Category: Blades in the Dark: Discussion

So does anyone else have any issues with the Slide ability, Like Looking Into A Mirror?

So does anyone else have any issues with the Slide ability, Like Looking Into A Mirror?

So does anyone else have any issues with the Slide ability, Like Looking Into A Mirror?

This thing just seems crazy to me, and potentially game breaking. I’ve got a Slide in my crew and he’s been eyeing this thing pretty lustfully and I’ve been dreading the day he finally decides to pull the trigger and take it.

This is a game of scoundrels, criminals, and bad guys, after all. Every other word out of every other mouth is a lie, and to suddenly have somebody who can just see through them all at will just seems nuts. I mean, I’ve got a plot line going right now with about two dozen NPC’s, all with their own agendas, and most of those agendas pivoting on deception, half-truths, and flat out lies. And that’s not even taking into account the PC’s who lie to the NPC’s and each other more than they tell the truth.

And all the sudden I’m gonna have this one guy who can see through it all? I’m worried that the whole house of cards is going to come crashing down and they’ll be no pieces left to pick up.

I’ve actually been using the Roll Play Blades crew as a faction in my game. If you’ve seen that series and remember, Lady Cataby took that ability toward the end of the show. I don’t think she ever got to use it, but I’ve had to take it away from her in my game because it would kill any chance for my PC crew to ever put one over on Cariless and Co.

So, what are your experiences with it? Am I wringing my hands over nothing?

I’m loathe to remove it as an option for the PC’s for a couple of reasons. I’m still relatively new to Blades and I don’t want to tinker too much with the system before I’ve seen it in action. And that ability made it past the play testers, so it must be there for a reason. Plus it feels kind of cheap to ax a cool ability option from the Slide. I’d try to replace it with something equally cool, but still, I think I’d be a little put out if I was the player.

What do you think?

I would love to get some feedback from the folks here.

I would love to get some feedback from the folks here.

I would love to get some feedback from the folks here. Is there a useful limit to how unforgiving Blades mechanics can be? Is it possible to make characters more competent simply by making it easier to recover from consequences?

Originally shared by Eli Kurtz

I’ve been playing a lot of Blades in the Dark and thinking about a lot of pulpy adventure tropes lately. After reading intelligent thoughts and chatting with my fellow players, this is the result.

http://mythicgazetteer.com/competence-and-consequence-three-models-in-blades-in-the-dark/

http://mythicgazetteer.com/competence-and-consequence-three-models-in-blades-in-the-dark/

I’m late to the party – as usual – but I have a question.

I’m late to the party – as usual – but I have a question.

I’m late to the party – as usual – but I have a question.

Has anyone given any thought to reestablishing this community somewhere when G+ finally disappears? If so, can anyone point me in the right direction?

Question: Say a scoundrel’s two first level harm boxes are full.

Question: Say a scoundrel’s two first level harm boxes are full.

Question: Say a scoundrel’s two first level harm boxes are full. Then he takes second level harm but he wants to resist it. Normally he’d resist and the new harm would drop to first level, but those are full, so it has no place to go. What’s the ruling on this?

TIA.

When the Gates of Death were shattered, and the Immortal Emperor rose, the entire field of theological enterprise…

When the Gates of Death were shattered, and the Immortal Emperor rose, the entire field of theological enterprise…

When the Gates of Death were shattered, and the Immortal Emperor rose, the entire field of theological enterprise was obliterated. Speculation about higher powers and the afterlife seemed in poor taste. Still, humans need to organize their inner lives, and as they sought a new balance, religious veneration followed two main paths.

The Immortal Emperor lent support to the refocused worship of the mystery of life, seated in blood and bone and air, and recognized the new Church of Ecstasy of the Flesh. If religion must create an “us” and a “them” then all those living could be the “us” group, and those refusing to leave upon dying could be “them.” This did not create the hoped-for unity, but did provide a workable state religion with mysteries, rituals, structure, and costumes.

The other path was to worship things beyond understanding, and personify them. Humans once gazed at the stars before the sky broke; they drew pictures between points of light and gave them names and stories, granted them authority over their lives. So too with the Forgotten Gods, drawn from fragments of stories, inexplicable experiences, or the dreams of the mad. The point is to have secrets that allow people to love, fear, belong, and sacrifice, all without undue interference from the object of worship.

Living flesh minds its own business. But at some point, when the faithful whispered to the nothing, the nothing started whispering back.

From “Findings of a Heretic Scholar” by Fr. Dunswether Kakel

Maybe fifty years ago a traveling zoological attraction suffered fire and shipwreck off the coast of Ankhayat Park,…

Maybe fifty years ago a traveling zoological attraction suffered fire and shipwreck off the coast of Ankhayat Park,…

Maybe fifty years ago a traveling zoological attraction suffered fire and shipwreck off the coast of Ankhayat Park, in Silkshore. A monster the owner called a “river horse” got loose. It was massive, twice the size of the heaviest ox, with giant jaws full of blunt teeth. Irritable as hell. The local gondolier-based enforcer gangs cornered it for capture, and it resisted. There were lots of deaths—including the river horse. The toughest gondolier gang working for the Fairpole Grotto Council at the time was the Clamdiggers. Selman, the leader, was looking to update their image.

He mounted that monster’s skull on the wall; fleshless, it looked as fearsome as a dragon. He changed the name of his gang to the River Horses.

Twenty years later only the old-timers remembered the story, and the skull was one trophy among many. Denyek was in charge, he had his mistress paint a tribute to the gang. She made this beautiful mural of a white horse in the river. Even that was old and outdated fifteen years ago, when Sunset had a falling out with the leader and decided she was going to start a proper crew, not just thugging for the gondoliers anymore. If they were river horses, her crew would be River Stallions. She got her crew matching tattoos based on the mural under the Cox Street Stables. They never looked back.

From “Iconography of Dust: Stories Behind the Stories” by Tadger Bleek

Is anyone working on a hack inspired by Indiana Jones, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, The Librarians, etc.

Is anyone working on a hack inspired by Indiana Jones, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, The Librarians, etc.

Is anyone working on a hack inspired by Indiana Jones, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, The Librarians, etc. etc.? Because stories of pulpy, jet-setting adventurers exploring exotic locales and interacting with powerful artifacts seems like it could be a great fit for this system.

Hey y’all!

Hey y’all!

Hey y’all!

I’m sad to see Google+ being shuttled. I was looking forward to using it for years to come, play games and talk game design for a long time yet.

Since MeWe seems like a bad idea, I’ll just be hanging out in Discord servers. I have my own, for playing games and talking game design and other things, as an inclusive, LGBT/women/PoC-positive safe space for folks who just want to play RPGs together. If anyone is interested, you can join me there! We’re currently setting up a big Blades game.

https://discord.gg/Y4DRYdA

https://discord.gg/Y4DRYdA

In free play, what would you say when a player is trying to angle for a Sway roll to impersonate an NPC to get 1…

In free play, what would you say when a player is trying to angle for a Sway roll to impersonate an NPC to get 1…

In free play, what would you say when a player is trying to angle for a Sway roll to impersonate an NPC to get 1 coin from another NPC? Then, after finding out it is desperate, they note their fine disguise kit (removing tier as a factor, since it was one), and ability for Master of Disguise ability for +1 effect level, arguing that should be 3 coin on the line, not 1?

It’s not an operation. Can they even do this? Seems “weasel-y” at best to sidestep a score to gain coin – especially when the game gives several methods built for getting stuff permanently (LTPs, upgrades), getting stuff temporarily (acquire asset) or conning your way to a few silver pieces – all of which tend to require action rolls as well as other expenses. At worst, it seems “bad GMing” of me to allow a single action roll for 3 coin when the last score netted 4 coin and required a series of actions.