Questions tagged [blades-in-the-dark]
Blades in the Dark is a Gothic fantasy RPG published by Evil Hat Productions in 2017. The 'Forged in the Dark' family of RPGs are derived from it.
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Fine tools with Lurk's Infiltrator special ability
The Lurk's special ability reads:
Infiltrator
You are not affected by quality or Tier when you bypass security measures.
Does this mean that the Lurk's Fine Lockpicks item also has no effect for a ...
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What is the function of an expert's type?
Crews may recruit Gangs or Experts as cohorts. Cohorts have a type, and it appears that this type has a specific mechanical purpose. E.g.
Modifying a cohort
... When a cohort performs actions
for ...
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Can a whisper protect a crewmate from the supernatural terror consequence of a compelled spirit?
Under STRESS & THE SUPERNATURAL it is specified
A close encounter with a spirit or demon is a harrowing experience. By
default, the standard effect is to either paralyze a person with fear
or ...
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When does a character return from being lost in vice?
In the section Vice, under INDULGING YOUR VICE, it says:
Alternately, you may choose to release your character to be “lost in
their vice” during a game session, allowing them to indulge off-camera
...
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Can a non-Hound take the Ghost Hunter special ability (as Veteran)?
ghost hunter states.
Your hunting pet is imbued with spirit energy. It gains potency when
tracking or fighting the supernatural, and gains an arcane ability:
ghost-form, mind-link, or arrow-swift. ...
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When taking level 1 harm, do all rolls have less effect?
When taking level 1 harm, do all rolls have less effect? Or only when it applies to the narrative action?
For example: I have Bruised Arm as a level 1 harm. I want to bribe a Bluecoat to let us into a ...
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How to implement cross-playbook upgrades without breaking balance?
My players just started a new campaign, and they decided they are going to play a crew of Shadows specializing in doing daring heists(kind of like Ocean's Eleven or The Phantom Thieves).
The problem ...
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How long should someone be out of action when they mark Trauma?
9 stress is certainly more than you can mark at once, but clearing out all of your stress between scores can be a bit of a gamble in overindulgence if it's on the low side.
So let's say that one of my ...
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Does the Hawker's rigging crew upgrade apply to items that count as more than 1 load?
The Hawker rigging upgrade reads as follows:
Hawker Rigging: One carried item is concealed and has no load. For example,
you could carry a load of drugs or a weapon, perfectly concealed, for zero ...
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What potions/bombs does a Leech have access to starting the game?
As a Leech, I have a Bandolier that allows me to use three potions or bombs during a score.
Am I allowed to use only items I have created during downtime? Or can I use any item without having to spend ...
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Can Blades in the Dark be played in a custom setting?
I'm looking at systems for my next campaign. Currently I really like the look of Blades in the Dark however I have one concern before I invest in buying the rulebook.
Every review of the system I ...
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When indulging a vice, can I spend coin to increase the stress relieved?
The general rules for downtime activities allow spending coin to improve the roll:
For any downtime activity, take +1d to the roll if a friend or contact helps you. After the roll, you may spend ...
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How should a GM handle PCs picking up NPC weapons?
In Blades, most gear is abstracted. PCs can gain access to new gear using downtime activities such as Acquire Asset and Crafting. How are stolen items (which aren't immediately sold or handed over ...
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Can I play Blades in the Dark with a larger group?
I want to play an introductory session of Blades in the Dark with a group of six people, and I'd prefer not to split them into two parties. However, the rulebook mentions party size from two to four, ...
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Can I retire without Trauma?
One of my players in my Blades in the Dark game was asking me some detailed questions about exactly how retirement works. According to the Stash & Retirement section on page 43,
When you mark ...
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Are "turf" claims the only way to obtain turf for the crew?
The rules state that a crew can have a maximum of 6 turf. There are certain claims for each type of crew which are simply called "turf" which I can safely say will count towards a crew's turf. The ...
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Are there any pbta systems with built in downtime systems? [closed]
I'm about to start running a Monster of the Week campaign and I wanted to have a downtime system for between adventures to give the players an opportunity to do extra stuff on the side and get a ...
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Does resisting a consequence cause it to have never happened?
I thought I understood the rules for resisting consequences in Blades in the Dark, until I got to the GM Bad Habits section.
The resistance rules (page 32) say:
When your PC suffers a consequence ...
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Can I just refuse to die?
A PC in Blades in the Dark is in a bit of trouble. All of his harm slots are filled up, and someone's still trying to kill him. They don't care to capture or otherwise disable the character, they want ...
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How much should I try to fit into a single introductory session of "Blades in the Dark"?
I love John Harper's Blades in the Dark, and some friends and I are going to be running some one-shot games at an upcoming convention.
I want to have some sense of how much I should aim to fit in to ...
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Does Blades in the Dark need any adjustments to work as a one-shot?
I love John Harper's Blades in the Dark, and some friends and I are going to be running some one-shot games at an upcoming convention.
But, a lot of the things that make Blades so cool is how nicely ...
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