Blades in the Dark: Game Questions – Page 55 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

Question about Blades in the Dark for +John Harper or anyone who wants to tackle it, with some GM-info spoiler stuff:

The Unseen are protected by a ritual that makes anyone who learns their identity forget it after a few moments. Mechanically, how would you deal with that? If a PC finds out, do they get a resistance roll? (More generally: can you make a resistance roll for something that isn’t coming as a consequence but is just a fictional element?) If so, and they succeed, does that mean they’re just immune to the ritual, or what? I’ve also tried to figure out a way to use a clock, but couldn’t figure out how to make that make sense.

I like the idea–just having a little trouble figuring out how to fit it to the mechanics and make it fun and cool. The PCs should eventually be able to penetrate it if they want, but it doesn’t seem like it should just be down to a single resistance roll.

Another vampire question from my players:

“What is the difference between “vicious” and “ruthless” ? They appear independently as Vampire traumas. In particular, could you ask for an example of an action that would be considered “vicious” but not “ruthless”?

Hi all, a few questions from a complete beginner.

Hi all, a few questions from a complete beginner. I’ve only read through the book twice, busy with my 3rd. I’ve watched some of the early videos with +Johnharper as the GM but it seems the rules have changed quite a bit since those early 2015 sessions…

1. Is it only the oceans that are black ink? I assume rivers and other water sources in the city are normal water?

2. Will each type of crew get a detailed claim map like the example on page 14? Or will it be blank like the sheet on page 55?

3. In a fight would one usually use a “clock” to track the fight, maybe based on the toughness of the opponent? Are there specific mechanics for comparing how a Tier 0 beginner crew would stack up against tougher Tier I, II, III etc. opponents?

4. Speaking of Tier mechanics, I can’t understand the lockpicking example on page 10. Tier I + fine lockpicks = 2, and the Unseen are Tier IV. Is there a formula to get to a “limited” effect? Or is it just because she’s totally outclassed?

Thanks all, making characters and playing a few test scores tomorrow, looking forward to it! 🙂

John Harper So I have a couple of questions.

John Harper So I have a couple of questions. One about the new at war rules (v8) and one about the Shadow Crew Ability “Slippery”.

1. If a Tier 1 Strong hold player crew goes to war (dropping to tier 1 weak), and that crew upgrades to Tier 1 Strong again, when the war is over do they stay at Tier 1 Strong, or advance to Tier 2 weak?

2. What would be the best way to deal with the Slippery ability? I normally keep entanglement a secret so it’s more of a surprise what is going to happen, but with slippery they know what is coming. One player always attempts to prepare for the entanglement they choose, which is what I was trying to avoid by keeping it a secret initially. So how do I deal with this preparation? It seems a little weasley to me. Kind of metagaming

Hi all, I only just heard about this game a few days ago and quickly picked up the early access from DriveThruRPG.

Hi all, I only just heard about this game a few days ago and quickly picked up the early access from DriveThruRPG. I’ve read through the PDF once and am busy with my second read now.

I will be the GM for the game and I suspect I’ll have a ton of questions, but here is my first:

When choosing a load for an operation, does the character have the items listed on his character sheet (next to strange friends) PLUS items to the right of that, listed as load 3 light etc.

Or do you need to select 3, 5 or 6 from both lists?

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, it’s very different to D&D 5E that I’ve been running since it came out.

Thanks in advance!

Really enjoying the rulebook and everything else I’m reading about BitD; I can’t wait to get a group together to…

Really enjoying the rulebook and everything else I’m reading about BitD; I can’t wait to get a group together to play. In the meantime, I’d like to try a solo game with my wife – does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the game work well for a single player? Thanks in advance!

Looking for GM advice.

Looking for GM advice. How do you play out a crew taking over new turf? I’m having trouble translating in my mind how this would amount to a genuine “score” with interesting stakes and a good back and forth of roleplay. Can you guys give me some examples of how you’ve done it? I’m trying to have my players tell me what they want to do, rather than me telling them what they can do, but it’s proving to not be that simple. I don’t want to end up just doing pure roleplay. We devolved to that in the very first session and it wasn’t very enjoyable. I want to use the rules, but I’m having some difficulty translating some of the abstraction into concrete story events.

Quick question: We have a munchkin in our current PBP game that is always trying to monkey with things to maximize…

Quick question: We have a munchkin in our current PBP game that is always trying to monkey with things to maximize number of dice, etc. He came up with this:

“We want to do X. So PCs A and B, you perform a Group Action. PC C, you Assist PC A for +1d, PC D, you Assist PC B for +1d.”

I can’t for the life of me imagine a fiction where A is coordinating B, but not C and D, to perform some Action.

Is this within the spirit of the rules, or is it, as I have labelled it, the height of weaseldom?

When a ghost possesses a living body, does it maintain it’s gloom?

When a ghost possesses a living body, does it maintain it’s gloom? Does it max it’s trauma out? or Does it take on the trauma of the host?

Can a ghost use the abilities of the possessed party, or do they use their own? Is this the same for action ratings?

If a ghost is possessing a living body, and the other spirit is destroyed, does the ghost become a vampire?

I have a question about gather info actions.

I have a question about gather info actions. Gather info can be done as downtime (I think it’s being renamed investigation) or as a regular action.

The downtime action gives you +1d and effect level from what I remember, but it also says that if you do a gather info at the leisure of your downtime it is a fortune roll rather than an action roll.

If I kidnap and torture someone to gather info, and do it during downtime, how is it a fortune roll where if I did it outside downtime it would be an action roll to kidnap the guy?