Tag: Matt Wheeler

Ran two games of Blades at Total Confusion (Totalcon in Marlborough MA).

Ran two games of Blades at Total Confusion (Totalcon in Marlborough MA).

Ran two games of Blades at Total Confusion (Totalcon in Marlborough MA). Second time running it at a large con. I’d say it was very successful. Started things in media res with some premades and I definitely trimmed the downtime rules. With identical starting scenarios I ended up with wildly different (but positive) results and body counts. One person bought the PDF of the rules while we were playing, another went to the vendor booths while we took a short break to pick up the rules and I know at least one other person asked if they had the book at the vendor booth.

I highly recommend a large printed map as just a visual grounding for all the players. I kept my prep pretty minimal, but I did have some themes and ideas I wanted to touch on, that I could weave in as the story veered left and right. Downtime I kept to a single indulgence of vices with no risk of overindulgence and let players assign one skill dot of their choice.

So I’ve run into this a couple of times, once as a GM and once as a player.

So I’ve run into this a couple of times, once as a GM and once as a player.

So I’ve run into this a couple of times, once as a GM and once as a player. How do you guys handle the hound’s pet during combat? Since she’s an expert hunter, but doesn’t really have any skirmish ability, I kind of think the best way is to use them in a group hunt activity, similar to how a dog is used during a fox hunt, ferreting people out from cover, perhaps grabbing and tackling they quarry to the ground if the pet is the one with the highest role in the group action (and therefore setting up the next role against an adversary). It feels a little cheap though, given that the pet doesn’t really have a skirmish ability.

Am I just picturing pets as too large and capable? Do you guys allow pets to use hunt during combat?