Author: Michael Elliott

Neon Black v 2.3 is live!

You can read the rulebook and access the playbooks and play sheets here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cbt2AZPj7wHPvyn4jA7V3jBpWt9449pK

This is the latest version of my cyberpunk forged in the dark game. I’ll be playtesting starting in the new year. Still have a lot to do but I’m happy with where I am at the moment.

In Neon Black you play as a clever and scrappy crew of characters who are down on their luck and desperate to survive in a near-future world full of monolithic corporations, strange alien artificial intelligences, and underworld gangs. Steal from the rich, expose corporate lies, and make your mark in the year 21XX.

Included is almost everything you need to run my cyberpunk hack of Blades in the Dark, including:

– Character playbooks for the Click, Suit, Sleuth, and Rank. Play as a hacker, a corporate shill, a charming rogue, or a veteran soldier.

– Crew playbooks for Punks, Mercs, and the Start-Up. Create a gang of hackers, guns for hire, or a small business trying to make the next big thing.

– Rules, factions, and items reference sheets for you to print or download for ease of play.

Hey folks,

Recently as I was finishing off the latest version of my Blades hack I realized I wasn’t happy with what I had. I rolled up some characters and a crew and didn’t like any of the choices I had made in redesigning the playbooks.

So I redesigned everything, and lo and behold the game looked a lot like it did in a previous version, and it was so much better. The rules weren’t bending over backwards to accommodate my changes, everything was simpler and sleeker and I was excited to playtest the game. In fact some of the changes I wanted were already in Blades in the Dark as suggested tweaks: Poor Beginnings and Tier Tied to Lifestyle. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?

I was reminded of these great videos John Harper and Andrew Gillis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlGyUKlXVbY&t=110s where they talk about the design history of Blades and dead ends, designs that never saw the light of day, never playtested, but were still valuable in the design process.

So I’m curious fellow hackers, what have some of your design dead ends been? Have you had any? Do you think you’re in the middle of one right now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlGyUKlXVbY&t=110s

If anyone here is attending the Shut up and Sit Down Expo in Vancouver this weekend I’ll be running short sessions of Neon Black, my cyberpunk dystopia hack of BitD.

You can find me in the RPG Roost each afternoon of the expo. I’ll be running short 1-2 hours sessions of the starting job for anyone interested.

Hey folks!

The second meeting of the amateur tabletop RPG design club is meeting tomorrow at 5pm PST on this discord server: https://discord.gg/FNRNmc

We talk about our milestones for our hacks and RPGS, talk about our design problems and solutions, offer feedback, and generally try to make the amateur game design life feel a bit less lonely.

https://discord.gg/FNRNmc

I finished the first alpha version of my cyberpunk Blades in the Dark hack! Currently titled Neon Black!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MYcBlwzmIbLEeK5U6gzTxwfMzi4NOWMg

The year is 21XX.

You play a group of disenfranchised punks, poor suits, and gifted experts, trying to survive in a cyberpunk dystopia full of power hungry corporations, underworld gangs, and unknowable alien artificial intelligences. Hack a CEO’s computer to blackmail them, start your own company, or steal corporate resources for your own ends.

This playtest folder includes everything you’ll need to play, including a rule book, playbooks, and rules reference sheets.

For those familiar with Blades in the Dark you can check out the version history at the start of the rule book for a good rundown on whats different.

With this latest iteration done my next step is to go back to playtesting. Can’t wait to see what I’ll need to change!

Any interest in a Hacking BitD Book Club/Worshop/Meet?

This may exist in the community already and I just haven’t seen it, but I was wondering if there is/there would be any interest in a weekly/every-other-weekly meeting on Discord or google chat for folks hacking Blades?

I’ve been part of writing groups before that did writing exercises, gave feedback on work, and just talked writing in general. It was great for my craft and also seeing different perspectives on writing and what works and what doesn’t. Also it gave me a great excuse to keep writing and be accountable to someone other than myself when I needed that sort of thing.

I’ve been idly hacking BitD for most of this year, and while it’s fun it’s also sometimes a very lonely process. I play it with folks but I don’t often have anyone to talk to who has experience with BitD or hacking Blades, or just design in general. As an amateur it would be great to meet and chat with other folks going through the same or similar processes.

So… any takers?