Blades in the Dark

[BlueOrange]

So, I just finished playing a live-action Blades in the Dark session, and I’m interested in GMing Blades in the Dark.

I have a pretty clear understanding of how I would do it, and will look into getting the custom die roller we used for the other game and making it available.

We would be leaning heavily into the ‘players drive the narrative’ concept, and using the BitD mechanics very much as per the book. If we get more than 4 players interested, I’ll need to consider how that impacts game balance and pacing.

Also kinda half interested in the monster thing, but I’ll look into those rules and apply (or not) to that game in their thread.

I’m open to the possibility of doing scores using Discord voice for that side of things. If so, then scores would be smut-free, sexiness would be restricted to text communications.

[BlueOrange]

@Rummy Tum Tum did you have crew playbook and location in mind? Given that the game was your idea, I think you have the right to speak first on that.

[Zaer Darkwail]

If you GM for Blades in the Dark I would not mind joining as a player, as I understood Wicked Ones is very similar in mechanics-wise but has some added wheels (for dungeon-building stuff and dark urge/dark hearts).

[Rummy Tum Tum]

Sweet! I’m thinking a Shadows crew would be fun. Leaning toward burglary but we could talk that out. Espionage sounds cool but also a lil too serious. 

[HairyHeretic]

I'd be interested in playing the regular version too

[shengami]

Obviously here for base BitD! Shadows/BUrglary sounds cool.

Now I need to reread the book.

[BlueOrange]

Awesome, Shadows it is, with an initial focus on burglary, with espionage as an option if we don’t play it too serious.

There’s some handy resources here: http://ad1066.com/bens-character-sheets/blades-in-the-dark-playbooks

Not just form-fill playbooks (best opened in a proper app, rather than a web browser), but also a briefing on various districts. Knowing which district you plan to operate in will inform the tone.

[BlueOrange]

One thing I’m not sure how to handle is the ‘assist’ mechanic. When playing at the table, it’s easy to find out quickly if there’s a player who will assist an action, and it plays well, helps make the group into a team.

I’m not sure there’s a viable option other than “When making a roll, we allow 24 hours for someone to declare that they are assisting, unless everyone says ‘no’ before the time is up.”

It seems slow. If anyone has a better idea, please chime in!

[HairyHeretic]

Is there any downside to assisting? If not, could we consider someone always available to assist?

[shengami]

Also, is there to be a discord? That'd speed thing up. Have an Assist channel? People ask, some replies. Still a time limit.

I don't think I'd be okay with auto assists. That takes an aspect of agency away.

[BlueOrange]

Is there any downside to assisting? If not, could we consider someone always available to assist?

Assisting costs a point of stress (or a use of a limited-use ability) so we shouldn't assume it.

[BlueOrange]

Also, is there to be a discord? That'd speed thing up. Have an Assist channel? People ask, some replies. Still a time limit.

I don't think I'd be okay with auto assists. That takes an aspect of agency away.

Discord is probably a good idea, and we could probably make use of the nifty BiTD-specific dice roller I've started getting used to.  Will look into that now.

[Rummy Tum Tum]

Agreed on Discord speeding things up

[BlueOrange]

Discord invites sent to Rummy, Hairy, Shen, and Zaer.  Player cap for the first score (story segment) will be 6, so there's two slots left.  In the event that more than 6 people express interest, we will work out some kind of a solution.  Perhaps not everyone goes on every job.

[MadPanda]

DEFINITELY up for Blades! And Shadows as a Crew. Where’d I leave my little Lurk…?

[MadPanda]

…ahh. Voice only on Discord. By text I can do, Voice, not so much. Scheduling issues.

[BlueOrange]

Yeah, looking at the timezones (and why we joined a forum site in the first place), I don’t think voice / real-time was ever really an option, it was more of an expression of my excitement, I think. Will get an invite out shortly.

(Am doing that pretty indiscriminately at the moment, I figure that compatibility issues, if there are any, are something that can surface before they get resolved. I will NOT be setting up a recruit thread in the player section, since we have enough players to get started.)

[Ixy]

BitD looks really neat, stylistically.  Does the system have any advantages over other RPGs?

[Rummy Tum Tum]

Flexibility. For example you can flashback during a score to say you prepared for something that comes up. And you can choose your prepped gear mid-score, you're only locked into how many items you can choose (which is based on how heavy a load you pick at the score's start).