How would you handle a PC who wants to acquire an asset during free play?

How would you handle a PC who wants to acquire an asset during free play?

How would you handle a PC who wants to acquire an asset during free play? To clarify why I am asking, despite the fact there is a downtime action designed to do this: “By default, the game is in free play. The characters talk to each other, they go places, they do things, they make rolls as needed.” [p.8]

This is actions during downtime which includes: Character Scenes, Actions & Consequences, Gather Information.

Disallowing came to mind, but felt a bit restrictive. So I have been assuming risks of:

* you upset them; lose this opportunity until the next downtime phase – but you could spend a downtime activity to acquire as usual

* you owe them a favor which will create an entanglement if you didn’t repay them from your payoff

but I am interested in opinions about these two I chose, and other ideas..

Has anybody made Faction Tracking sheets?

Has anybody made Faction Tracking sheets?

Has anybody made Faction Tracking sheets? It occured to me the other day that this would be really useful. Essentially, I’m thinking of a blank sheet with sections for Faction name, Tier, Important NPCs, Assets and Turf, Enemies and Allies, Downtime Actions and a few blank clocks.

Has somebody made these before?

Quick question – what is “raw electroplasm”?

Quick question – what is “raw electroplasm”?

Quick question – what is “raw electroplasm”? We’re about to start a Hawkers game and that’s apparently what Spark is made from – but what IS it? If I’m understanding correctly, electroplasm is what you get when you refine Leviathan blood (traditionally done in the Skov city of Lockport), so is “raw” electroplasm just unrefined Leviathan blood?

I’ve been thinking about this question for a while and I can’t put my finger on it.

I’ve been thinking about this question for a while and I can’t put my finger on it.

I’ve been thinking about this question for a while and I can’t put my finger on it.

Why do people like Doskvol?

First of all, don’t get me wrong, I adore this setting just as much as I adore the system it was built for. But I can’t quite grasp why.

The Blades-verse is incredibly complex and defies simple description. It’s like industrial fantasypunk but not really steampunk, and there are ghosts, but not ghosts like we think of them, and big demon whales that kind of aren’t whales have electrical blood, and it’s always nighttime, and no one has any answers.

It’s not simple or elegant. It’s complex and weird and busy, and it’s not something I’d imagine new people would be able to get super into without reading the book. But they do!

Every time I’ve introduced a new player to the system, they’ve immediately fallen in love with the setting, just like I did, just like you (presumably) did.

What makes this setting so alluring? The way it meshes with the system? The way it demands you to define your own lore? The fact that since there are a million weird things going on at once, you’re sure to find something cool (which ties in to the excellent faction game)?

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this.

So, I think Blades of the Inquisition stomps all over dark heresy for the type of WH40k game I’d like to play.

So, I think Blades of the Inquisition stomps all over dark heresy for the type of WH40k game I’d like to play.

So, I think Blades of the Inquisition stomps all over dark heresy for the type of WH40k game I’d like to play. Anyone given it a go?

I’d love to know settings, how faction play would work, whether you’d play in a single Hive or go wider in scope (I would definitely spread across a sector), how to go from undercover to open use of Ordos authority. I see a lot of ‘acquire asset’ to book passage on rogue traders and track down heretics out-system 🙂

I’m running a game for a crew of Shadows with an espionage focus.

I’m running a game for a crew of Shadows with an espionage focus.

I’m running a game for a crew of Shadows with an espionage focus. They have finally settled on wanting to get involved in industrial espionage. Focusing on Coalridge and Charhollow — drumming up unrest with the workers, starting union talks, blackmailing nobles / owners, and stealing and selling plans/prototypes. Needless to say, I think this is great.

I’m curious if anyone has done anything similar. What kinds of prototypes or industrial secrets should I throw in there? I know the Ironworks is all about Leviathan Hunter ships. Maybe I should do something with that angle. Any other strange industrial tech you would use?

I’m just looking to source some ideas on what kind of intrigue/opportunity to throw their way.

I ran my first session of Blades in the Dark last night, starting with the War in Crow’s Nest setup and a score…

I ran my first session of Blades in the Dark last night, starting with the War in Crow’s Nest setup and a score…

I ran my first session of Blades in the Dark last night, starting with the War in Crow’s Nest setup and a score against a Red Sash drug den.

One thing that came up was that players with careful D&D backgrounds kept wanting to do things like listen at doors, which seemed sensible, but I was never really sure how to handle in the game’s mechanics. At first I had them make action rolls with Study or Survey, but that almost immediately didn’t feel right. Upon further reflection, those should have been Gather Information rolls (which I just wasn’t thinking about as something to do mid-score) if I wanted the amount of information they got to be variable, or else just no roll at all, and tell them what they hear.

We also definitely had some growing pains in figuring out the sweet spot for players being able to take narrative control. At one point, the players came into a room with a Red Sash guard, and a player wanted to have known this guard and had a prior relationship with him, and I wasn’t wild about that. We sort of negotiated it into a flashback with a consort+1 coin bribe for the guard to be in place and ready to take a fake punch in the nose and let the players past. Upon further discussion, we talked about how interesting coincidences (as opposed to deliberate recent planning) is more the realm of devils bargains or complication consequences. But even then it seems like those would be coincidences that cut against the players rather than happy coincidences that help the players out.

Thoughts?