Setting the Stage Episode 8 – Atti and Blades in the Dark

Published by

Isaac

January 18, 2023

I talked with Atti about the Blades in the Dark system and setting produced by Evil Hat Productions. Blades is set in a gothic, steampunk ci ty centuries after an apocalypse closes the gates to the afterlife. Without a way to their eternal rest, ghosts wander a world where the sun and stars are gone from the sky. Blades has simple, narrative-focused mechanics for resolving action. The system is similar to Powered by the Apocalypse games, but with a new name, Forged in the Dark. It’s spawned many offshoots that tweak the rules to fit a number of different settings and play ideas from westerns to teenage school dramas.

If you’re interested in Blades in the Dark, the basic rules are available for free on the Blades in the Dark website.
Also the system has excellent integration into Roll20 and is easy to pick up and play online.

Here is a map of Blades in the Dark’s established setting world, the Shattered Isles.

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2 responses to “Setting the Stage Episode 8 – Atti and Blades in the Dark”

talaraska

January 20, 2023

I’ve been meaning to check this out. Would you say that Blades in the Dark could support a full campaign or would it be better suited for something limited to an adventure or two?

Reply
1. Isaac
  
  January 20, 2023
  
  We didn’t get into it during the podcast, but Blades definitely works for both. It varies between each person, but I really enjoy how the heists play out. There’s also a deep downtime system for what your characters do between heists.
  
  Each character is allowed one free downtime action between heists. Typically you’ll spend that action relieving stress by indulging in your character’s vice to recovery stress. Additional actions can be purchased with Coin. Coin is an abstract representation of wealth and currency that you get from completing heists. One Coin gets you one downtime action. Other actions include training to improve your character’s skills, inventing new items to use, upgrading old items, and managing your character and your crew’s relationships with other people and groups in the city.
  
  The basic goal for each character is to reach 40 Coin as that allows them to comfortably retire. You have to balance how much Coin you spend on downtime actions versus how much you save.
  
  And all these downtime actions are changed up a bit if you use a different Forged in the Dark system.
  
  Reply

I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

88 – DM & Roleplaying Tips with Balance of Aksio (Jay + Sandra! and 3RPG) – Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

Our guests today are Jay and Sandra from the 3RPG podcast. Their podcast is a talk show, typically with three hosts. Unfortunately the third host Chris was unable to make it.Jay and Sandra are working on a RPG product dubbed The Balance of Aksio. It's a new narrative fantasy TTRPG system with point buy character creation. The world within Balance of Aksio grew out of games that Jay and Sandra have been playing together since high school. Lots of history from important characters over the in-game centuries they have been playing. Balance of Aksio comes with numerous storytelling aids to help with character decision making, generational play, and how to cover long gaps between adventures.Balance of Aksio also introduces a unique idea for running your NPCs. Rather than make all the decisions yourself, Jay and Sandra recommend outsourcing the NPC actions to people you know outside of the campaign. Give those people a profile of the NPC and the decision they are facing. Then let those people decide what the NPC would do without your own biases as a GM entering the equation. Quite a clever way to introduce new developments in your game that even you can't predict!There's a 3RPG Podcast website and the show itself is available on all major podcast platforms.I guested on the 3RPG podcast for episode 61. Check it out!Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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