Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

SO here is some thoughts on Folded Steel that I was originally going to collect on Friday, but then the plague…. (as it is these are still going to be much rougher thoughts and not as long as originally intended. Still playing catchup on life)

Mechs are an interesting thing to work with thematically. They can fall anywhere from “realistic” stories about war and hardship, or “super robot” stories where the colorful named mechs are stand ins for superheroes. There is also a certain expectation of “crunch” when it comes to mech games. In the conversations I’ve had with my various gamer associates that was one thing which surprised me as it has come up over and over again. Below is the beginnings of my current ideas for a balance between the mindset that wants mech games to have lots of fine tuning of your mech and the fiction first mindset of Forged in the Dark games.

Currently there are five different classes of mechs with more advanced mechs (higher tier) having the possibility of being a hybrid of those two. The five classes are Assault, Harrier, Support, Defense, and Artillery. A mech will have a number of hardpoints (currently four) that will each have a list of things that can be installed on that hardpoint. Each mech class will have a default loadout. In order to gain access to new hardpoint options (or build new mechs for your hangard) you need to spend resources on R&D and Construction.

Blades is already a game with a few mini games built into it. Managing your stress, your rep, the factions, and your crew’s heat are all connected mini games. The Tech game as I keep calling it in my notes is basically something along those lines. Every time you go out on a mission your objective will grant a specific type of resource as a reward (current examples are Metal, Exotic Materials, Bio-mass… still working on the exacts). This is the guaranteed payoff and why you are going on the mission. The payout tables for the mission will also have the possibility of bonus resources that you managed to score incidentally. With the goods back at your Enclave you can then use downtime actions to conduct R&D (which will unlock the parts) or construction (which lets you build it to install in one of your mechs). These same resources will also be used to repair the mechs during downtime, and build a replacement mech if one is destroyed on a mission. Fold 1 Enclaves will have abilities that will not be available as Echoes that will make this easier to manager, to show how the infrastructure was still around, but Fold 2 and 3 will definitely make it more difficult to keep your Enclave’s hangar running smoothly.

Just wanted to give a status update after being laid up sick for the past few days. Expect some musing on mechs and their loadouts later today/tonight

So back to the Folded Steel thought before I rush off to proctor a test.Today we are looking at the Third Fold, what it looks like, what it’s themes are, and the sources of inspiration.

The Third Fold begins not long after the Empire has been defeated. Somehow, despite all being stacked against them humanity has managed to defeat the invaders before they were able to fracture reality in their wake. Sheltered in bastion cities, the reconstruction is beginning but in a world that is much different than the one that came before. The field runs rampant with zones of instability causing strange one of a kind phenomenon to flash in and out of existence. Outside of the bastions, settlers are constantly fighting to reclaim vital land from remnant forces, bandits, and other oddities that have seeped in from the cracks.

During this reconstruction era the focus is on what mankind does to make things right. Enclaves are defined by their role in this. Guardians seek to preserve the society that has managed to weather the near apocalypse, Wayfinders have banded together to strike out into the unknown and tackle the issues in a more aggressive manner, and the Lore Seekers hope that otherworldly knowledge will be the key to righting reality. No matter which Enclave is used, the concern is always with managing hope. A successful operation using a higher tier mech may cause hope to rise, but there is always the chance that a Titan’s mighty presence may just as well drain away the Hope as it reminds other of the terrors of the empire.

Inspiration for the third Fold can be found in a few animes, but in particular you can see it in Southern Cross, Gurren Lagan, and Gargantia on the Verdant Planet. Mankind is close to the brink, and can be tipped either way based on the actions of the Folds enclaves.

Wanted to post this yesterday, but life got in the way. Back to Folded Steel.

The Second Fold is the definitely the most established of the setting options. Mankind has fallen after the Jeohbin Empire punched through from another dimension. The roving band of dimensional conquerors arrived with their massive bio-titans and swept aside what little resistance the First Fold nations could. Aside from the military might that they were able to bring, just the arrival of the invaders has brought destruction. Their dimensional tech has fundamentally damaged our reality, which is now slowly crumbling around us. The Empire knew this would happen. It always does. They simply gather resources in preparation for the next dimension they will attack. When the time is right they will move on like a plague of locusts and leave us behind with our shattered husk of a world.

Humanity is on a timer. To prevent this eventuality mankind has pushed their tech to new heights (mechs are pushed up to Tier 4) through both natural innovation and theft of Imperial secrets. Enclaves in this fold are about HOW you rebel. Are you guerrilla fighters, saboteurs, seditionists? Each has their place in stopping the Empire before it finishes off our world and giving mankind a chance to survive. In addition this is the first fold where Enclaves have Echoes, which are ways to tap into the Enclave playbooks from the previous Fold. Inspiration for this comes from various Gundams, Robotech (Mospeda), and Venus Wars.

This Fold was originally the only setting for Folded Steel. It maps the closest to Blades in the Dark, but with a much more definite story arc (rebellion in defiance of the apocalypse). This means that it is the most realized Fold, but also the one that has had the most reworked. Originally Enclaves had a progression built into them and with certain Enclaves being limited to certain Tiers of play (as well as legacy mechanics to show how your progressed through the Tiers). It ended up being too unwieldy, and I am much happier with the idea of Echoes and how they are currently shaping up.