Category: Blades in the Dark: Art

Inspired by the amazing Roll20 playsheets people have shared on here, and my own excitement at putting together a group, I made a playsheet for an upcoming Band of Blades game. This one’s specifically for the Campaign Phase; I have actual uni work to do before I have time to make a Mission Phase one.

At first, I went for a more ‘traditional’ playbook with books and maps and documents strewn across a table texture, but I couldn’t get it to a point I was satisfied with. Then I remembered that the Legion is supposed to have Annals. What better way to fictionalise a playbook than to have it be a literal record of the campaign?

I’m particularly pleased with blending the game art into the book pages, although at a second go-through I might use the Fort Callisto art for the right page (the left one uses the Sunstrider Camp art, but it’s mostly hidden), although I do like the Western Front as a representation of how harried the Legion’s camp is supposed to be. The map doesn’t quite blend in, but a) I really couldn’t be bothered keying the black-and-white version to the book pages and b) I really like the bright colours on it; it gives BoB a different aesthetic than BitD.

The Time clocks are beneath the map, and Long-Term projects (and spy assignments) go on the facing page. There’s a lot of other stuff to track in the campaign, but not a whole lot that can easily be visually represented in Roll20, at least without breaking the ~aesthetic~. I’ll probably just ask my players to print their Roles and keep track on paper.

I’ll probably use the two key art pieces that frame the system and world sections for the Mission Phase map.