Author: Peter Cobcroft

Speaking of Canting Crew…

https://archive.org/details/newdictionaryoft00be

https://archive.org/details/newdictionaryoft00be

I have some friends willing to give the game a go now we’ve finished our current campaign. But they came up with a question that gave me pause: can it be run more light hearted for a leverage style game? I’m dubious as most setting material gravitates towards dark and the humour would likely also be black or satire. Anyone have suggestions on tone lightening?

GM-Less?

Having recently read Goblin Quest (no GM) and Crush the Rebellion (taking turns being GM) amongst other rules I’ve read with these two concepts – Blades certainly would not require much tweaking to become a fully collaborative (as in equal agency) game. There’s certainly enough mechanics for balance, and if you include the heist deck and possibly with additional events, complications and whatnot to make life a bit random in a scheduled manner, it would not be hard to accomplish. It lacks an overall story arc – but so far from actual plays I’ve read, there hasn’t been much call for one in a campaign.

The talk about downtime always makes me think of freeforms I helped run. Could this game be used as a freeform? Obviously you’d have multiple factions and group the players. The book factions might be NPCs so occasionally you don’t have PVP. But the engagement and flashback mechanic quite suit the improv nature of freeform (for non Aussies, it’s a form of LARP but without any physical component. Combat is rules based)

I just rediscovered the Thieves Cant Netbook by Shaun Hately…

http://strolen.com/netbooks/thievescant.txt

Ideas for city threats from Bas-Lag books-

1) Slake Moths. They feed on sentience (leaving a mindless husk), excrete nightmare (usually over the population they feed on to have their food source despair) and most importantly, they feed their young on the concentrated memories of those they’ve eaten. This can be cut with other material and sold as highly addictive drug called “dreamshit”. Other notable traits – they aren’t 100% in our dimension and suffer less damage from every attack, and their wings have slowly undulating patterns on them that mesmerise sentient races (those able to dream). Merely glancing at them paralyses anyone – but they can be looked at through a reflection. May also be used as a final method of interrogation (victim is fed to a moth that is then milked and the memories, while far from coherent, could be experienced).

2) The Construct Council. Constructs, card programmed clockwork, quasimagical, or chemically powered robots are widespread domestic help. Until a artificial intelligence creating virus, propagated by a cult of construct repairmen, starts changing them all into spies. When their masters sleep, constructs gather at a garbage dump and upload their memories to the Council (an amalgum of discarded thinking machines and constructs that act as a single highly intelligent AI). Only a problem if the Council sees the city’s behaviour (or a Faction’s) as a threat to constructs.

3) Spiral Jacobs. A good natured, often incoherent bum that wanders the streets. Named for his incessant drawing of spirals wherever he goes. He’s actually a somnambulist (golem creator) agent for a city that is currently at war with Duskwall and if he completes the ritual, he turns the entire city (or most of it) into a golem.

4) Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin. Anarchist, free thinker, scientist and inventor. Normally not of interest to anyone. Until he invents a perpetual energy machine. Sure the prototype is fragile, requires someone with know-how to start it and burns out if too much energy goes through its circuits. But with improvements, the sky is the limit. So now him, and his machine are wanted by every power in the city.