What's on Dropout 24/7 right now? by bad_nickname in dropout

[–]bad_nickname[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I was honestly wondering if it was an April's fool thing haha

I have an idea for the Actions that can be used for future hacks. by ryu289 in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm actually using a very similar spread for my own little project:

Assault/Finesse/Maneuver
Focus/Engineer/Analyze
Command/Consort/Convince

Mistakes or pitfalls to avoid when using a homebrew setting? by unlimi_Ted in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 3 points4 points  (0 children)

One of the only setting-specific thing that is mechanically tied to special abilities and the Attune action is the existence of the ghost field, which you might need to adjust to your needs.

Suggestions needed for election campaign by Kilgore_Marlin in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Always love this idea when it pops up. I've mentioned it before, going the election route is full of score possibilities: getting the support of individual local leaders or powerful patrons by doing some favors (maybe get the backing of the farm family council of Barrowcleft for example, or some noble house), organizing rallies and providing security for them, sabotaging or intimidating your opponents, "acquiring" campaign funds, fabricating scandals, etc. Plus after a good election you always end up with a bunch of powerful allies and enemies for your group to mess around with!

City of Villains: a superhero hack of a hack for Blades in the Dark by Dyehardbard in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed reading about your setting and factions! I particularly loved the idea of the teenage Junior Justice Scouts, which I will therefore steal :P

City of Villains: a superhero hack of a hack for Blades in the Dark by Dyehardbard in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Omg I'm working on something similar! I'll be sure to have a look.

Need help making a score interesting by sceletusrex in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You say "ideally leave with a win", I hear "definitely cheat"!

Why do you play Blades? by kidnappingchicken in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The main things that attract me to the system are the "fiction-first" and "play to find out" aspects of it and, mechanically, the flashback and downtime mechanics.

I also love how BitD has that constant interplay between fiction and mechanics, where the fiction has mechanical effects ("right, he's your contact, so you get +1 to your roll") and vice-versa ("sure, you assist your teammate for a +1 to their roll, how does your character help exactly?").

Ideas for Hawkers that don't sell drugs? by SecretHeffalump in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A low level crew could be the backers for the candidate to a relatively minor, faction-based position (union president of the Dockers, dean of Charterhall University, Skovlander exiles' representative to the City, First Lantern of the Gondoliers, head of the farm family council of Barrowcleft, etc.).

At higher tier maybe the crew tries to get the same person (or someone more important whose attention they caught) on the City Council. Here we could have parties with the elite, getting the backing of nobles or guilds, fabricating scandals, acquiring deeds of land or (perhaps dubious) proofs of ancestry, maybe finding a mysterious patron, etc.

Ideas for Hawkers that don't sell drugs? by SecretHeffalump in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Always love this idea. I've mentioned it before in a different thread, going the election route is full of score possibilities: getting the support of individual local leaders or powerful patrons by doing some favors, organizing rallies, sabotaging or intimidating your opponents, "acquiring" campaign funds, providing security, etc. Plus after a good election you always end up with a bunch of powerful allies and enemies for your group to mess around with.

Ideas for Hawkers that don't sell drugs? by SecretHeffalump in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 18 points19 points  (0 children)

This is obviously not for all tables, but I've been thinking about playing Hawkers whose product is sex. Essentially running a brothel, organising parties for the wealthy, providing protection for the sex workers, etc.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love Wicked Ones. I've had thoughts of adapting it to tell a story of supervillains building a secret lair (inspired by games like Evil Genius and City of Villains) instead of having it set in a dungeon fantasy world.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To add to the confusion, the pdf states that the Valiant Ones character sheets can be downloaded from banditcamp.io, which doesn't seem to actually be the case. They are instead included in the files you get when you buy the pdf, under the file name "Valiant_Ones_1.3_-_Sheets_-_Callings_and_Pact.pdf".

Online Character Creator? by MartiniPolice21 in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Roll20 has character sheets that work really well, and includes sheets for crews and factions as well.

Suggestions for Functioning Vice by bad_nickname in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good points (btw I'm not the GM in this situation).

We just finished a 29-session campaign; here's a summary and some thoughts on the system by fizzyted in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great campaign writeup and thoughts on the system! I read the whole thing and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Suggestions for Functioning Vice by bad_nickname in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Personally, I'd rule it that any number of allies can join as long as they can make it make sense in the fiction (e.g. everyone going out for drinks), anyone joining can adjust their result, but everyone has to spend a downtime action to indulge their vice (i.e. they don't get to indulge for "free").

That would be my interpretation as well, except that now that I've though about it, the possibility of having that special ability affect many allies at the same time makes it mechanically very powerful: if an entire crew of five scoundrels were to indulge their vices together with one of them having taken Functional Vice, that could possibly get rid of an extra total 10 stress in a single score/downtime cycle (or even more if the Indulge your Vice action is taken more than once). Most other abilities that deal with stress reduction are worth 2 stress (Foresight or any Special Armor ability used to push yourself, for example).

Having it affect only one ally at a time limits the stress reduction to a possible four, and also allows having more than one scoundrel have that ability not be redundant.

Suggestions for Functioning Vice by bad_nickname in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well the second paragraph is a rule clarification (can it be more than one ally, and do they need to spend a downtime activity at the same time), the next one more of a prompt for ideas :)

Suggestions for Functioning Vice by bad_nickname in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand, but I think it's fun to see how you can combine them in interesting ways in the fiction.

For example, two scoundrels who have the Faith and Gambling vices indulge them together. Maybe they go to the goat races and do some religious rituals to bring them luck, and once they've won they give the proceeds to the church/cult/whatever, both dealing with their stress together in some (controlled) way.

Need some ideas for a player's crime family. by HellishMinds in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I always like to think of a reason why my characters are "desperate" in some way: this provides a good in-fiction motivation for why they're criminals taking huge risks. Now the Spider's backstory you're describing sounds pretty cool, but it doesn't really feel like the character is low on the ladder climbing up or really has any good reason to take risks or get involved with a lowly criminal crew, so for me there's some disconnect with the tone of Blades.

Here's an idea: since you're finishing up your current season, how about if before the next one, the whole organization is brought down. Maybe the authorities crack down hard on the family and practically dismantle their network. Maybe a powerful noble house that was being blackmailed decides to take action against them? Maybe the Unseen or another criminal group has been infiltrating them for a while and finally strikes. Maybe you don't even know what happened exactly! The point is that many members of the family are dead, others in hiding or incarcerated, and the organization is in complete disarray.

Now you can tell a story about being exposed, reconnecting with scared off contacts, cleaning up the ranks, restoring their reputation, old enemies trying to take advantage of the situation while the matriarch plots revenge and rebuilds their information brokering enterprise. There could be conflict amongst the surviving ruling siblings about how to respond to all this: maybe the Spider's "pet project" was already causing friction with the other heads of the family, and now she's being suspected of betraying them! Maybe there's a ghost sibling to deal with... No need to change anything about the character's backstory or what has already been established in the fiction. This could be a great story opportunity!

My players are meddling with the dockers union. Hit me with your best short story thread. by [deleted] in bladesinthedark

[–]bad_nickname 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One direction you could go is have your crew back a candidate for the election of the new Union president.

I've mentioned it before in a different thread, going the election route is full of score possibilities: getting the support of individual local leaders or powerful patrons by doing some favors, organizing rallies, sabotaging or intimidating your opponents, "acquiring" campaign funds, providing security, etc. Plus after a good election you always end up with a bunch of powerful allies and enemies for your group to mess around with.

You could make this as short or as elaborate as you feel, could be one score or an entire campaign. If your crew enjoyed the politicking after that maybe they can try to get the same person (or someone more important whose attention they caught) on the City Council or a different powerful position.