Blades in the Dark: Game Questions – Page 68 – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

I’ve run my first couple of games of Blades!

I’ve run my first couple of games of Blades! My players have already killed Baszo Baz. Does this seem unusual, or problematic?

I’m running a game now, and loving it – but there is one thing I’ve run into that I don’t get.

I’m running a game now, and loving it – but there is one thing I’ve run into that I don’t get. The Whisper’s Ritual ability just doesn’t make sense to me – what does it do? It says that the Whisper can Study an occult ritual to summon an effect of being, Stress cost dependent of the magnitude of the results – which sounds good, but I can’t follow what it does.

Does it mean that the Whisper can Study a source to learn a ritual? Does the Whisper start out with a ritual? And what is the stress cost based on, in either case? I’ve looked at page 62 for the ritual rules, and they don’t seem to help so I think I’m missing something here. Can anyone help?

I couldn’t immediately put my hand on the effect of spending Coin to assist with a stress reduction down time action.

I couldn’t immediately put my hand on the effect of spending Coin to assist with a stress reduction down time action. So, I figured Coin being as precious as it is, it would replace a roll and allow the character to just clear all stress.

Pay 1 Coin, clear all stress.

It is such a vital function (clearing stress) that I figured that would allow those who were more risk averse to pay a pretty steep cost, and protect the character.

What’s the official rule on spending Coin for stress?

In the future, it would be great to have a reference in the “Stress and Trauma” section with a page number for how you clear stress off.

This must’ve been asked countless times already but I’m not sure how to find the answer so bear with me please.

Due to scheduling issues my party will probably have a player joining the game only sporadically. I imagine this won’t be a problem due to the episodic format of play. How does the system handle it though? Anything to look out for?

How have you handled Vitality Potions in your game?

Did you give some kind of limitations to their use?

I find that without some form of limitation they seem to diminish the purpose of the recovery action, but I’m curios to hear about your experiences.

How do you guys translate Hunting Grounds for Hawkers?

How do you guys translate Hunting Grounds for Hawkers? We were trying to work in out in our game and came up with two scenarios:

(Keep in mind we sell drugs)

1) social engagement: selling alchemicals at a “rave” or noble soirée

2) transport: slinging in the streets you control

Thoughts? Suggestions? Corrections?

Slowly but surely my table is prepping to play Blades, and the players were wondering if the Assassin crew sheet had…

Slowly but surely my table is prepping to play Blades, and the players were wondering if the Assassin crew sheet had been posted somewhere, so I went looking.

I see John mentioned in the Kickstarter comments about 2 weeks ago that he was going to post the Assassin Crew Sheet in progress here for feedback, but scrolling through I didn’t see it.

Has it been posted and I’m just blind (very possible), Or is it not quite ready for public consumption yet?

In the context of resistance, I take consequences to mean the things that happen on less than a 6.

In the context of resistance, I take consequences to mean the things that happen on less than a 6. The term is bolded and then codified later with broad possibilities so that’s my gut. But I could also see them being viewed as just..anything that happens which the player feels is unwanted by the character. What is the actual power of players to say “I resist” to things for which no action was just taken: GM call? Or is everything pretty much resistable by design?

I have a point of curiosity!

I have a point of curiosity! If you have a Strong Crew, can you go up in Tier by picking the strengthening Hold option again, or is the advance wasted if you don’t have the coin?

Also, here’s an “I think I missed this when the last version updated” question: since you lose a level of hold when you advance, can a weak-hold crew keep choosing to go up in tier, or do they need to advance hold by one so that they don’t go from Tier 0 Weak to Tier 1 Weak and lose a hold taking them back to Tier 0 Weak?

I am perfectly fine with getting the patented John Harper “Oh look I left it out of the rules, oopsie daisy, who did that!? sigh guess you’ll have to make that decision yourself based on the fiction” response.

Is +1 effect level the same as potency?

Is +1 effect level the same as potency?

Potency seems clear. But I thought +1 effect level was like.. if you roll a 1-3, it counts as a 4-5. A 4-5 counts as a 6. And a 6 counts as a crit. Now I am not so sure.

I thought they must be different (sounds like two different mechanics to me) until I reviewed p. 17. The second example in the Set Up section seems to indicate +1 effect level gives you an additional factor for effect determination, which p.10 (Factors) indicates is how potency works. Please correct me where I am wrong