Luck in Electric Bastionland

I had an idea to use the Luck Roll in Electric Bastionland together with other mechanics to add a little spice and reward players who avoid damage.

First draft of World of Ultraviolet

I put together my first playtest document for World of Ultraviolet this weekend; we'll give it a shot this coming Saturday. Here are the principles behind it and a quick summary of how it works.

Dangers and complications for Blades in the Dark

As I’ve previously noted, my Blades in the Dark games require low amounts of preparation. One of the reasons that can work is that I try to have reusable prep. When a score comes up, or when free play gets dangerous, I need to have a list of dangers (complications, consequences, etc.) already handy. These … Continue reading Dangers and complications for Blades in the Dark →

Lessons Learned in the Dark

As my first full season of Blades in the Dark comes to a close, I took some time to write down my thoughts on John Harper's fantastic game. For clarity, this represents only my personal opinion, and on balance this remains one of my very favorite role-playing games in both mechanics & setting. I will … Continue reading Lessons Learned in the Dark →

Ritual: Ghost Ward

This is a ritual I created together with my friend Jessie, a player in my Blades in the Dark campaign, for her Whisper character "Aleizabel" ("Eyes"). "White Ghosts Walk in a Row" by Florence Harrison 1. What does the ritual do and how is it weird? The ritual wards the caster and someone else from … Continue reading Ritual: Ghost Ward →

Thinking about active invitations

At one of the PAX Unplugged panels on racism in TTRPGs this weekend, something was said that sort of crystallized some thoughts I've had floating around in my head about making sure my games aren't all white folks. it's not enough to do an "open call" - I need to reach out specifically to folks … Continue reading Thinking about active invitations →

Blades in the Dark preparation

NB: The following is based on a comment I wrote on The Gauntlet forums. That thread has other people's advice as well and is worth reading! Photo by Isis França I do very little prep for my Blades in the Dark campaign, Doskvol Dalliances. Before the game, I take a look at any existing faction … Continue reading Blades in the Dark preparation →

Pacing for Blades in the Dark

I've now run three sessions of Blades in the Dark for my "Doskvol Dalliances" campaign. The first two had some serious pacing problems in various ways; the third session finally started to get the pacing I want. The short version of this is that you should leave plenty of time for the Downtime phase. In … Continue reading Pacing for Blades in the Dark →

Doskvol Dalliances: Session 1

My new Blades in the Dark streamed campaign launched this weekend! The video is at the end of the post, but I'll summarize things here. Doskvol, by John Harper, based on "Shipping on the Clyde (1881)" by John Atkinson Grimshaw First, we ran through safety tools. We talked about the CATS method: Concept, Aim, Tone, … Continue reading Doskvol Dalliances: Session 1 →

Looking for Players: Doskvol Dalliances

UPDATE (Sep 9): I have enough players for now but will open up new spaces as schedules evolve! You’re in a haunted Victorian-era city trapped inside a wall of lightning powered by demon blood. “Blades in the Dark is a game about a group of daring scoundrels building a criminal enterprise on the haunted streets … Continue reading Looking for Players: Doskvol Dalliances →