Category: Blades in the Dark: Discussion

I like the tier list and how it firmly establishes the pecking order.

I like the tier list and how it firmly establishes the pecking order.

I like the tier list and how it firmly establishes the pecking order. I love the faction statuses and how it causes every action to ripple throughout Duskwall. I wish there was an asset list. I think an inspired asset list could cleanly link to new exciting scores. Andrew’s Heist deck makes up for this a bit, and to be fair, PC’s don’t have a list for their long term projects, either.

The faction actions leave me a little bit wanting. Maybe it’s because I’m coming from Kevin Crawford’s games. My biggest hang up is the increasing and reducing hold. Reducing hold is firmly established as taking two actions. One to identify a vulnerability, and another to then reduce the targets hold. Increasing hold isn’t given any parameters. Making it seem as though you could increase hold every downtime. I know that’s not true, but it’s unclear what is the best course.

If the PC’s hadn’t gotten involved in the Lampblack and Red Sashes war, I’m not sure how I would of brought that to a conclusion. I guess opposing fortune rolls, with the winner ticking their long term project of destroying the other? What happens if one increases their hold while at war? Do we change a clock? I could wing it and eventually figure it out. But the point is, I’m not getting much support from the system. Luckily, my pc’s got involved, so it was easy to determine the winner.

It hasn’t effected play at the table much. Between entanglements and faction statuses, BitD has created a brilliant perpetual motion machine. But it does mean I’m having a hard time thinking off screen. I can try to build from the fiction, but its been a struggle for me. I like to (and maybe a little dependant upon) use faction turns as GM tools/mechanics which help generate interesting fiction.

How have other people dealt with other factions downtime? Any interesting stories of a gang that spiraled out of control, due to the PC’s neglect? At this point I’ve begun to make DW fronts and linking dangers to other factions. That’ll likely to do the job, but I’m interested to hear other people’s solutions.

So, I’m going to GM Blades tomorrow and unlike my disastrous first attempt (where I was asked to GM Blades on the…

So, I’m going to GM Blades tomorrow and unlike my disastrous first attempt (where I was asked to GM Blades on the…

So, I’m going to GM Blades tomorrow and unlike my disastrous first attempt (where I was asked to GM Blades on the fly with the first version) I actually feel prepared now. Unless something else strikes me after Character/Guild creation I’m going to go with the Crow’s Foot situation.

So I wondered if you folks have any tips and tricks, not explicitly stated in the book or any suggestions about things I that’s vital to remember while GM’ing Blades int he Dark. (I do have some experience with GM’ing ApW/DW, although I don’t feel I do it gracefully yet).

How does your group decide on Heists?

How does your group decide on Heists?

How does your group decide on Heists?

Do you have NPC contacts that approach the group and offer jobs, and the PCs say “yes” or “no”?

Do you have NPC contacts that the PCs can go to and ask “what jobs are on offer?”

Do your PCs work towards some plan (wealth, power, crew reputation) and create their own Heists?

So far in our game, our crew has mostly been deciding on heists for themselves – I’ve told them to look at what’s on the sheets as inspiration. So during the first plot (lampblacks vs red sashes) then they decided “Hey, let’s run a brothel” so when they were told to help the Lampblacks they said “Sure! We want to take a brothel away from the Red Sashes, and want your help holding it once we’ve got it” and used that conflict as a way to advance their own agenda.

Next, they wanted a fence, so I rolled randomly on the chart to figure out a heist involving a fence (He’s been fencing supernatural goods to one of Lord Scurlock’s rivals. Lord Scurlock wants that to stop) – so that gives them a few options, they could contact Scurlock and ask for a job taking out the fence. They could take out the fence and hope favour flows their way. But they decided to protect the fence, and earn him as an ally (and earn the “Fence” crew turf advantage)

So they talked to him, we RPed stuff, they investigated and whatnot, and convinced him to switch from fencing to clients directly, and instead to hold illegal auctions. That way he could still fence these illegal goods, and Scurlock and his rival can bid on them – whoever ends up with the goods, that’s not the Fence’s responsibility or fault. The hope being that Scurlock would no longer have a motivation to remove the fence, while allowing the fence to continue operating. So they’ve been organizing what will be necessary to conduct an illegal auction (find a way to advertise, find a venue. They’ve just arranged one of the auctioneers from the slave markets to be their auctioneer. They’re hoping to break into the house of an absent noble and hold the auction there, and make that a “signature” of their auctions – held at a different noble’s house each time)

All lots of fun, but as you can see, the “heist” evolves as the story progresses, and it’s heavily dependent on the downtime RP, NPC interactions, etc. – which probably explains why we have an issue with the “starting in the middle of the heist” mechanics, since that skips a lot of the fun stuff.

I’ve had an NPC at the slave markets tell the hound “Hey, if you’re ever looking for work, I’ve got a list of wanted people. If you can grab them, I can sell them as slaves and split the profit” so that there’s at least one opportunity for the player to say “give me a heist” – and something like that, I can see as much easier to “start in the middle of things”

I’m not complaining about how our games have been going – I’m satisfied so far, and having fun. But I was musing about whether the way our group decides on the heists might explain this disconnect.

My players upon selecting to play as a gang of shadows posed me an interesting question.

My players upon selecting to play as a gang of shadows posed me an interesting question.

My players upon selecting to play as a gang of shadows posed me an interesting question.

“What is there to steal and who do we steal it from?”

Now I began to explain that there are rival gangs, nobles, cults and the general citizenry to steal a variety of items from when a player asked.

“What about banks, art galleries and museums?”

So my questions are:

1. What sort of banks and other institutions are present in Duskvol?

2. What Duskvol specific cultural items would be worth stealing from these locations?

3. Is it worth it to represent banks and other financial institutions as factions on the list?

I guess this is mainly aimed at John, but also to those contributing official material to a lesser extent.

I guess this is mainly aimed at John, but also to those contributing official material to a lesser extent.

I guess this is mainly aimed at John, but also to those contributing official material to a lesser extent.

With regards to the layout of the pages in the quick start set that is the current iteration, I think it’s a very nicely arranged book. The text is all clear, the style is fitting and consistent and the illustrations are helpful.

My question is about how physical copies will look. The pages are currently all A4 (probably) in landscape. Some pages have 3 columns, some 2 and the illustration pages are obviously whole page. Does that mean then that the book will be A4 landscape when it is done?

I don’t have a particular issue with this. As I said, I think the book is very well arranged. I just wonder what considerations going for a non-standard RPG format required in terms of both production and sales? Do you think it’ll be beneficial that it will stand out on shelves in retailers? Do you forsee any complaints about how it might fit on shelves when compared to other books people might already own?

What drugs exist in your world? What do they do?

What drugs exist in your world? What do they do?

What drugs exist in your world? What do they do?

Also do you have any slang terms for money? We’re not fond of “coin” in play, feels like it’s referencing the mechanic directly. Trying to dig up words that work with eels, but figured hey, ask the community.

Hello John.

Hello John.

Hello John. I bought the early digital version on DriveThruRPG and so far I really enjoy you’re book even do its still a work in progress.

The layout is fantastic. The rules are simple to learn but will require some gaming time to properly digest since it’s more a Roleplaying game vs. the more mainstream Roll Playing games im used to. (aka D&D and Pathfinder)

I’ve noticed some minor bumps in v7.1. Hope you’re open to some friendly help in spotting errors.

-Ghost, Hull, and Vampire playbooks all have the same comment below the Harm track. It refers to the ghost.

-I think the armour box for the Hull should be crossed out since they all start with armor.

-p78. “Overheard in Duskwall”. I think the city used to be called that but now is named Doskvol…

Probably slipped by when you changed it.

Keep up the amazing work!

Can’t wait for next update. 😆