Blades in the Dark: Discussion – Page 12 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

A question: During our session the other night a situation occurred in which the crew were in one boat and their…

A question: During our session the other night a situation occurred in which the crew were in one boat and their targets were in another. While they were still well apart from each other, one of the NPC targets pulled his pistol and took a shot at one of the PC’s.

I wasn’t immediately sure how to adjudicate it. None of the PC attributes seemed to cover a dodge type action, so I wasn’t sure what to have the PC roll. Should I have just had the NPC automatically hit and then let the PC resist? What’s the correct call here?

Hello scoundrels, apologies for the long absence.

I have a design question that may have a very Blades flavored answer.

I’m toying with a game in a Dune-ish universe of Emperors and ancient schools, an rpg played out on the Imperial capitol, (Think 40K Terra, or Trantor)

The players are high-level con artists and thieves come to relieve the Emperor of his wealth, and instead of a map, I want to play over a Kingsburg style flowchart of the Imperial court. The criminals will have to take advantage of the eccentric rituals and rites of the court to get close to the Emperor and keep their marks from getting wise.

So…

Any suggestions from you folks on incorporating Blades mechanics into a pyramid-flowchart? I really want to emphasize the suck-up/kick-down nature of the court.

If the players’ markers (and thus, their false faces) are under the protection of a duchess three levels below the Emperor, then they should be able to ruin the life of a fourth level duke, and order the summary executions of a fifth level marquis.

So, Stainless Steel Rat meets Dune meets Foundation meets Gentlemen Bastards. Any ideas?

Balancing the city’s power with structure is impossible.

Balancing the city’s power with structure is impossible. Structures are occupied by individuals of varying passion and ability. Attempting to stabilize power through laws and rules is like trying to balance a gladiator match by throwing more weapons and armor into the ring. The power of Doskvol has always been its bloody hunger. It is hunger that propels the powerful towards more power, and it is hunger that motivates their enemies to drag them back from it. The only real check against the power lust of the rulers is the power lust of those they rule.

If humanity ever does curb that starving ambition, then the inevitable transition from rulership by mortals to rulership by vampires will accelerate. Vampires have the long view, and experience, and a hunger no mortal can match. So far the main resistance to this inevitability has flourished in the vampire’s blind spot for the current moment. They get lost in future machinations and lose sight of unanticipated changes right before their eyes. The sharpening gift of mortality focuses humans and keeps the churn of power fresh, even when contained in ancient lines of aristocracy and tradition. Lo, before us is a new generation, and right behind it another. New faces, consumed in the oldest game.

From “Six Inevitable Truths of Rulership” by Lady Crolucia VenVaskell

I took a quick look through a few of the free Forged in the Dark hacks out there and I didn’t notice any Advanced…

I took a quick look through a few of the free Forged in the Dark hacks out there and I didn’t notice any Advanced Rules and Permissions a la the Iruvian Sword Arts found in the book. I would have expected this sort of stuff to be more popular. Anybody have any ideas why it’s not? Anybody know if the published settings (Scum and Villainy, Band of Blades) have any of these?

A couple of questions:

1. Is there a place that specifies which districts each faction operates out of? I know some of them denote a specific turf under their details, but some do not. I’m wanting to introduce Ulf Ironborn as a potential client for my crew of assassins, but I’m wondering where I can find his HQ (The Old Forge Tavern). I’m happy to set it down anywhere I need it if that’s the expectation, but if there is a specified district that would be helpful. For that matter it would be helpful to know which factions operate where as the PC’s enter those areas.

2. I’m still having a little trouble grasping factors with regard to Effect. If I understand correctly, the default Position/Effect is Risky/Standard. So any given factor (Potency, Quality, Tier, Scale) would move the Effect up or down. I know that Tier can be greater than 1, but can Potency, Quality, or Scale be higher than 1?

Some examples: A Tier 1 PC comes up against a Tier 2 Red Sash. That would set the situation at Risky/Limited, correct? If the Red Sash has a fine weapon, that would further drop the Effect to Zero? Do the factors effect Position at all, or just Effect?

Example 2: Same situation as above, but now the PC uses Not To Be Trifled With. Would that give him Potency vs the Red Sash, effectively bumping him back to limited Effect?

Example 3: Carrying on from example 2, now the PC pulls a fine sword of his own, bumping the Effect back up to Standard. But then four more Red Sash gang members show up. So that’s 1 vs 5, but the PC is using Not To Be Trifled With, so he’s still on equal footing with them, so no change, right? Still Risky/Standard? What if another two guys show up making it 1 vs 7. Would the Scale then drop the situation back down to Risky/Limited?

Oh crap, I’m just re-reading the example on page 29 where a single PC is facing off against a large group and it looks like Scale DOES affect Position. I’m having a hell of a time with this. Any advice would be most welcome.

Clocks for difficult opponents

Hey folks. Does anyone care to describe how they use clocks in combat for more difficult opponents? I’m thinking of linked clocks. Thoughts?

A question about the use of Rivals and Enemies in your game: How proactive should these NPCs be and to what extent…

A question about the use of Rivals and Enemies in your game: How proactive should these NPCs be and to what extent are they involved in the events? The book doesn’t seem too clear on this. Do you have your enemies and rivals waiting in the wings to crop up when rolls go bad or entanglements are needed, or would you have them activily working against the PCs? I really want to start introducing some of these NPCs to the game but I’m worried I’d bog the players down in conflicts not of their choosing in freeplay – having to use valuable stress boxes/resources to deal with them etc. In other PbtA games there are Principles like – Make the Characters Lives Not Boring; there is a sense it is the GMs job to introduce trouble to the characters lives and watch what happens. With the sandbox style of Blades – would this be appropriate? My players are new to sandbox play so I’m trying to find ways to prod them into action!

Hi I posted a question but my post was censored with no explanation.

Hi I posted a question but my post was censored with no explanation. It was perfectly innocent. I dont understand, can a moderator explain why. Do I need to reword it. It concerned another book, mentioned and talked about on this group ages ago. Odd.

Rail Jacks protect trains from the clouds of starving ghosts in the wasteland between cities.

Rail Jacks protect trains from the clouds of starving ghosts in the wasteland between cities. Most trains have a seat behind the engine compartment, the safety seat, where one of the jacks can watch the engineers for signs of mental pressure or possession, and intervene. It’s a good ‘watch and learn’ post for rookies.

So this kid is still an apprentice jack, and he’s in the safety seat, and one of the engineers has allergies. First time he sneezes, the kid overreacts and fries him with the hook, gives the poor bastard the shakes for life. So they put the kid up walking the train for the rest of the trip, and he saw a reflection he didn’t like in the goggles of his partner, fries him with the hook. By the second trip, he had a rep for massive overreaction, posing more of a threat than the dangerous surroundings.

Some say he never had the nerve to be a rail jack, but his uncle was Speeder Zeke, and everybody’s heard of that crazy bastard. So, he didn’t get run off the rails, but he earned the nickname Safety, and people knew to keep an eye on the zap-happy twerp.

From “Tales on Rails: Oral Histories of the Elevated Trains” unfinished publication notes

The second part of my posting on Blades one-shots is up – and you can check out my amazing drawn-at-the table high…

The second part of my posting on Blades one-shots is up – and you can check out my amazing drawn-at-the table high quality mappage too!

https://burnafterrunningrpg.com/2018/08/30/the-training-mission-blades-in-the-dark-one-shots-part-2/