Author: Stefan Struck (monkeyEcho)

In need for great descriptions? Check out pictures on pinterest.

Let me explain a bit: I read an Actual Play on Sean Nittner’s website (great stufff here, Sean! Thanks for the time and effort) and found this cool house rule

“One cool rule we made up: The first time you draw your blade, you have to describe it. We had some wicked sounding knives!”

This is a rule a definitely want to establish in my game and I was afraid that I run out of inspiration for all these NPC’s weapons a will draw in my sessions 🙂

Enter pinterest to the rescue: Search “dagger” and you’re done. Cool pictures here, not only for weapons but for clothing, people, faces, dark alleys, buildings etc. Pin them and they’re just a click away in your next gaming session. Plus: I got 5-10 plot/NPC ideas just from browsing this stuff. Awesome.

Some of the other Bladers are collecting pins there too, so your inspiration will never dry up.

Question about Actions und using firearms in close combat: Is “Skirmisch” the correct Action for that?

In the first Episode Canter used the “Murder” Action to fire his pistols with splendid results (well done!). I assume that “Murder” was an Action in the early days of the game but is no longer because I cannot find it in the current list of Actions. We have “Skirmish” now for close combat and I assume that the same scene would use that action now, correct?

I ask, because there is a differnt Action (BTW it’s hard not to write “Skill”, but I’m doing fine, thank you), which is “Hunt” which has a reference to shooting weapons. BUT from the description of Hunt I assume it’s more a information/tracking/hitting from distance thing and not close combat.

Question about the cataclysm: Did that happen recently (still “normal” people (Non-immortal emperor) around who are witness) or is the some myth from 1000 years ago?

My guess: Second one, but are there any more infos somewhere?

Next Question: Is Blades in the Dark a game without GM-Screen?

Rolling the GM dice seems to be an “open” die cast, placing index cards and clocks in front of the GM is a invitation for the players to pick them up storywise etc. I found many clues in the text that BinD is an open and thereby an no cheating game.

Which is cool, but…

|Confession Mode activated| I’m a cheater as a GM.

Now, before you bann my from this list, let my explain a bit. I happily cheat on rolling dice everytime I think that it will help the drama and the tension in the story. I cheat too to let the players reach the big final climax instead of being critically wounded during the first encounter.

This all to add to the fun for the players and for me as GM. Story and Fun is first, rules are second.

Last weekend I GMed a game of Star Wars Roleplaying for my kids and their friends (age 9 til 16). I rolled the dice behind the screen mainly to provide the correct sound of rolled dice. They had a blast!

Now, Blades is different, right? It’s not: That’s the story and this is the way to get there. Instead it’s: “What do you want to do? … and can you bear the results?”

Reminds me a bit of Call of Cthulhu games, where the choice in the end is dead or insane and not happily ever after 🙂

How do your play our games? Do you use a screen? Do you show your GM dice results to the players?

Mmm… thinking of it. Are there many GM die cast in the first place? They seems to be mainly on the player side of the game anyway. Fascinating indeed.

BTW old-school again: I prefer players gathered around a table over using skype/hangouts therefor I don’t have a camera as an implicit GM screen.

Question: When and how do NPCs act (especially in combat)?

As mentioned before I come from a background of more rigid combat rules with initiative values and a sequence of PC- vs. NPC-actions.

In my experience the player is only waiting for his/her turn to do his/her mega-ultra-one-hit-kill-them-all-combo and it’s the task of the game mechanics to figure out if the PC is still standing to actually do it. Yes, I already understood that BitD is extremly different with the fiction-first approach, but this will need some training for my group.

One of my first impressions was “Oh, only 3 attributes and a bunch of skills/traits linked to them. Cool, easy to track this for the NPCs.”

Then I realized that NPCs don’t have attributes/traits at all, which made me a bit nervous because I’m out of my already-know-it-comfort-zone.

In chapter “The Core System” I read “When the NPCs have the iniative, the GM says what they do…” but from the rules I don’t see an “initiative” neither for the PCs nor NPCs.

So, my understanding right now is that initiative is a concept which belongs in the fiction part of the game and…

1. NPCs “act” as a consequence from PCs Action Rolls. Maybe the roll was 1-3 or the GM will buff a Position due to knowledge the PCs don’t have yet (like John did in the Cyclop Fight in the first episode) and the NPCs acts/counterattacks as a consequence of a bad die result / Bad Outcome. After that we’re back in the fiction part of the game. To quote the Quickstart here:

“Since NPCs don’t have stats and action ratings, it’s by the severity of their dangers and harm (and the position of the PC’s action roll) that their capabilities are manifest in the game”

2. (Attenion Rule Lawyers!) NPCs act pure fiction first and the PCs have to react with their actions, again with considerung positions etc.

“Also, a dangerous NPC can take the initiative. Tell the players what the NPCs is about to accomplish, then ask them what they do.”

Part 2. will be a stranger and bitter pill for my players chuckle I will see how this will work out chuck building up to evil laughing

Is my understanding of initiative and NPC actions correct?

Are there any Blades in the Dark sessions planed for RPC Germany? (Date 28./29.05.2016 in Cologne http://www.rpc-germany.de/)

http://www.rpc-germany.de/

Hello everybody,

I’m new to this group and to Blades and want to say hello before I post all my questions :).

I’m an old-school rpg-player from Germany, active since the early 1980ies playing games like D&D, Midgard, Shadowrun and lots of other stuff like Toon or Paranoia. I had a longer family-induced break lately but I’m starting my RPG-comeback now.

I missed the Blades kickstarter (mea culpa, WANT that hardcover!) but was hooked after reading the games description. I bought the early access version from drivethrurpg and am reading/re-reading it since then.

I used to buy&read rpg-modules just for fun (not necesarry playing them) and reading Blades is so much fun. Just group actions + leveling the group + flashbacks alone would be awesome. Now I have all that and all the small details (like healing via vice), too. Cool! Cool! Cool!

BUT: The “classic” games I knew have a more rigid structure especially concerning initiative and combat. Yes, that’s limiting but comforting, too. I’m still staring at the game and I’m not sure if I can handle that. I’m still fighting with some of the concepts (like NPCs without attributes/skills? When and how will NPCs get their actions), so please bear with me when the questions are rolling in.

Until then: Keep up the good work (especially John Harper and the “original” crew). I already drew a lot of inspiration from you guys.

Cheers,

Stefan