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Does anyone have a spot open in a group for BitD? I'm interested in learning the game beyond the very basics and would love to learn via actual play.
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Oct 11, 2020 17:22
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Has anyone had any experience running a Blades based game with miniatures and maps? I get that there's no point in having a "tactical" grid with the way the game works, but I was thinking about using larger scale maps with players having their own miniatures to represent where they might be at the time, and possibly to represent the number and kind of NPCs/Monsters in their way. Having already run an online game without miniatures I know that they're not needed, but I also just really like minis and would like to include them anyway, I recently got a resin printer and have been printing and painting up a bunch of models for my next Band of Blades campaign. My hope is that it will help everyone at the table understand where they/their enemies are since theatre of the mind stuff can sometimes get a little mucky if someone missed an important explanation or just plain forgets. But my worry about using them is that it may stifle players' imaginations when it comes to thinking up creative solutions to a problem since they might look at a map and just passively assume that because something isn't on the map that means it must not exist. I can of course remind everyone about this, it's just that it still might mess with people anyway. I want it to work as a play aid and not as something that might detract from the experience. Any thoughts?
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Oct 13, 2020 19:35
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DarkAvenger211 posted:Has anyone had any experience running a Blades based game with miniatures and maps? I get that there's no point in having a "tactical" grid with the way the game works, but I was thinking about using larger scale maps with players having their own miniatures to represent where they might be at the time, and possibly to represent the number and kind of NPCs/Monsters in their way. I haven't done it in Blades specifically, but a map of the general locations in-play and where everyone is on it is great tech for any game, regardless of whether there's tactical combat involved. It mitigates the classic "no you can't talk to him, you're still at the Tavern" problem, where players aren't sure if they're allowed to intervene in what's happening onscreen.
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Oct 13, 2020 19:45
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If you do prepared maps in blades they have to be massive and you have to sweep everything off the table dramatically before unrolling them. You may use figures to represent the players, BUT they have to be salt shakers, ketchup bottles, other people's half empty mugs etc. I'm pretty sure this is all in the rules.
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Oct 13, 2020 20:29
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Shanty posted:If you do prepared maps in blades they have to be massive and you have to sweep everything off the table dramatically before unrolling them. This is all 100% correct, but you forgot about how you then must dramatically stab a dagger through the map embedding it into the table when you reveal the target of the heist/murder/kidnapping.
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Oct 13, 2020 22:10
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Shanty posted:If you do prepared maps in blades they have to be massive and you have to sweep everything off the table dramatically before unrolling them. ZachAttack posted:This is all 100% correct, but you forgot about how you then must dramatically stab a dagger through the map embedding it into the table when you reveal the target of the heist/murder/kidnapping. These are true but only if the heist is going without a hitch. If things go bad it needs to cut to the pepper pot falling over dramatically.
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Oct 13, 2020 22:46
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DarkAvenger211 posted:I want it to work as a play aid and not as something that might detract from the experience. Any thoughts? Maps are really cool, and I would highly recommend doing one for whatever city you are setting the game in. I find just creating your own weird city is a ton of fun. However, I would strongly caution against any map more granular than that. Everything you define about a space is just more narrative freedom you are stripping away from your players. Keep every description as general as possible until your players ask about something, or something in the scene causes a problem for them. Blades definitely takes some getting used to after playing other games but it really sings once everyone gets on board.
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Oct 15, 2020 11:53
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DarkAvenger211 posted:Has anyone had any experience running a Blades based game with miniatures and maps? I get that there's no point in having a "tactical" grid with the way the game works, but I was thinking about using larger scale maps with players having their own miniatures to represent where they might be at the time, and possibly to represent the number and kind of NPCs/Monsters in their way. If you really want maps you can get a pretty neat collection of 40 map packs from around Doskovol for $15 and under here https://www.patreon.com/ryandunleavy But I definitely think you're right to be wary of it impacting player solutions and possibly even your own sense of what obstacles might be interesting. WhiskeyWhiskers fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Oct 16, 2020 14:55
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I'll vouch for maps; I think it's much easier for players to have a sense of where things are in relation to each other with a map; without you can get a bit confusing.
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Oct 16, 2020 19:58
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I'm reminded of something the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett wrote about mapping Ankh-Morpork. I don't recall the exact quote, but he basically said that initially, he was worried about how it would restrict his ability to write and describe the streets of the city. Instead, he wrote, it allowed him to more accurately picture and depict how the city fit together as the Discworld books went on. Rather than having a vague description of nameless streets and alleys, he could give them names and more precise descriptions, and give us a stronger feeling of place in the various sections of the city. I've found the same; when I draw out at least a crude map of the score and the area around it, it does limit the boundless options - but, paradoxically, it means that my players tended to actually be more engaged in describing their approach and intended entrance, as well as giving more precise description of how they deal with the problems facing them on the score. I think it's because it reduces option paralysis: it's much easier to pick from a limited selection of feasible options, as opposed to 'Iunno, just make up whatever' as a guideline. Also, on a different matter: has anyone actually gotten to run Blades Against Darkness? Because I have a couple of interesting ideas for hacks (one that's basically a WH40k Imperial Guard hack, since the basic premise of 'a hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched band of soldiers must try to regroup and make it to safety/hold the line' is the same in both settings, and an alternate setting of my own - less a hack and more of a 'here's some new flavor for the same mechanics'), but I want to know if there's some aspect of how it plays in motion that isn't readily apparent that I might need to look out for.
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Oct 16, 2020 21:31
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FrozenGoldfishGod posted:I'm reminded of something the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett wrote about mapping Ankh-Morpork. I don't recall the exact quote, but he basically said that initially, he was worried about how it would restrict his ability to write and describe the streets of the city. Instead, he wrote, it allowed him to more accurately picture and depict how the city fit together as the Discworld books went on. Rather than having a vague description of nameless streets and alleys, he could give them names and more precise descriptions, and give us a stronger feeling of place in the various sections of the city. Are you talking about Band of Blades? Blades Against Darkness is more of a Dungeon World/DnD riff I thought. Band of Blades' general concept would make a rad conversion for 40k. The Grimdark feel is already baked in. Swap some of the mystic stuff for sci fi nonsense, instead of a chosen have it be a lone space marine or space marine squad that has adopted your Imperial Guard company. Doing a fighting retreat to the last spaceworthy vessel on the continent or only functional offworld voxcaster, while besieged by xenos/chaos all the way.
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Oct 16, 2020 22:34
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ZachAttack posted:Are you talking about Band of Blades? Blades Against Darkness is more of a Dungeon World/DnD riff I thought. I did mean Band of Blades, I am just an idiot about proper nouns for cultural and personal reasons. And I am working on that project, but the initial setup is ripped wholesale from a Caiphas Cain novel - specifically, the first one, where he has to try and make his way through the Orks to the Imperial lines. Also, that answers my question about how to integrate the Chosen - the obvious suggestion was an Imperial Saint, but I like the Space Marine option too - I think I'll flavor the Chosen choice to be more about what kind of supersoldier (Sisters of Battle Saints, Space Marine chapters of various levels of 'gently caress the normals') has adopted the player group of Guardsmen and substitute the Broken for various flavors of inhuman horrors - one might be the Orks, one might be the Tyranids, another the Genestealers (for thematic reasons, I think they'd best be split up - I'm aware that they're technically the same faction, but the threat they present at the Imperial Guard level is somewhat different), and another the good old standby Chaos.
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Oct 17, 2020 01:19
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FrozenGoldfishGod posted:Also, on a different matter: has anyone actually gotten to run Blades Against Darkness? Because I have a couple of interesting ideas for hacks (one that's basically a WH40k Imperial Guard hack, since the basic premise of 'a hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched band of soldiers must try to regroup and make it to safety/hold the line' is the same in both settings, and an alternate setting of my own - less a hack and more of a 'here's some new flavor for the same mechanics'), but I want to know if there's some aspect of how it plays in motion that isn't readily apparent that I might need to look out for. Running it solo right now. It would really take very little to reskin it into 40k. Literally the only thing I can't think of a direct 1:1 conversion for are alchemists and their corruption. Even a lot of the special missions and relics would work straight out of the box and Render and the Black Oak Knights are pretty much already just Chaos Space Marines.
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Oct 17, 2020 03:02
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WhiskeyWhiskers posted:Running it solo right now. It would really take very little to reskin it into 40k. Literally the only thing I can't think of a direct 1:1 conversion for are alchemists and their corruption. Even a lot of the special missions and relics would work straight out of the box and Render and the Black Oak Knights are pretty much already just Chaos Space Marines. Unsanctioned psykers? spectralent posted:I'll vouch for maps; I think it's much easier for players to have a sense of where things are in relation to each other with a map; without you can get a bit confusing. Hell we've actually had one specific checkpoint come up enough times and our cutter roll stupidly well in intimidating or beating the snot out of cops at the same one because it's right there at the edge of our turf tat we made a reputation for ourselves. It's also lead to score and project ideas like "Wait can we build a bridge across this canal since it connects two bits of turf we own that are cut of?" which probably wouldn't come up without a real map. Our GM has also done plenty of 'look the main setpiece for this session technically isn't on the map, but it's this general area' so it isn't like we've been hemmed in. Coolness Averted fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Nov 2, 2020 |
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Nov 2, 2020 03:02
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Got a question for you guys more familiar with FiTD games other than Band of Blades. Is the harm calculation different? In Band of Blades the starting point for harm comes from position, and then is further modified by difference in threat and scale (sort of having a double effect on harm since those mechanics usually also factor in the position as well). In other games is it similar? Or is harm generally decided on just position? I know this can just come down to player and GM preference, but I also want to know how other games in this system are normally run. From what I can tell Band of Blades is purposefully supposed to be gritty and brutal so the way harm mechanics work in this way support the setting, where other games in this system may not run with this same assumption
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Dec 17, 2020 00:34
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DarkAvenger211 posted:Got a question for you guys more familiar with FiTD games other than Band of Blades. Is the harm calculation different? In Band of Blades the starting point for harm comes from position, and then is further modified by difference in threat and scale (sort of having a double effect on harm since those mechanics usually also factor in the position as well). In other games is it similar? Or is harm generally decided on just position? It sounds like that's unique to Band, and somewhat due to ramped combat stuff. In Blades going up against a higher tier threat is used to justify a worse position and/or reduced effect on an action roll (though also is a penalty on your engagement roll) rather than an extra modifier on consequences. Blades also has other mechanical costs to say being kitted out for combat Band wouldn't have. Like there's no real need to conceal your gear, and wearing heavy armor's big trade off in Blades is you have to look ready for war if you want to use it otherwise it eats up all of your inventory slots. How does Band handle resisting consequences? Or reducing stress? In Blades you're supposed to be able to shrug off everything but risk eating heavy stress for it. It might also be a game with a very different economy. I say this as someone who has only played a Scum and Villainy one shot, and a longer term Blades in the Dark game.
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Dec 17, 2020 02:34
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Coolness Averted posted:It sounds like that's unique to Band, and somewhat due to ramped combat stuff. In Blades going up against a higher tier threat is used to justify a worse position and/or reduced effect on an action roll (though also is a penalty on your engagement roll) rather than an extra modifier on consequences. Obviously not that guy, but have also played Band of Blades. It's tilted into being a fantasy XCOM game with a correspondingly high lethality; players aren't supposed to keep the same characters in every session and they're almost certainly going to die eventually. Stress and resistance work the same way (in fact, the section is almost exactly the same, just with wording changed enough to maybe not be outright copying). Reducing stress is much harder due to being tied to a supply chain and to campaign actions, the number of which are harshly limited by the morale rules and which is mutually exclusive with replacing losses, healing anyone injured at all, or acquiring any assets whatsoever, unless you're at max morale, which you won't be for long at all. I'm really, really not fond of Band of Blades and think it's poorly designed. The harm rules doubling down are just one aspect of that.
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Dec 17, 2020 02:53
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I think it's set up that way to really increase the difference between threat levels. Things only really go up to T4 in this game and players can only really attain T2 at the most. I personally think it works well with the setting. It also allows for high levels of harm to be applied if there is a large difference in position / threat. I assume in other games the most amount of harm you could take in an action would be 3 (for desperate)? With more only being applied if it narratively makes sense (and hopefully expected by the players)
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Dec 18, 2020 18:53
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Bundle of Holding this week is Blades, Band, S&V and Hack The Planet in one bundle. It is a goddamn bargain.
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Dec 22, 2020 02:12
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Shockeh posted:Bundle of Holding this week is Blades, Band, S&V and Hack The Planet in one bundle. Yeah, I already have Blades from the itch.io charity bundle but I might buy this again just for the other stuff and to make sure a little money gets to Harper for the hours of entertainment I've gotten out of his work.
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Dec 22, 2020 02:45
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I've technically paid for BitD three times now because I own a hardcopy, the itch.io copy, and now this bundle.
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Dec 22, 2020 05:43
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Is hack the planet any good?
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Dec 23, 2020 23:40
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Josef bugman posted:Is hack the planet any good? Having bought the bundle and read the PDF it was underwhelming? As far as I can tell there's no new rules like the ship and gambits in S&V or the campaign mechanics of Band of Blades, so it feels like it's just a setting draped over, which is fine. I guess I was disappointed because it was sold to me by blurb and art as a cyberpunk setting and instead it feels a bit like a YA-novel dystopia. It's not bad but like I said, underwhelming. I'm thinking of running a game soon, and after reading through it I'll end up making my own setting and the only part of HtP I'd keep is a few of the cooler factions. Also the art is either really good or really janky.
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Dec 24, 2020 00:00
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I recall being distinctly disappointed by it based on my copy. Not "Chad Walker RPG" level disappointed, but lacking in quality implementation. Others with direct play experience may have more informed takes.
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Dec 24, 2020 00:04
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the JJ posted:Having bought the bundle and read the PDF it was underwhelming? As far as I can tell there's no new rules like the ship and gambits in S&V or the campaign mechanics of Band of Blades, so it feels like it's just a setting draped over, which is fine. I guess I was disappointed because it was sold to me by blurb and art as a cyberpunk setting and instead it feels a bit like a YA-novel dystopia. It's not bad but like I said, underwhelming. I'm thinking of running a game soon, and after reading through it I'll end up making my own setting and the only part of HtP I'd keep is a few of the cooler factions. This pretty much scans with my feelings on Fraser Simons as a designer from The Veil.
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Dec 24, 2020 00:33
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Oh dear, that is a pity. I have been looking at some of the BitD shadowrun hacks on itch.io because I kind of like the idea of the setting of Shadowrun without the ruleset. Question two, how is "Glow in the Dark" and what is "The Veil"?
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Dec 24, 2020 00:44
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The Veil is an aggressively mediocre PbtA game by the same designer of Hack the Planet.
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Dec 24, 2020 01:34
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Josef bugman posted:Oh dear, that is a pity. I have been looking at some of the BitD shadowrun hacks on itch.io because I kind of like the idea of the setting of Shadowrun without the ruleset. Report back if you find a good one.
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Dec 24, 2020 02:09
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Never played it, but Runners in the Shadows is a Shadowrun hack for blades after Karma in the Dark dropped the setting and became Ruralpunk.
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Dec 24, 2020 03:46
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the JJ posted:Having bought the bundle and read the PDF it was underwhelming? As far as I can tell there's no new rules like the ship and gambits in S&V or the campaign mechanics of Band of Blades, so it feels like it's just a setting draped over, which is fine. I guess I was disappointed because it was sold to me by blurb and art as a cyberpunk setting and instead it feels a bit like a YA-novel dystopia. It's not bad but like I said, underwhelming. I'm thinking of running a game soon, and after reading through it I'll end up making my own setting and the only part of HtP I'd keep is a few of the cooler factions. I had a similar reaction when I first looked at it. It seems to conform so strongly to the basic framework of Blades in the Dark that the only cyberpunk story you can tell is one about criminal gangs trying to expand their territory through crime. Which isn’t invalid per se, but it’s not terribly interesting either. It really just feels like Blades but in the climate disaster megacorporate future.
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Dec 24, 2020 08:15
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Speaking of cyberpunk BitD, anyone know anything about Neon Black?
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Dec 24, 2020 11:12
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Foglet posted:Speaking of cyberpunk BitD, anyone know anything about Neon Black? That looks promising !
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Dec 24, 2020 12:30
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admanb posted:The Veil is an aggressively mediocre PbtA game by the same designer of Hack the Planet. I'd say that The Veil at least tries things in terms of playbook and mechanic design. It doesn't land much of anything, admittedly, but it's an interesting failure rather than Hack The Planet's utter lack of ambition.
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Dec 27, 2020 08:32
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I've got a couple of stupid questions and would appreciate your input! Question 1, A dumb question regarding consequences: Would you guys agree that generally, as a rule of thumb, harm, heat, ticks on a clock should be: Controlled=1, Risky=2, Desperate=3? You're in a risky position, roll a 4/5, the complication is 2 heat? The fiction can of course affect this, but I'm thinking rule of thumb here. Question 2, A perhaps slightly less dumb question regarding group actions: How would you handle a group action Prowl against a higher tier opponent, if the leader of the action had the Infiltrator skill? This might effect position/effect in several ways, i.e.: Does the leader's skill mean that everyone now is on equal footing, regardless of tier? That seems very overpowered. A lurk sneaking a group of cutters past +2/3 security and have them fresh for the boss fight. Or does the leader ignore the difference in tier, but everyone else has to push to desperate in order to have some effect? Then you'd have to keep track on whose dice were risky/standard and whose were desperate/limited?
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Jan 20, 2021 20:44
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Freudian slippers posted:I've got a couple of stupid questions and would appreciate your input! That is a good rule of thumb, yeah. And Limited/Standard/Great effect can work the same way when the PCs are trying to fill clocks. quote:Question 2, A perhaps slightly less dumb question regarding group actions: I would never split position/effect for a group action. That's way too much overhead. Whether you let them use Infiltrate in a group action to even the odds would be a judgement call and fall under the same guidelines as "does armor reduce harm to zero or reduce it by one level?" -- how heroic do you want your game to be? You could even apply it on a case-by-case basis depending on the fiction.
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Jan 20, 2021 21:25
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Thanks! Yeah, I agree. Personally, I think Infiltrator is close to overpowered as is, and extending it to group actions would be too much.
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Jan 20, 2021 21:40
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Remember too that it only affects quality and tier. If they're infiltrating a cult or the spirit wardens etc. there's plenty of opportunity for arcane reasons to create a harder prowl check. Even gangs might have their own hound with ghost mind patrolling their turf with an eagle.
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Jan 20, 2021 21:55
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My kneejerk reaction is it ought not apply, just as if one person spent a loadout slot on tools, that bonus generally wouldn't apply to the rest of the group. My table generally does play with allowing the group to be on different positions, but also the GM tends to determine position for a roll based on a particular action's context in a way that's not quite RAW. But yeah go by what fits your table, and also what consequences it might have. Like does not applying it kill your stealth character's spotlight time/prevent them from getting into stealth heists? Or alternatively does it lead to the players always using stealth exclusively because they don't think they can risk other jobs? And for that matter does that block other players from having spotlight? A compromise might be not taking stealth like that as a group action and instead allowing the prowl's success to make whatever the other characters do to fill the 'break in clock' or mitigate some of the "alarms are raised clock"
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Jan 20, 2021 23:05
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Thanks! So much of this game is "use whatever fits your group", but it's always good to check with others anyway. I think my main issue with BitD is that it's sometimes unclear which rules are meant to be vague and which are just vaguely written.WhiskeyWhiskers posted:Remember too that it only affects quality and tier. If they're infiltrating a cult or the spirit wardens etc. there's plenty of opportunity for arcane reasons to create a harder prowl check. Even gangs might have their own hound with ghost mind patrolling their turf with an eagle. A very valid point indeed!
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Jan 21, 2021 07:38
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I'm about to run Scum & Villainy for my D&D group. Anything I should keep in mind for the first session that’s not spelled out in the book?
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Jan 22, 2021 10:38
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