Common questions

Is Blades in the dark good?

Is Blades in the dark good?

There is a pace and a lightness to the way it introduces then reinforces its mechanics I think a lot of games could learn from. Blades is a great game and an important one. It’s changed the way I GM and every session I’ve run of it has been an absolute joy, even the ones that faltered a little here and there.

What system does blades in the dark use?

Blades in the Dark

Designers John Harper
Genres Fantasy
Systems Forged in the Dark
Playing time 2 – 6 hours
Random chance Dice rolling

Is Blades in the dark easy to learn?

Character Generation Is Fast and Easy Blades in the Dark hits the ground running with character creation. Once players pick their class,* nearly everything they need to know is right there on the sheet. Every skill* in the game is on the sheet, as are all the special abilities.

How does load work in blades in the dark?

After the plan and detail are in place, each player chooses their character’s load. This indicates how much stuff they’re carrying on the operation. They don’t have to select individual items—just the maximum amount they’ll have access to during the action.

How long is a Blades in the Dark campaign?

A session of Blades in the Dark is like an episode of a TV show. There are one or two main events, plus maybe some side-story elements, which all fit into an ongoing series. A session of play can last anywhere from two to six hours, depending on the preferences of the group.

Is Blades in the Dark PbtA?

Some of whom later outgrew it, many of whom continue to play it years later. City of Mist and Blades in the Dark are my two favorite games (in that order)! Both great picks. But none of them are truly PbtA games, more like descendants, or PbtA-adjacent, if you will.

Is Blades in the Dark powered by the apocalypse?

The Apocalypse World engine was first used in Apocalypse World. We’ve included the Forged in the Dark system which includes Blades in the Dark, Band of Blades and Scum and Villainy as the original Blades in the Dark was heavily influenced and inspired by PbtA. …

What dice do I need for Blades in the Dark?

Blades in the Dark uses six-sided dice. You roll several at once and read the single highest result. If the highest die is a 6, it’s a full success—things go well. If you roll more than one 6, it’s a critical success—you gain some additional advantage.

Is Blades in the Dark good for one shots?

For the sake of anyone who comes across this question in future: Blades in the Dark would work just fine for a one-shot without any particular modifications. Even the most basic mechanic, Stress, isn’t a big deal if you start out with zero Stress, and aren’t likely to reach Trauma in the space of a single session.

How does stress work in blades in the dark?

Player characters in Blades in the Dark have a special reserve called stress. When they suffer a consequence that they don’t want to accept, they can take stress instead. The result of the resistance roll determines how much stress it costs to avoid a bad outcome.

How does armor work in blades in the dark?

If you have a type of armor that applies to the situation, you can mark an armor box to reduce or avoid a consequence, instead of rolling to resist. Silas is taking level 2 harm, “Cut to the Ribs,” and the fight isn’t even over yet, so Ian decides to use Silas’s armor to reduce the harm.

Is Blades in the dark good for one shots?