Benjamin Swerdlow – Blades in the Dark G+ Archives

Ran Session 0 for a new Blades group last night. We’re all new to Blades, and most of the folks in my group are new to tabletop roleplaying, so I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of a vibe to expect from this group. Overall, the tone was less daring-scoundrels-in-a-grimdark-reality drama/thriller and more misfits-in-over-their-heads screwball comedy. Basically, the group decided that each member of their crew was drawn to their abandoned watchtower lair for their own personal reasons, and, before they knew it, they were all sort of living together. And the fact that they’ve formed a crew of assassins happened essentially by happenstance according to the group — they were unwittingly involved in a murder, and when others in the underworld took notice and assumed that my crew of misfits was responsible for the murder, the misfits just kind of played along.

I’m wondering if anyone else has experience GMing for a group that leans more toward this kind of over-the-top comedic feel, and what that was like. It seems to run against the grain of the setting, so I’m wondering if it makes sense to have a more explicit conversation with the players about the genre before we jump in or if I ought to just lean into it for the time being and perhaps see if the harsh reality of the setting ultimately sets in. At the end of the day, I’m happy as long as everyone’s having a good time, but I’d rather not see the game devolve into Paranoia/zap levels of slapstick, as my experience is that that is rarely sustainable in any setting.

Hey all,

I’m planning to start running a game of Blades soon, so I’ve been listening to some APs, and I was hoping to get some examples that might help clarify when a social interaction crosses over into a social score.

For context: in one of the APs that I listened to, Baszo Baz invites the PCs to a meeting a la War in Crow’s Foot. The group decides that this constitutes a social score and proceeds directly to the engagement roll. To my mind, this is more of a gather information moment: the PCs aren’t aiming for any particular outcome, they’re just there to learn what Baszo has to say and to figure out how they can best take advantage of the situation. Moreover, they’re meeting with Baszo at his invitation, so there’s no real opposition, per se, although things could certainly go sideways if, for example, they decide that they’re going to double-cross him. On the other hand, if they had arranged a meeting with Baszo with the specific aim of, say, tricking Baszo into believing that another crew had it out for the Lampblacks in order to sow profitable chaos, then that might be more in-line with my vision of a social score.

I’m under the impression that, at the end of the day, the best rule of thumb is that if it feels like it ought to be score to your group, then it’s a score, ’nuff said. Still, I’m trying to get a feel for when a potentially dangerous social encounter that might yield some advantage to the crew becomes a potentially dangerous social score that might yield some advantage to the crew.

Thanks!