So I was really excited to bring the Hardcover rules to the table last night; we passed it around and everyone loved…
So I was really excited to bring the Hardcover rules to the table last night; we passed it around and everyone loved the design.
A few minutes into play, I opened it to look up a rule, thumbed through a few pages, and exclaimed “there’s no Command-F!”
I used the pdf for the rest of the game but I love how the book looks
The Tutors, our crew of psychedelic Hawkers just had their final session for Season One. Here’s the recap:
The Tutors, our crew of psychedelic Hawkers just had their final session for Season One. Here’s the recap:
During the regular operations meeting, Books sped through her usual overview to get to the most important topic: the Duskwall City Council was considering the legalization of psychedelic drugs. She talked briefly about the implications of such a move and where the council members were leaning.
The Tutors debated the issue and decided it was better for the gang if the drugs remained illegal; legal drugs would mean lower margins and potential regulatory issues. Then Star, of the Unseen, appeared and indicated that the Unseen were also opposed to the legalization; he then briefed the group on the motivations of the council members and possible ways to influence the vote.
After careful consideration, the group focused on discrediting Lord Clelland. He was an advocate for legalization and considered psychedelics to be a vehicle to transcendence and enlightenment; he wanted the entire city to use them.
Lord Clelland had been organizing salons where he would discuss philosophy and introduce new members of the city elite to the drugs. Lysette finagled an invitation for the group and they arrived at Clelland’s mansion with some extremely potent drugs that enabled users to see the ghost field. The group persuaded Clelland to use their drugs for the salon and all present began an extremely rough trip.
The Tutors had arranged for a spirit to show up and play the role of Lord Clelland’s ancestor. The spirit was a horror to look at, especially under the influence of the drugs, but the Tutors convinced Lord Clelland that it was actually his ancestor and that working with ancestor spirits was the only way for him to continue down the path toward enlightenment.
After the trip ended, Clelland expressed his gratitude to the group and asked for another batch of the drugs. He was hosting the City Council a few nights hence and planned to spike their drinks; once they had seen the Truth, they would surely vote in his favor.
The Tutors provided the drugs but also notified the Ink Rakes that something scandalous was about to go down. Finally they ensured that there would be ghosts present that would terrify the Council members and alert the Spirit Wardens.
The night of the event, the crew set up across the street to watch through the window as the plan unfolded. Midway through the evening, Lord Clelland brought out a special decanter, poured the council members glasses and made a toast. The drugs took effect almost immediately and several of the council members began to freak out when the first ghost appeared. However, Lord Dunvil ran to his valet and took a lightening hook and bottle from his bag; he confidently snared the spirit in the bottle and summoned Spirit Wardens to lock down the house. The Tutors left the scene just as the Spirit Wardens were carting off the council members for interrogation.
The Ink Rakes ran wild with the story and the entire city was rapt with the scandal. House Clelland lost their seat on the City Council and psychedelics stayed illegal. The recent events served to stoke curiosity about the drugs and the Tutors benefited as psychedelics became a popular obsession among the trendier cliques of Duskwall; business soared.
Question on Abstraction and Position / Effect
Question on Abstraction and Position / Effect
One of the things I love about Blades is how flexible the system is for pacing. If you want to abstract infiltrating a building to just one roll, fine; if you want to go through the various steps of breaking in and outwitting guards, that’s okay too.
One question with abstracting a scene to one roll is about position and consequences. If the players ares facing off against a group of thugs, playing it out over ~10 minutes with multiple rolls might result in harm and stress for multiple players. If we choose to abstract it into just one or two rolls, it can change the harm / stress balance.
What’s the right way to handle this? My initial thought is to bump both position and effect; i.e. a risky / standard action becomes a desperate / great. This also might be a group action if everyone is involved in the fight.
Does abstraction through increased position / effect have any unintended consequences I should be aware of?
My group just hit their tenth session we’re having a great time.
My group just hit their tenth session we’re having a great time. I’ve aggregated a log of our sessions into a concise play report format: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ua3ZINxuaHuZENfRmJsPVgpeMDZpi78eqj7IjluHKTQ/edit?usp=sharing
We have ~15 players who rotate through. If we have enough players we split into two groups with two GMs. This doc helps keep people in the loop who miss a session or join a campaign late.
How long (in table time) do your scores last? Do you tend to do multiple scores per session or just one?
How long (in table time) do your scores last? Do you tend to do multiple scores per session or just one?
For our campaign, we only do one score per night and the score itself will last 90-120 minutes.
Our format is a little different because we have a ~15 player open table campaign. We start off the session with downtime actions, “word on the street” (what’s going on in Duskvol), and then score selection (usually selecting from a few narratively relevant options). Sometimes there’s a short unrelated vignette to tie up loose story ends. After the main score, we do payoff, heat, XP, and entanglements.
The Spirit Laws
The Spirit Laws
Starting last night, my group is mentioning and tracking the various Spirit Laws (not necessarily in order).
My favorite so far is: “If you have reasonable cause to suspect that someone is dead, you will not be prosecuted for bathing them in electroplasm”
Suggestions for getting back in the Spirit Wardens favor?
Suggestions for getting back in the Spirit Wardens favor?
My open table (20-player) group just hit their 9th session and everything is going well (out of game; in game, they keep making powerful enemies).
They’re a group of Hawkers with the Ghost Market ability and they’ve gone above and beyond to irritate the Spirit Wardens who are now at -2 status.
At -2 status, the Spirit Wardens are cracking down on the group’s ghost clients and are quick to show up anytime the crew’s Whispers summon / command ghosts.
The Spirit Wardens are a clear natural enemy but very powerful enemy (Tier IV) and not a foe that can be easily bribed or coerced. Any suggestions for how the group might erase some of their negative status with the Spirit Wardens?
A long term option is a series of scores around helping the Unseen infiltrate the Spirit Wardens and then using that influence to provide cover for the crew… but that’s a long term play.
My open-table / megacampaign is off to a great start.
My open-table / megacampaign is off to a great start. I have ~20 players on the list and we’ve had 5 sessions so far (two of which were two GM double sessions).
This Sunday I’m running a GM training session for a few of the players who are interested in GMing. I’m planning to start by going over the GM tips section of the rules, offer other advice around creating scores and keeping players engaged. Then we’re going to have a bunch of quick GM sessions where the trainees can GM vignettes and then get feedback from the rest of us.
Any other thoughts or advice for how to run it?
Quick sanity check: does the two bubbles next to the Veteran crew ability mean that there are two slots for Veteran…
Quick sanity check: does the two bubbles next to the Veteran crew ability mean that there are two slots for Veteran abilities or that it takes two ability upgrades to unlock a Veteran ability?
How often are folks using clocks during a score?
How often are folks using clocks during a score?
I keep meaning to introduce them but I always get wrapped up in the fiction and just keep effects narrative / qualitative. I think we probably get to the same place but I wonder if there’s a hidden cost or benefit that I’m not realizing.