Blades in the Dark: Discussion – Page 54 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

Anyone have some examples they’re willing to share of Social based Scores?

I gave my players a job offer from an angry merchant who wanted to make The Hive pay for not letting him into their club, but they turned it around on me and want to double cross the merchant, trying to get back on The Hive’s good side by bluffing the merchant that they’ll take the job, but then selling him out by telling The Hive about the plans.

The crew is currently at -2 status with The Hive, so it won’t be easy, but I’m not sure what I want to do with it. I’m thinking I want to run a scene of them making contact/setting up the meeting (the Engagement Roll), meeting with the bigwigs, maybe a threat from the 2nd in command, possibly trying to kill the PCs, that the leader doesn’t know about, then whatever resolution falls out. I’m not sure how that feels different from stuff done during Free Play, though. Any thoughts? I also considered having one of The Hive’s enemies stage an attack while the players are meeting with them.

I’m thinking about putting together a BitD game set during the “Gilded Age” in the United States, centering it…

I’m thinking about putting together a BitD game set during the “Gilded Age” in the United States, centering it around the conflicts between industry tycoons like Rockafeller vs. Carnegie, Hearst vs. Pulitzer, etc. Not to mention the conflicts between organized labor, strike breakers, and massive monopoly-style trusts.

The Gilded Age is kinda a forgotten period of American history, so I’m not sure there’ll be much interest, but I think it could make for an interesting game of alternate history.

I assume that wanted level sort of assumes the worst crime they can currently pin on you right?

I assume that wanted level sort of assumes the worst crime they can currently pin on you right? Like if they go to jail for murder that’s going to be longer than a couple of months right?

What crimes do you associate with each wanted level? I assume wanted level might be 4? Or is it actually that ironhook is really big on rehabilitation? Or if you aren’t notorious its easy to slip out?

Animals in Doskvol… do they leave ghosts?

Maybe I missed the note about them in the book but is there an official word on the creatures of nature and their interactions with the ghost field?

It seems you can have pets (as per a Special Ability) and these pets can also become spirits, or… something. But what about the dog that dies in an alley way etc?

If there’s no official word, what do you do in your games?

Folks like me who have only found BitD in the last year may find this interesting. Thanks Matthew Gagan!

Originally shared by Matthew Gagan

Uncle Aldo’s Devil’s Bargain Emporium

The 847 catalog is out! All the hottest bargains, guaranteed!*

What’s Our Take? – The gang wants a bigger cut of this score. -1d on subsequent Development roll.

Walls Have Ears – Word gets out to a faction your crew is friendly with that you did a job against their ally if the Heat for this score is 2 or more.

Hunter or Hunted – So intent on tailing your mark, you fail to notice you yourself are followed by a rival.

All Or Nothing – If the danger comes to pass you cannot resist it.

Now Or Never – If you don’t overcome the obstacle entirely, you must abandon it forever.

*Uncle Aldo’s does not guarantee bargains; bargains may not fit your game.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FJcEBN2ym362NHJljC9QYDw9hUsu3zt1cShEdXh4Lw4/edit?usp=sharing

They say the craziest ghosts are collected and distilled to their very essence.

They say the craziest ghosts are collected and distilled to their very essence. This “rage essence” is said to imbue incredible strength and mania to the imbiber.

If you extracted essence from a vampire, what would it do? What is unnatural about it? What are the drawbacks?

I’m torn between two different ways of picturing Leviathan Hunters.

I’m torn between two different ways of picturing Leviathan Hunters. I really like sails, so even though they’re steam powered, I want them to have masts and sails. Fortunately, that’s a fairly common design from the 19th century. My big internal debate is whether they are side-paddle, for instance the SS California or screw propeller, like the Orca. On the one hand the side-paddle is more steampunk and has a more modern feel to it (despite actually being an older design and the screw propeller being newer). On the other hand, a screw propeller ship has more deck space and can really fly a lot of sail, which just looks cooler. An actual Leviathan Hunter would be bigger than the ships pictured here by quite a bit, but I’m wondering how other people picture them.

Is this what people think of, or is it more Ironclads and the like?

Has anyone had a game with a crew full of war veterans?

Has anyone had a game with a crew full of war veterans? I had a (possibly bad) inspiration where the Flashback mechanism could be used both in the usual way, and also as actual IC flashbacks to the war.

This idea came from reading a new book, Hero of the Empire, about Winston Churchill in the Boer War. This could be a great source of inspiration for the Unity War, with armored trains, guerilla war, POW and concentration camps, early celebrity culture. War service gives a great justification for knowing odd things and people outside your usual social circle, too.

My group really love the idea of focusing on socializing as Hawkers.

My group really love the idea of focusing on socializing as Hawkers. They were very happy to have several actions for socializing and so was I, but the problem is that is what they want to focus on. They want whole games around politics and convincing people, and even had the brilliant ideas that they Hawk forbidden books, fantasies, romance, hidden knowledge, accurate history books. They don’t mind the occasional sneaking or fighting, but mostly they just want to have social plans.

My problem is as a GM I don’t know many ways the story can be remain tense with the majority focus on socializing. How do you guys start games where the players want majority Social plans?

An app to keep track of inter-faction status

Does anyone have any good suggestions for an easy way (on the computer) to keep track of faction vs faction status?

I can play it by hunch and all, but I would like to have a clear visual, for my players, of how things are developing.

We play with everything open in our group, since the players are the ones doing the fiction.