Category: Blades in the Dark: Hacks and Add Ons

Not really a hack, just a recognition:

All the Assassin’s Creed games are basically Blades in the Dark stories starting with the Templars as a Tier IV, Hold 9 faction at the top, various era-appropriate groups in the middle, and a solo Hound at the bottom that builds a Brotherhood Crew against the man. (Rogue just has Assassins at the top.)

The outward similarity yet ideological opposition of the Assassins and Templars makes me think that discovering and refining the nuanced ideologies of the various factions will probably be one of the more compelling parts of Blades in the Dark for me. Every gang pulls scores, but the details of why is what keeps them separate and competing.

Blades in the City of Towers | Five Nations | Dragon Between

I refuse to believe I’m the first to mention Eberron, right? Some rpg.net thread must have beat me to it. 

Blades in the Dark could be the game Eberron has been waiting for. Seems like it wouldn’t take much:

—Swap guns for crossbows, wands, and artificer devices

—Expand Whispers’ options in order to tailor doing its thing with more than just ghosts/demons (Quori, psionics, elementals, etc)

—Swap factions (this would probably take the most time) for whichever part of the laundry list of Eberron factions and secret societies suits your interest and the scale of your game (and give them hold representing starting power dynamics, which in this post I’m making up as I go)

How about some examples:

Political-scale

Tier IV. Aundair(5), Breland(6), Karrnath(8), and Thrane(4)

Tier III. Lhazaar Principalities(4), Mror Holds(6), Dreaming Dark(7), Church of the Silver Flame(6), Valenar(9)

Tier II. Zilargo(3), Cyran Refugees(6), Q’barra(1), Darguun(4), Droamm(6), Eldeen Reaches(3), Gatekeepers(5), Emerald Claw(5), Kalashtar(1), Talenta Tribes(3), Blood of Vol(4), Aurum(8), Cults of the Dragon Below(2)

Tier I. The Twelve(9), Wayfinders(4), Lord of Blades(6)

Sharn-scale (“Blades in the City of Towers”)

IV. Council of Sharn, Cannith, Sixty Families

III. Morgrave University, Deeplanterns, Orien, Tharashk, Boromar Clan, Phiarlan, Cyran Refugees, Garrison, Church of the Silver Flame, The Guilds

II. Cogs Workers, Kundarak, Deneith, Lyrandar, Daask, Wayfinders, Sivis, Church of the Sovereign Host, Adventurers’ Guild, King’s Citadel, Dreaming Dark, Order of the Emerald Claw

I. Medani, Ghallanda, Vadalis, Jorasco, Thuranni, Tarkanan, Dockers, Sky-Cabbies, Entertainers, Shining Path, Cults of the Dragon Below, Tyrants, Aurum, Esoteric Order of Aureon, Korranberg Chronicle

0. Inquisitives, Dark Six, Lords of Dust, Guild of Starlight and Shadows, Ravers, Sharn Inquisitive

Done?

—Could maybe do with expanding heritages to play more with races (Warforged, shifters, kalashtar, etc)

—Could probably make a custom playbook for dragonmarked heirs, with freeform powers (like the Whisper’s Channel) that can be tailored to the power themes of each dragonmark.

—Maybe expand Attune to include more common magewright devices and dragonshards (definitely needs the Leech)

—For the pulpy feel, maybe add a new Drive action

What fascinates me is that I see Consort, Sway, and Stalk being the actions I’d most want to mess with in this setting, which wouldn’t normally be my top choices. Yet at the same time Mayhem, Tinker, Prowl, and the rest fit perfectly into classic Sharn antics. 🙂