

Diceless Effect and Resistance

So, this is a modification I’ve been considering for a while now. Recent conversations have convinced me that it might be a good change for the game.

Rather than rolling for Effect and Resistance, you simply use the Effect rating to determine how much progress you make or how much stress it costs to resist a danger. Here’s how it works:

Effect

To determine the scope of your action, choose an appropriate effect rating (Force, Finesse, Influence, Insight, Maneuver, Will). By default, you inflict 1-segment per diamond, and +1 segment if you’re using a fine item.

If your action roll resulted in “increased effect” you do +1 segment of effect. If your action roll resulted in “reduced effect” you do -1 segment of effect.

Resistance

To resist the consequences from a danger that manifests, select an appropriate effect rating. You may choose to take stress equal to [6 minus the effect rating] to resist the consequences from the danger at hand, or instead suffer the threatened harm.

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This approach is starting to appeal to me. It minimizes rolling, and simplifies the action + effect and resistance concepts in the mind-space of the game, I think.

The way this interacts with teamwork (setup) is another issue, but it’s easily solved.

What do you think?

Don’t Roll Twice for the Same Thing

Don’t Roll Twice for the Same Thing

Don’t Roll Twice for the Same Thing

When you face danger, you make an Action roll. Also, you can roll Effect to resist a bad outcome. However, don’t roll both for the exact same thing.

For example, Arlyn is dueling a Red Sash on the roof. The Red Sash drives her back with a flurry of feints and slashes, and there’s a danger that Arlyn will be forced over the edge during the skirmish. Arlyn’s player makes an Action roll to see how her counter-attack goes and if the danger manifests. She rolls badly and the danger manifests. This means that Arlyn is forced over the edge and falls off the roof.

But she can roll to resist, right? Yes. She can resist the harm that results from the fall (using Force, presumably). But she shouldn’t roll to resist being forced over the edge. That’s already been determined by her Action roll. The resistance roll answers “how bad is the fall?” Does she simply take some stress and catch herself on a railing on the way down, or does she end up with a lasting effect as she breaks her leg when she hits the street?

Here’s another example:

Cross is sneaking into the Red Sash’s temple, trying to elude the notice of their guards. He rolls Prowl and gets a result that the danger manifests. A guard notices him! But how much? How alerted is he? Cross’s player can roll to resist the effect. If he pays the resulting stress cost, then the guard hasn’t raised the alarm or seen Cross’s face, but the danger did manifest, as a result of the Action roll. So this is the classic case where the guard and his partner say, “Hey, did you see that?” “What?” “Something over there by the pillar.” “Probably nothing.” “Yeah, I’m gonna check, though.”

If Cross’s own Effect roll is enough to overcome the obstacle, then he hears that conversation in the distance behind him as he slips inside the temple. If he hasn’t overcome the obstacle yet, then he’s hidden behind the pillar as the guard strolls over to investigate.

In other words, the Action roll determines whether something happens or not. The Effect roll determines how much of that event manifests or how bad it is. Don’t roll both Action and Effect to determine the same thing. Each roll has a concrete result that affects the situation.

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There have been some good conversations about this kind of thing, so I thought I’d weigh in with an “official” bit of text about it. This will form the basis for a similar section in the book.

Blades in the Dark FAQ

Blades in the Dark FAQ

Blades in the Dark FAQ

I started a doc, here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_kr-InpgZnOKEjtgp6Tt9Iiqzya6hR-JZD4WKtA80yw/edit?usp=sharing

It’s also perma-linked on the top of the community page. I started it out with one question and answer. Feel free to go through the forum here and populate it with anything already asked and answered. I’ll check it periodically and clean it up and answer anything that’s still missing.