Blades in the Dark: Discussion – Page 184 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

Any updates on the beta rules that were going to be listed on Drivethrurpg?

Any updates on the beta rules that were going to be listed on Drivethrurpg? As someone who missed the Kickstarter, I’m eager to get onboard.

It’s a subtle factor in Blades in the Dark, but I like that this game is doing what I think future games will or at…

It’s a subtle factor in Blades in the Dark, but I like that this game is doing what I think future games will or at least should do in encouraging the idea that players are people who have tricky schedules, social anxiety, and bad days, and that doesn’t have to weigh down the group. You can release your character to be lost in their vice for a session or have them do long-term projects or have them help the crew in flashbacks. The GM can pass their notes to someone else and make a PC. It’s fairly easy to add players, subtract players, and rearrange roles, something that several other RPGs I’ve played do not forgive so easily.

You know things are about to get interesting when a player inquires about the cost of piano wire.

Andrew Shields ran a one-shot of Blades tonight and I just want to say he does an AWESOME job!

Andrew Shields ran a one-shot of Blades tonight and I just want to say he does an AWESOME job! It was my second chance to play the game and it just reinforced my belief that Blades in the Dark is the best new game I’ve come across. A big thanks to Andrew and my fellow players. It’s also good to know that Wicked lived to lick another day….sorry you would have had to be there to get the joke ; ) Thanks!!!

This is a fun read for scoundrelly types.

This is a fun read for scoundrelly types. Not a perfect fit for Duskwall, but great flavor and I suspect inspirational. =)

http://dandy-in-the-underworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-scofflaws-abc-secret-santicore.html

Hey y’all. This is my first post on… Google+, even? Sure.

I’m running my second campaign of Blades, and I’m about to run (currently) two groups in the same ‘consensus’ Duskwall. I only do faction clocks once for both groups: so for a random example, the Inspectors’ll be trying to pin down the smuggling routes of Fog Hounds in both groups if both tables tried to talk to them. I’m not planning for direct contact between the two crews, but more going for interesting reactions with how their actions ripple through the network. One group’s Thieves, the other’s Smugglers, and judging from how their Faction Statuses COMPLETELY contradict on 2 factions, I think they are destined to wind up competing against each other. Which is cool!

Any suggestions or comments? Has anyone else done this before? I’ve got a finger tapping on my lip for how I should handle the possibility of direct confrontations. Maybe wrapping that into entanglements or flashbacks? There’s always resistance rolls and maybe I can use the other group’s actions as some of my GM fuckery instead of making it up myself which’d be the case in other scenarios. I’m also considering what “Hold on lightly” says about rewinding and reconsidering events.

Interesting stuff, I’m prepared for it to fall to pieces and be unpleasant and terrible, and then we’ll pick up the pieces and fix it as we go along. And that’ll be okay.

GM technique

GM technique

Make scoundrels awesome even in failure: blame the circumstances not the PCs when creating consequences or complications.

What do you guys do with the drugs, essences, oils, poisons and potions on the leech sheet?

What do you guys do with the drugs, essences, oils, poisons and potions on the leech sheet? Can the leech make these things? Only after he takes the alchemist upgrade? Is it a downtime action to make that stuff? If he uses a downtime action to craft it, how many doses does he make (1-3 makes 1 dose, 4-5 makes 2, 6 makes 3?)? Can he fill his bandolier with those things for free? If he makes several doses, how long are they good for? Is the leech player the source for what those chemicals do?

There may be other questions I haven’t thought to ask as well. Tell me everything you’ve got. My leech character just took alchemist and is going to be all over that very soon I think.

I ran the first session of a new campaign last night, and wanted to check I was applying the rules appropriately.

The crew had decided to assassinate Baszo Baz in their first meeting, by having previously poisoned a bottle of his favourite whisky. They knew that Wiszer, their own gang leader, would also drink from that bottle when Baszo and Wiszer toasted the claimed alliance between them.

Cue a flashback to the Leech preparing an antidote to the poison in the whisky, taking 1 stress to perform the complex operation. He rolled a 4-5 result, so I said that the antidote batch was poor quality and gave the player a choice: go with that possibly-ineffective dose (“complication”), or risk his own health brewing up another batch (“take harm”).

The Leech decided to brew another batch, took harm in the form of a hacking cough, then rolled to resist the harm and ended up taking a couple of points of stress instead.

Was that all going according to the rules, and best practice in applying them?

* Stress to allow the flashback?

* Allowing the flashback at all?

* Giving the player a choice about the fallout of a partial success?

* Allowing the player to roll to resist the harm they’d elected to take?

(Interestingly, the Leech player hesitated a bit about how do deal with his partial failure. “I don’t know what sort of character this is,” he said. I think we all know about more about that character now.)

Category: Blades in the Dark: Discussion