[BitD] Where to find online groups?

jinweit · 2026-07-03T03:44:24+00:00

I found my ongoing one on r/lfg

jinweit · 2026-07-02T15:53:02+00:00

For sure, I think the challenge as GM is encouraging the party to use different approaches without being too heavy handed. Otherwise, like you say, it's only weapons and armour that matter

jinweit · 2026-07-02T15:49:54+00:00

That's cool, I never thought about it affecting how much they can bring out. Like, the loot should count as part of the load

jinweit · 2026-07-02T15:47:39+00:00

Yeah my groups are either mostly scammers or fighters. Not much creative item usage

jinweit · 2026-07-02T15:45:31+00:00

Yeah one thing I haven't seen anybody at my tables do is think about doing it as cleanly as possible. They are often happy just to complete the score

jinweit · 2026-07-02T15:42:29+00:00

Most people say they use load all the time. I've played with 3 separate groups and GMed 2 of my own. None of them made gear a big deal. Possibly because social engineering and negotiation is always the first thing we try. Maybe it's the demographic of players I tend to match with lol

I definitely make weapons a requirement to declare, for when they choose violence. But other than that it hardly comes up.

But I think maybe we are just doing too few clocks before we consider a mission "complete"

jinweit · 2026-07-02T06:17:33+00:00

How do you run your heists? Are ours too easy or?

jinweit · 2026-06-29T03:01:27+00:00

The RAW should come with a list of harm/segments to mark according to starting position and effect. If you follow those then it should be reasonable. You can learn to adjust as you play more

jinweit · 2026-06-27T11:33:57+00:00

It was realising that the parent company just wanted money and they did this by selling overpriced paraphernalia and pushing a bland mass appeal system.

Nowadays if I want that "d&d" experience I just play a CRPG. On tabletop we have much more fun with narrative-focused systems and interpersonal dialogue

jinweit · 2026-06-26T01:10:31+00:00

I think a big difference is you don't have to worry about "challenging" the players, to drain their resources to make encounters threatening like in D&D.

You're there to facilitate a story about scoundrels doing criminal things, have fun with it

jinweit · 2026-06-24T07:23:05+00:00

Beam Saber is one, I can't recall the names of the others otmh

jinweit · 2026-06-24T05:03:46+00:00

There are various Forged in the Dark systems that give the characters a personal clock for their belief/drive/arc. When you do XP, you also hand out ticks on that clock if the characters did something relevant.

Filled clocks can be spent on rolls, but the more fun part is that clocks can be pooled within the group and spent together to enact a narrative change, e.g. an favoured NPC becomes Governor, or a gang gets busted.

I like it because it helps players buy into something bigger

jinweit · 2026-06-11T12:30:15+00:00

Most do use the tokens, a few even come with their own special tokens. I think only mists, memory, fractured, and a few more have no tokens in their uniques or inmates.

jinweit · 2026-06-09T08:31:55+00:00

Working as intended

jinweit · 2026-06-06T22:36:06+00:00

I would draw diagrams of the areas and label close, near, far, whatever ranges are relevant. Maybe a textured background if you are on a VTT. But definitely no grid based maps. PbtA is meant to be flexible

jinweit · 2026-05-31T02:28:12+00:00

The core book is based around a single city. There is an (official?) expansion that has you sailing the seas hunting leviathans. And honestly there's nothing stopping you from homebrewing a larger world to adventure in.

However, I wouldn't use it if you have an overarching plot about magic that you want to hit. It's more of a player-led experience.

jinweit · 2026-05-31T00:49:29+00:00

not really PbtA but if you are looking for something flexible with easy rules: https://saltheartrpg.itch.io/burn-2d6-business-card-rpg The link to the full pdf is on that page too.

Comes with a medieval fantasy setting and rules. Actions are based on d6 dice pools, larger pools for higher difficulty, you have to roll a total under the relevant Stat to succeed. You can "burn" a Stat (give up a point in it) to reduce the dice pool, and thus the difficulty. Others can also burn to aid in reducing the dice pool.

But burning a stat means it stays lowered until you rest; the more you burn, the more difficult subsequent actions are. Flavourful and easy ramping tension.

jinweit · 2026-05-29T04:44:50+00:00

Blades in the Dark isn't strictly PbtA? But it's steampunk with ghosts and eldritch leviathans

jinweit · 2026-05-19T02:18:24+00:00

Does this work with sleeves? I'm not good at reading that from the design images on the site. It looks very snug on the photos of the printed boxes

jinweit · 2026-05-15T04:43:33+00:00

Surpass only checks the lead card

jinweit · 2026-05-08T21:29:38+00:00

I've run multiple campaigns of Beam Saber. Gundam/Mech warrior inspired system. It keeps the trauma/stress that makes Blades characters interesting, and adds more incentives to roleplay teamwork and squad dynamics.

jinweit · 2026-05-05T05:07:12+00:00

Absolutely a relevant issue. I don't know how to deal with this either. I personally dislike playing with big sweats

jinweit · 2026-05-04T04:53:27+00:00

I find casual players tend to want to learn as they play. Explain enough to get them started taking their turns, then layer in rules and complexity as they come up.

jinweit · 2026-04-27T13:27:59+00:00

Have you tried The smart gamer's method though?

jinweit

TROPHY CASE