So the PCs in my group, in an effort to win a minor noble’s favor, are trying to engineer a blackmail situation on…
So the PCs in my group, in an effort to win a minor noble’s favor, are trying to engineer a blackmail situation on another noble, by having one of their OTHER noble friends host a party… that noble being Lord Scurlock, with whom they enjoy +2 status.
So while I definitely have some plans of my own, I’m curious about any ideas from the community: what’s a party at Lord Scurlock’s like?
Hi everyone, I’m new to the community and BitD.
Hi everyone, I’m new to the community and BitD. Does anyone know if there’s an MP3 format of this YouTube chat available? I’d like to be able to listen to it on my podcatcher and I’d rather not convert the video to an MP3 with a third-party website. It feels a little gross to me.
I impressed myself the other night while describing a scene.
I impressed myself the other night while describing a scene. The character was searching for a way out of a root cellar while escaping Bluecoats, and suffered a major consequence. “Remember how there were two ghostly voices earlier, and you captured one spirit? Well as you run your hands along the walls frantically searching for some kind of exit, your hand brushes up against another hand. It suddenly grabs you by the wrist and pulls you into the darkness, the last thing your companion sees of you is your foot as it dissappears into the shadows.”
Stopped the table cold, and gave myself chills.
2 questions:
2 questions:
1. Does anybody know if there’s an 8.2 changelog?
2. Is there going to be an 8.2 special edition, or should I keep my 8.1 special edition pdfs handy for referencing the additional material?
Tales from the Cantina
Tales from the Cantina
Apologies in advance for ALL THE YELLING. IT’S BECAUSE I’M SO DAMN EXCITED!!!
Set the scene: Gen Con, years ago, late at night, invited as a guest (the kind of “you’re my friend, so be cool” guest) to a party, and asked what kind of whiskey I liked. This was before I had gained any kind of taste for the stuff, when it all just tasted like ow-ow-it-burns and why-am-i-killing-myself-like-this to me.
And then the magical Whiskey Wizard John LeBoeuf-Little asked me a few simple questions. I swear it was like that way they figure out where you fit on the Myers-Briggs spectrum. He asked me things that had nothing to do with whiskey (which was great because I knew nothing) and yet somehow divined form the tea leaves of my answers exactly what drinks to give me to try and in what order.
I have no idea what I actually drank that night, but I remember John. His kindness, his patience, and his wizardry. I also own him for the many improvements made to my personal bar!
Flash forward several years when I get an email from John Harper asking if I wanted to play in the Blades in the Dark promo game for the Kickstarter. Hell yes I wanted to play in it! And in that game, the man who would soon become my fellow Bloodletter, was Stras Acimovic.
I knew Stras was the consulting designer for Blades, but I didn’t know what that title really meant. I found out. He was the OMG I AM SO HYPE ABOUT THIS GAME, I’M GOING TO PLAYTSET THE HELL OUT OF IT AND GIVE YOU SO MUCH INSIGHT INTO HOW IT PLAYS AT OTHER TABLES AND HELP MAKE THIS GAME SO MUCH BETTER consulting designer.
Fast forward just a bit more when I realized that Stras and John LL were working a project together.* A Forged in the Dark game before there were Forged in the Dark games. It was part of the Blades stretch goal list but unlike most stretch goals it was being designed AT THE SAME TIME!
They were designing a game using the wonderful Blades in the Dark system, but full of space faring scoundrels, water dwelling xenos, way bending mystics, ancient ur artifacts, and of course, a overpowering galactic hegemony! Or in other words…
ALL MY STAR WARS AND FIREFLY DREAMS COMING TO LIFE ON THE DAMN PAGE!
Since then I’ve seen a lot of Scum and this game has not disappointed! I had the pleasure of playing it with Stras, Andi Carrison, and Jory Bowers on Actual Play (you can find the videos over yonder: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNuXiEYyM4isWCFlCmywChngKTaP5Gcx5) and the adventures of our Stardancer have been a blast!
I’ve also seen behind the scenes and looking over the rules and the text itself, which Stras and I have talked about till the wee hours of the night. The game, the setting, and even the upcoming art, are all just so good.
That is why I’m so happy that Evil Hat is officially going to publish Scum and Villainy! Happy dance!
You can find the product page over yonder: https://www.evilhat.com/home/scum-and-villainy/ And make sure to follow John LeBoeuf-Little and Stras Acimovic closely, as they’ll be releasing more sneak peaks as it get closer to release!
PEW PEW
* Projects, not project. I know.
Hey ya’ll.
Hey ya’ll. So some of you know, I’m one of two developers on Scum and Villainy (with my awesome partner Stras Acimovic for our company Off Guard Games). SaV is our Blades in the Dark hack where you play outlaws in the Procyon sector and have cool space adventures. It’s our favorite elements of Firefly, Star Wars, Cowboy Bebop, and other touchstones, all mashed together in a way that’s uniquely OGG.
Today we’re announcing the next phase of SaV – a print edition, by our dear friends at Evil Hat. The quality of Evil Hat games puts us in humbling company, and we’re absolutely thrilled. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a tangible artifact that represents the last few years of work and beginning a relationship with a publisher we respect so highly.
Check out SaV on the Evil Hat site here!
Blades on a grander scale.
Blades on a grander scale.
What would people think to a system like Runner Hub?
This is a reddit forum for Shadowrun, where you make a character and accept jobs from potential GMs. Run rewards and progression are tracked and carry over to the next mission your character signs up for.
A similar thing for Blades could happen, a forum with some balancing rules (where needed), where a player makes a character and enters it into the world of the BladesHub to garner experience.
The issue here is Crew Sheets. There wouldn’t be one. Or if there was, itd be a massive crew that levels up too quickly. Perhaps a new breed of fan-made crew sheet replacements could be made for “Experts” or something, so that instead of a gang, you play as a single Expert in a certain field. For example, you might be a Leech Playbook but an Assassin Expert. Or you could be a Slide Physiker. Or a Whisper Witch. Etc.
It’s just an idea I had to build a huge runnerhub-like version of the Blades of the Dark world.
I noticed that the BitD site has a link for “Backer Downloads” with a description, “Downloads for Kickstarter and…
I noticed that the BitD site has a link for “Backer Downloads” with a description, “Downloads for Kickstarter and BackerKit backers (password provided in BackerKit)”.
Does that include people, like me, that pre-ordered the special edition on BackerKit long after the Kickstarter ended? Or does “BackerKit backers” refer to an earlier BackerKit round that included stretch goals and other KS-specific rewards?
Modifying a Vehicle
Modifying a Vehicle
The base book includes rules for vehicles in the Smuggler’s Crew Playbook, which treats them as a special type of cohort with “vehicle” edges and flaws. If my crew wanted to modify their vehicle and give it special properties how might this be represented mechanically?
A couple of ideas im playing with:
– Use the rules for modifying an item to give it new fictional positions.
– Start a long term project to add an additional edge and flaw.
Thoughts, ideas, and suggestions welcome!
Ran Session 0 for a new Blades group last night.
Ran Session 0 for a new Blades group last night. We’re all new to Blades, and most of the folks in my group are new to tabletop roleplaying, so I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of a vibe to expect from this group. Overall, the tone was less daring-scoundrels-in-a-grimdark-reality drama/thriller and more misfits-in-over-their-heads screwball comedy. Basically, the group decided that each member of their crew was drawn to their abandoned watchtower lair for their own personal reasons, and, before they knew it, they were all sort of living together. And the fact that they’ve formed a crew of assassins happened essentially by happenstance according to the group — they were unwittingly involved in a murder, and when others in the underworld took notice and assumed that my crew of misfits was responsible for the murder, the misfits just kind of played along.
I’m wondering if anyone else has experience GMing for a group that leans more toward this kind of over-the-top comedic feel, and what that was like. It seems to run against the grain of the setting, so I’m wondering if it makes sense to have a more explicit conversation with the players about the genre before we jump in or if I ought to just lean into it for the time being and perhaps see if the harsh reality of the setting ultimately sets in. At the end of the day, I’m happy as long as everyone’s having a good time, but I’d rather not see the game devolve into Paranoia/zap levels of slapstick, as my experience is that that is rarely sustainable in any setting.