Evil Hat Productions Blades In The Dark Tabletop Roleplaying Game

368 Pages·053.366 MB·English

by  John Harper

special edition
An Evil Hat Productions Publication
www.evilhat.com • [email protected]
@EvilHatOfficial on Twitter
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In association with One Seven Design
www.onesevendesign.com • [email protected]
@john_harper on Twitter
Blades in the Dark, Special Edition
Copyright © 2017 John Harper.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2017 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
10125 Colesville Rd #318, Silver Spring MD 20901
Evil Hat Productions and the Evil Hat logo are trademarks owned by Evil Hat
Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.
Evil Hat product number: EHP0031
Digital Release, February 19, 2017. v8.1
Printed in the USA.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior express permission
of the publisher.
That said, if you’re doing it for personal use, go right ahead. For those working
at a copy shop, this means the person standing at your counter can make
copies of this thing. This is “express permission.” Carry on.
This book was produced using Adobe Creative Suite.
Typefaces: Minion Pro, Kirsty, Ugly Qua.
CREDITS
John Harper
Game Design, Writing, Layout, Art, and Cartography
Stras Acimovic Sean Nittner
Consulting Designer Developmental Editor
Additional Material by
Stras Acimovic, Vandel J. Arden,
Duamn Figueroa, Dylan Green,
Sean Nittner, and Andrew Shields
Fred Hicks
Director of Operations for Evil Hat
Sean Nittner
Director of Projects for Evil Hat
Carrie Harris
Marketing Manager for Evil Hat
Chris Hanrahan
Business Development for Evil Hat
Karen Twelves
Copy Editor
Rita Tatum
Indexer
Visit the website for character sheets and other game materials
www.bladesinthedark.com
THANKS
Asteyni, Brendan Adkins, Peter Adkison, Brandon Amancio, Michael Atlin, Leonard
Balsera, Larissa Barth, Vasco Brown, Chris Bennett, Rachael Storey Burke, Jack Conte,
Luke Crane, Alex Crossley, Kim Dachtler, Tom Dachtler, Rob Donoghue, Clinton
Dreisbach, Radek Drozdalski, Duamn Figueroa, Wesley Flowers, Matthew Gagan, J.P.
Glover, Oliver Granger, Mark Griffin, Jeannie Harper, Steve Harper, Fred Hicks, Les
Hilliard, Brandon Hilliard, Blake Hutchins, Kelsa, Adam Koebel, Sage LaTorra, Robin
Laws, Eric Levanduski, Daniel Levine, Kieran Magill, Kira Magrann, Zane Mankowski,
Rachel Martin, Johnstone Metzger, Adam Minnie, Jason Morningstar, Steve Nix, Thor
Olavsrud, Nadja Otikor, Ed Ouellette, Paul, Michael Prescott, Mike Pureka, Paul Riddle,
Shannon Riddle, Tom Richardson, Nathan Roberts, Will Scott, Steve Sechi, Steve Segedy,
Stephen Shapiro, Andrew Shields, Neil Smith, Jared Sorensen, Greg Stolze, Travis Stout,
James Stuart, Mark Diaz Truman, Anthony Turner, Dave Turner, Jonathan Tweet, John
Tynes, Josephe Vandel, Rachel Walton, Jonathan Walton, Sara Williamson, Sean Winslow.
Additional Feedback & Proofing: Adam Sexton, Alex Blue, Andrew Shields, Arne
Jamtgaard, Aske Lindved, Ben Scerri, Brian Pullam, Bryan Lotz, C.R. Harper, Carl
Leonardsson, Carsten Bärmann, Chris Pipinou, Christopher Slifer, Craig Reeder,
Daniele Di Rubbo, David Barrena, Haakon Olav Thunestvedt, Jack Shear, Jamarr
P, Jamie Collette, Jason Eley, Jason Kottler, Jason Puckett, Jens Brandmeier, Joerg
Mintel, Johan Nilsson, John Dornberger, Jordan Lessing, Kai Tave, Kevin Denehy,
Kevin Heckman, Lukas Myhan, Michael Pureka, Michael Sands, Nathan Black, Oliver
Granger, Paul Drussel, Rouser Voko, S. C. Israel, Slade, SlyBebop, Stefan Struck,
Stras Acimovic, Troy Ellis, Wojciech “Onslo” Chelstowski, Zanakai, Zeke Mystique.
My fellow “thiefy game” designers: Vincent Baker, Will Hindmarch, Harvey Smith,
and Matt Snyder.
The cataclysmic three: Allison Arth, Keith Anderson, and Mike Standish. Thanks
for destroying the world.
The original scoundrels: Ryan Dunleavy, Dylan Green, Zane Mankowski, and Ed
Ouellette. This game design wouldn’t have survived without you.
The dynamic duo: Stras Acimovic and Sean Nittner. You made this game so much
better than I could have alone. Thank you so much for your insight and friendship.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Several designs influenced Blades in the Dark in various ways. This game would not
exist without them.
Apocalypse World, by D. Vincent Baker and Stars Without Number and Other Dust, by
Meguey Baker. Dogs in the Vineyard and Kevin Crawford.
The Sundered Land by D. Vincent Baker. Night Witches, by Jason Morningstar.
The Shadow of Yesterday, by Clinton Talislanta, by Stephan Michael Sechi.
Dreisbach.
Fate, by Rob Donoghue, Fred Hicks,
The Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard, by Leonard Balsera, et al.
Luke Crane, et al.
Thief (series) and Dishonored (series), by
Dream Askew, Monsterhearts, and The Harvey Smith, et al.
Quiet Year, by Avery Alder.
Fallout: New Vegas, by Josh Sawyer, John
Thou Art But a Warrior, by Anna Kreider. R. Gonzalez, Charles Staples, et al.
Bliss Stage and Polaris, by Ben Lehman.
contents
THE BASICS 1
GATHERING INFORMATION ....36
The Game.................................................1 EXAMPLE OF PLAY ....................39
The Setting ...............................................1
PC VS. PC ....................................41
The Players...............................................2
The Characters ........................................2 COIN & STASH ............................42
Th e Crew ..................................................2
THE FACTION GAME .................44
The Game Master ...................................3
Tier .........................................................44
Playing a Session .....................................3
Hold ........................................................44
Before You Start ......................................3
Development .........................................44
Touchstones .............................................4
Turf .........................................................45
What You Need to Play ..........................4
Faction Status ........................................45
Making the Game Your Own ................5
Claims ....................................................46
THE CORE SYSTEM ......................6
ADVANCEMENT .........................48
The Conversation ...................................6
PC Advancement ..................................48
Judgment Calls ........................................6 Crew Advancement ..............................49
Rolling the Dice ......................................7 Changing Playbooks or Crew Type ....49
Th e Game Structure ...............................8
CHARACTERS 51
ACTIONS & ATTRIBUTES ..........10
STRESS & TRAUMA ....................13 CHARACTER CREATION ...........52
Character Creation Summary .............57
PROGRESS CLOCKS ...................15 Actions ...................................................58
ACTION ROLL .............................18 CUTTER ......................................61
Action Roll Summary ..........................22
HOUND .......................................65
EFFECT .......................................24
LEECH .........................................69
Consequences .......................................27
LURK ...........................................73
SETTING POSITION & EFFECT...29
SLIDE ..........................................77
CONSEQUENCES & HARM .........30
SPIDER ........................................81
RESISTANCE & ARMOR .............32
Death ......................................................33 WHISPER ....................................85
FORTUNE ROLL ..........................34 STANDARD ITEMS .....................88
THE CREW 91 HOW TO PLAY 161
CREW CREATION .......................92 Fiction-First Gaming ........................161
Crew Upgrades .....................................95 Triggering the Action Roll................163
Cohorts ..................................................96 How to Choose an Action ................166
Cohort Harm & Healing ......................97 The Purpose of Dangers & Stress ....166
Crew Creation Summary .....................99 NPC Threat Levels .............................167
Th ere’s Always a Consequence .........168
ASSASSINS ................................100
Failing Gracefully ..............................168
BRAVOS ....................................104 Setting Precedents .............................168
Abstraction vs. Details ......................169
CULT .........................................108 Attune..................................................170
Command ...........................................171
HAWKERS .................................112
Consort ...............................................172
SHADOWS .................................116 Finesse .................................................173
Hunt ....................................................174
SMUGGLERS .............................120
Prowl ...................................................175
Skirmish ..............................................176
THE SCORE 125
Study ....................................................177
PLANNING & ENGAGEMENT ...127 Survey..................................................178
The Detail ...........................................127 Sway .....................................................179
Item Loadouts ....................................127 Tinker ..................................................180
Engagement Roll ................................128 Wreck ..................................................181
Linked Plans .......................................131
PLAYERS’ BEST PRACTICES ....182
Flashbacks...........................................132
Giving Up On a Score .......................133 RUNNING THE GAME 187
TEAMWORK .............................134
GM GOALS ................................187
EXAMPLE SCORE .....................137
GM ACTIONS ............................188
DOWNTIME 145 GM PRINCIPLES .......................193
GM BEST PRACTICES ..............194
PAYOFF .....................................146
GM BAD HABITS ......................197
HEAT .........................................147
Incarceration ......................................148 STARTING THE GAME .............201
Prison Claims .....................................149 Starting Situation ...............................204
ENTANGLEMENTS ...................150 THE DARK FUTURE .................206
DOWNTIME ACTIVITIES ........153
STRANGE FORCES 209
VICE ..........................................156
Th e Unquiet Dead .............................210
Stress Relief.........................................156
Devils ..................................................210
Indulging Your Vice ..........................156
Whispers .............................................211
DOWNTIME ACTIVITIES Hulls ....................................................211
IN PLAY ....................................158 Vampires .............................................211
NPC & Faction Downtime ...............158 Demons ...............................................212
Downtime Activities Summary .......159 Summoned Horrors ..........................213
Spirit Characters ................................213 Coalridge ............................................264
Crow’s Foot .........................................266
GHOST ......................................214
Th e Docks ...........................................268
HULL .........................................216 Dunslough ..........................................270
Nightmarket .......................................272
VAMPIRE ..................................218
Silkshore .............................................274
MAGNITUDE ............................220 Six Towers ...........................................276
Whitecrown ........................................278
RITUALS ...................................222
Sample Rituals ....................................223 OVERHEARD IN DUSKWALL ...280
CRAFTING ................................224 FACTIONS .................................283
Sample Creations ...............................226
VICE PURVEYORS ....................299
Sample Special Formulas ..................227
Sample Gadgets & Special Plans ......227 STREETS ...................................300
Crafting Example ...............................228
BUILDINGS ...............................301
CHANGING THE GAME 229 PEOPLE .....................................302
Expanding the Scope.........................230 DEVILS ......................................304
Tweaking What’s There .....................231
SCORES .....................................306
Making Something New ...................233
ADVANCED ABILITIES THE SHATTERED ISLES 308
& PERMISSIONS .......................234
World Map..........................................309
Iruvian Sword Arts ............................234
Th e Forgotten Gods ...........................234
U’DUASHA 310
The Path of Echoes ............................235
Bound to the Demon ........................235 A Brief History of U’Duasha ............312
Cultures ...............................................313
DOSKVOL 237
Languages ...........................................313
Celestial Fires .....................................315
A Brief History of Doskvol ...............238
The Demon Princes ...........................316
Cultures ...............................................239
Law & Order.......................................317
Languages ...........................................239
The Underworld ................................318
Lights in the Darkness ......................240
Energy of Duskwall ...........................242
U’DUASHA MAP .......................320
Weather, Calendar, & Seasons .........245
Landmarks & Districts ......................321
What is There to Eat in Duskwall? ....246
Betu’at ..................................................322
Law & Order.......................................248
Iyanu’at ................................................324
Th e Underworld ................................250
Sukru’at ...............................................326
Academia ............................................251
U’du .....................................................328
Th e Haunted City ..............................252
Vaasu’at ...............................................330
DOSKVOL MAP.........................254
Landmarks & Districts ......................255 FACTIONS .................................332
Barrowcleft .........................................256
VICE PURVEYORS ....................340
Brightstone .........................................258
Charhollow .........................................260
Charterhall .........................................262 INDEX .......................................352

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CHAPTER 1
the basics
THE GAME
Blades in the Dark is a game about a group of daring scoundrels building a
criminal enterprise on the haunted streets of an industrial-fantasy city. There
are heists, chases, escapes, dangerous bargains, bloody skirmishes, deceptions,
betrayals, victories, and deaths.
We play to find out if the fledgling crew can thrive amidst the teeming threats of
rival gangs, powerful noble families, vengeful ghosts, the Bluecoats of the City
Watch, and the siren song of the scoundrels’ own vices.
THE SETTING
The game takes place in the cold, foggy city of Doskvol (aka Duskwall or “the
Dusk”). It’s industrial in its development. Imagine a world like ours during the
second industrial revolution of the 1870s—there are trains, steam-boats, printing
presses, simple electrical technology, carriages, and the black smog of chimney
smoke everywhere. Doskvol is something like a mashup of Venice, London, and
Prague. It’s crowded with row-houses, twisting streets, and criss-crossed with
hundreds of little waterways and bridges.
The city is also a fantasy. The world is in perpetual darkness and haunted by
ghosts—a result of the cataclysm that shattered the sun and broke the Gates
of Death a thousand years ago. The cities of the empire are each encircled by
crackling lightning towers to keep out the vengeful spirits and twisted horrors
of the deathlands. To power these massive barriers, the titanic metal ships of
the leviathan hunters are sent out from Doskvol to extract electroplasmic blood
from massive demonic terrors upon the ink-dark Void Sea.
You’re in a haunted Victorian-era city trapped inside a wall of lightning powered
by demon blood.
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The point of all this is to create a pressure-cooker environment for our criminal
escapades. Traveling outside the lightning barrier is a very bad idea, so it’s
impractical to “leave town and wait for the heat to die down” after you pull off a
score. Everything the players choose to do has consequences for their characters
and shifts the balance of power around in the city—driving the action for a
sandbox style of roleplaying game. For a full guide to Doskvol, see page 237.
THE PLAYERS
T Each player creates a character and works with the other players to create the crew
H
E to which their characters belong. Each player strives to bring their character to
B life as an interesting, daring scoundrel who reaches boldly beyond their current
A
S safety and means. This is the players’ core responsibility: they engage with
I
C the premise of the game, seeking out interesting opportunities for crime in the
S
haunted city—taking big risks against powerful foes and sending their characters
into danger.
The players work together with the Game Master to establish the tone and style of
the game by making judgment calls about the mechanics, dice, and consequences
of actions. The players take responsibility as co-authors of the game with the GM.
For more, see Players Best Practices, page 182.
THE CHARACTERS
The scoundrels attempt to develop their crew from a ragtag group of poor independents
to a serious criminal organization with established turf. They do this by taking illegal
jobs from clients, planning their own devious missions, making alliances, destroying
their enemies, and trying to stay one step ahead of the law. There are several character
types to choose from, each representing a different style of scoundrel:
 Cutters are intimidating fighters.  Lurks are stealthy infiltrators.
 Hounds are deadly sharpshooters  Slides are manipulators and spies.
and trackers.  Spiders are devious masterminds.
 Leeches are tinkerers, alchemists,  Whispers are arcane adepts.
and saboteurs.
Character types aren’t unique. You can mix and match, or play a crew that is all
of one type. It’s up to you. For more, see Character Creation, page 51.
THE CREW
In addition to creating scoundrel characters, you’ll also create the crew by
choosing which type of criminal enterprise you’re interested in exploring. The
crew gets its own “character sheet,” just like a player character.
 Assassins are killers for hire.  Hawkers sell illegal products.
 A Cult serves a forgotten god.  Smugglers transport contraband.
 Bravos are thugs and extortionists.  Shadows are thieves and spies.
The crew type isn’t restrictive (you can pursue a variety of activities); it’s there to
help focus the game play. For more on crews, see page 91.
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