[CLOSED] Blades in the Dark

EDIT: currently all filled up

Hi all,

I would love to start a game of Blades in the Dark. This is a rules-light, narrative focused game about a gang of criminals in a haunted, industrial fantasy victorian city.

Allow me to share the introductory text from the opening of the book:

THE GAME

Blades in the Dark is a game about a group of daring scoundrels building a criminal enterprise on the haunted streets of an industrial-fantasy city. There are heists, chases, escapes, dangerous bargains, bloody skirmishes, deceptions, betrayals, victories, and deaths.

We play to find out if the fledgling crew can thrive amidst the teeming threats of rival gangs, powerful noble families, vengeful ghosts, the Bluecoats of the City Watch, and the siren song of the scoundrels’ own vices.

THE SETTING

The game takes place in the cold, foggy city of Doskvol (aka Duskwall or “the Dusk”). It’s industrial in its development. Imagine a world like ours during the second industrial revolution of the 1870s—there are trains, steam-boats, printing presses, simple electrical technology, carriages, and the black smog of chimney smoke everywhere. Doskvol is something like a mashup of Venice, London, and Prague. It’s crowded with row-houses, twisting streets, and criss-crossed with hundreds of little waterways and bridges.

The city is also a fantasy. The world is in perpetual darkness and haunted by ghosts—a result of the cataclysm that shattered the sun and broke the Gates of Death a thousand years ago. The cities of the empire are each encircled by crackling lightning towers to keep out the vengeful spirits and twisted horrors of the deathlands. To power these massive barriers, the titanic metal ships of the leviathan hunters are sent out from Doskvol to extract electroplasmic blood from massive demonic terrors upon the ink-dark Void Sea.

You’re in a haunted Victorian-era city trapped inside a wall of lightning powered by demon blood.

The point of all this is to create a pressure-cooker environment for our criminal escapades. Traveling outside the lightning barrier is a very bad idea, so it’s impractical to “leave town and wait for the heat to die down” after you pull off a score. Everything the players choose to do has consequences for their characters and shifts the balance of power around in the city—driving the action for a sandbox style of roleplaying game.

*********


Due to the way the game is structured, it would be hard for me to include more than 4 players. We need 2 at a bare minimum, ideally 3 or 4.


I want to emphasize that players must come ready to drive the action forward themselves. This is a sandbox style game - as the GM I will give you prompts for opportunities in the world - such as treasures to steal, profitable heists and so forth - but it is up to the players to chart their own course. There is no "railroad" or predetermined path - YOU choose where the game goes next.

Will you seek to become the most notorious drug-dealing syndicate in Duskvol? Will you become highly specialized assassins picking off nobles to pave the way for a workers rebellion? Will you smuggle occult artifacts to mysterious, dastardly cults trying to summon elder gods? The choice is up to you.

I will be controlling factions in the world that very much respond to your actions. You can forge alliances, but by the very nature of the game you will also make enemies, and they will hit back.

Players will also be expected to put an emphasis on putting the narrative first, then following that with mechanics. Together, we will collaborate to tell a story about a gang of street rats trying to climb their way through the underworld, come hell or high water.

Since I can only have a max of 4 players on board, I hope to get a group together that can post consistently (ideally a few times a week minimum).

I have a PDF of the rulebook to share with anyone who is interested, and am happy to help you learn the fairly light rules.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you in Doskvol.

I should add that as this game progresses, you may have the opportunity to play as a ghost or vampire - or even a spirit inhabiting a clockwork frame.

THIS SETTING IS SO GODDAMN COOL

I am interested! This seems awesome, and the setting is great. I hope to see fellow criminal scum in game.

Happy to have you on board Theo!

Howdy, finally got accepted, I'm from the credit post.
Thanks for the invite

Welcome! I'm glad to see another person interested!

NightingaleJ wrote:

Howdy, finally got accepted, I'm from the credit post.
Thanks for the invite

Hey friend, of course!

Hang tight, I can't ask the mods to set up the threads until we have 3 people with confirmed interest by posting here. That said I had a couple other players express interest so I can't imagine we will be waiting long.

In the meantime, when you have a moment...

1) Introduce yourself in the introductions area! This is a really awesome community, I've made some great friends here and it really goes beyond just the games itself. Drop a comment on that thread and tell us a bit about yourself.

2) Download the LINE app when you have a moment, we use that to bullshit and have quick meta discussions about the game. For this game, it will be very handy for questions like "hey GM before I roll skirmish, what is the position & affect for my PC brawling with these thugs?" That way players can get a quick response and roll and post.

And obviously share your LINE ID with me so that I can add you, of course!

Heya, in from Reddit.

Hoping to have some good times with you all.

bobarctor1977 wrote:

NightingaleJ wrote:

Howdy, finally got accepted, I'm from the credit post.
Thanks for the invite

Hey friend, of course!

Hang tight, I can't ask the mods to set up the threads until we have 3 people with confirmed interest by posting here. That said I had a couple other players express interest so I can't imagine we will be waiting long.

In the meantime, when you have a moment...

1) Introduce yourself in the introductions area! This is a really awesome community, I've made some great friends here and it really goes beyond just the games itself. Drop a comment on that thread and tell us a bit about yourself.

2) Download the LINE app when you have a moment, we use that to bullshit and have quick meta discussions about the game. For this game, it will be very handy for questions like "hey GM before I roll skirmish, what is the position & affect for my PC brawling with these thugs?" That way players can get a quick response and roll and post.

Thanks, ill pm you de id, and don't worry there is no rush.

We have 1 spot left here. The group decided to play smugglers of weird/arcane artifacts - you can read our game threads if you'd like to learn more.

INTEREST INCREASES.

I will hold off if one more of the newer players would like a spot. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind trying it out.

Again - newer/returning players, 100% take the spot before me. Not an issue.

Iron and Metal wrote:

INTEREST INCREASES.

I will hold off if one more of the newer players would like a spot. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind trying it out.

Again - newer/returning players, 100% take the spot before me. Not an issue.

FFS quit teasing me. JOIN US!!!

You son of a bitch I'm in.

Sweet! I invited you to our Line group. Feel free to start brainstorming PC ideas or post yours whenever you're free

Is there still space open in this game?

AbstractCloud1 wrote:

Is there still space open in this game?

Hey friend, I am so sorry I must have missed this post!

Right now we are full up but I will give you first dibs if we have an opening