Blades in the Dark: Game Questions – Page 63 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

Im new to BitD and while trying to make a new crew with my players ran into a few questions that arent actually…

Im new to BitD and while trying to make a new crew with my players ran into a few questions that arent actually answered in the rules book.

Firstly what does ‘reputation’ do in terms of the game? It says “You

earn crew XP when you bolster your crew’s reputation” but what does this actually mean and do for the game?

My second question is what does it mean to make a vehicle into a cohort?

Has anyone run Blades as an open table game?

I organize 2-4 hour tabletop happy hours at a local bar. They’re about an even split off one shots and D&D open table games, a la West Marches or the Alexandrian. I’m considering running an ongoing Blades game…

The Scoundrels would be part of a big, amorphous gang. Every session would be a single score, downtime actions would be handled at the beginning of each session, and maybe I’d introduce some sort of in-gang rank tracking a la rep or faction affinity, but for each Scoundrel.

Has anyone else done something like this? Can anyone see pitfalls I may be missing? Any suggestions on a district to start them in?

What are some tips you guys have for implementing hunting pets into your games.

So I’m about to head into week 4 of the new campaign I’m running for my friends 2 of which are totally new to any kind of table top rpg but for the most part have been doing really well. One of them plays a hound and tends to be a bit more of a mechanics driven player, he’s got a great sense of character backstories and acting his character out but still seems to gravitate towards actionable mechanics. So far the biggest instance of this is with the trained hunting pet. Mattias (player character) is an orphaned Akorosi raised by monks of his faith to be their holy weapon, found as a baby cradled only by his hellhound Thane with who he has a mysterious bond. Fictional lyrics there’s an important and deep bond there, it’s cool I support it.

The problem comes out when it’s time for jobs to start rolling around and Thane doesn’t do anything. Ever really. And this is a complication I’ve found myself watching other games and when I’ve played a hound myself. I’ve spoken to the player about it and the common thing is “I don’t know how to use the dogs mechanics” . I’ve explained and offered the reiteration that, it’s about fictional positioning, if you wanna track someone down you can say Thane is helping you with your hunt roll, if someone’s rushing you down have Thane jump in and skirmish them for better effect than trying to shoot them at close range. But all of these still to him (and occasionally me) feel slightly forced as opposed to the character just doing the actions themselves.

So what do you think the hunting pet best practices are? How do you make the pet work functionally, is it just another item of load only to sometimes be used as the situation calls for it or since it’s a “no load freebie” does the hunting pet have a chance at a greater more story involved role, and not just some kind of impending doom clock and consequence bait all the time? I’ve already found myself thinking of consequences and potential story hooks i can use but I also know I’m probably prone to punishing the player for ignoring the pet, last session Mattias went and hid somewhere after we established Thane was on the roof kind of sun bathing so when two thugs came up on the roof Mattias had to decide to bolt and leave Thane, fight for Thane or try to signal Thane to flee with him. Is this appropriate or punitive?

TLDR

What are the best practices for players using hunting pets and what are the best practices for GM’s involving (or ignoring) them in the story.

If a group decide to “skim from the top”.

If a group decide to “skim from the top”. I.e. take some of the loot that the NPC wanted, but still give the rest to the NPC, do I give them extra coin? Do I reduce the rep they earn for being dishonest to a client?

Do the initial Hunting Grounds count as Turf for the Rep track?

Have the Grifters crew been folded into Shadows?

Another quick question – what is special armor, and how does armor work in the game?

How do you determine effect when making a roll?

Do I consider effect to be 0, then consider quality, scale and potency, or set a number, and use those factors to adjust? The examples for the section shows cases when the players doesn’t get any effect, and the example given for quality is confusing given that tier and quality haven’t been introduced yet.

Quick question about the mechanics of Claims that earn you Coin in Downtime, such as Drug Dens.

Quick question about the mechanics of Claims that earn you Coin in Downtime, such as Drug Dens. It says (Trait roll) – Heat = Coin. Does this mean the actual result of the Tier roll (minus Heat) is that actual amount of Coin, or is it a 1-3 = 1, 4-5 = 2, 6 = 3, kind of thing? I’m leaning toward the former, but I thought I’d get the opinion of the group.

Also, is there anything in the works for the final book that speaks to the timing, as in where in the downtime cycle the Coin gets generated, in regard to earning Heat from a heist, as well as downtime actions to reduce Heat?

Category: Blades in the Dark: Game Questions