Image by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Learn to Play Blades in the Dark! 🏳️⚧🏳️🌈
Will you rise to the top of Doskvol's criminal underworld? For when the sun is extinguished, the only thing that shines are the Blades in the Dark
About the adventure
Your fortune is out there, in the criminal underworld of Doskvol, if you are brave enough to take it. You've come together with some other scoundrels and pitched in the last of your coin and resources to form a Crew - and now it's time for your first score. That life of fortune and comfort you've dreamed about? It's there for the taking. It won't be easy though. You'll have to lie, cheat, steal - maybe even kill - to get what you want. Everything in this haunted city is owned by someone else. Nobody gets anywhere without making a few enemies, and by getting your first leg up you've kicked somebody else in the face. You want to get out of town 'til the heat dies down? Good luck - outside the lightning barrier enclosing Doskvol is nothing but blasted wastes and twisted horrors. You want to go to the law? Forget about it - the Bluecoats are the biggest and cruelest gang of them all. There exists no salvation in this broken world. What are you willing to do to get to the top of it? Blades in the Dark is first and foremost *yours*. You will create your crew and characters together, deciding who they are, what their racket is, what assets they have, and who they stepped on to get them. After that, you'll pursue your goals in whatever way you like. I'll portray the world of Doskvol - how other gangs react to your decisions, what plans they put in motion, what entanglements from your past come back to haunt you (sometimes literally). Blades in the Dark is a pressure cooker by design; in order to get what you want you'll need to take it from someone else - there are no good decisions here, only less awful ones. Inspired by media like Peaky Blinders, Thief, Dishonored, Bloodborne, and Gangs of New York, Blades in the Dark mixes swashbuckling action and gothic horror into a potent criminal sandbox. From the estates of wealthy aristocrats, to the canals and sewers of the night markets, to the massive workhouses and factories of industry, Doskvol teems with opportunities for those of flexible morals. Will you find your fortune on the streets of the Dusk?
Game style
Theater of the Mind
Roleplay Heavy
Meet the Game Master
3 years on StartPlaying
182 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Knows the Rules
Average response time: 4 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hi, I'm Clarissa! I've been playing TTRPGs ever since I was a kid, and I've been running games professionally for three years now. I love RPGs for their intersection of game mechanics and collaborative storytelling. My goal is to give each player a space to express their character and contribute to an interlocking narrative. I view myself as a host, contributor, and facilitator of games. My goal is to draw out your good ideas, stir them up in a pot with everyone else's, and play to find out what we get. The play itself is transformative, and creates something wholly unique, that none of us could have imagined or anticipated
View Profile →Reviews (20)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Creativity
Inclusive
Knows the Rules
Having finished the entirety of Abomination Vaults with Clarissa, I definitely recommend her as a GM. We had an amazing time from start to finish with tons of memorable moments. Clarissa walks that fine line between letting players have creative and fun ideas and keeping things on track and fair very well. I'm looking forward to the next campaign I have with Clarissa! Update (100 sessions in): Having played through the entirety of Kingmaker, and many sessions of Urban Shadows, the experience of playing in Clarissa's games continues to impress. She does an amazing job at working with the players to give them their chance to shine, and really puts in the effort to make a story that everyone can enjoy. I highly recommend her as your next Game Master.
Clarissa is a fantastic GM, very knowledable about the rules and able to keep the game moving forward while keeping everyone engaged and entertained. She's also very experienced with Foundry, and helps to build an environment with visuals and soundtracks that replicates some of those features of an in-person game that are sometimes hard to find in an online game. When I come back to StartPlaying next to find a new game, I'm definitely going to see if Clarissa has any spots open and grab one right away.
Clarissa is an excellent world builder and a welcoming and supportive GM. She makes it easy to pick up a new system and creates a great space to be creative, while expertly utilizing the system rules to create dramatic tension and satisfying payoffs. UPDATE AFTER SIX+ MONTHS: gaming with Clarissa just gets better and better. I've now played in two of her campaigns in vastly different systems and each has been uniquely fantastic. In addition to the aforementioned skills, she excels at crafting big dramatic arcs out of our character decisions as if by pure magic!
Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation will be done cooperatively, to ensure that everyone is on the same page about the tone and expectations of the game. You are more than welcome to come to the table with character concepts, but prepared to tweak them if necessary.
Our Crew of Shadows is already embroiled in the ongoing turf war in Crow's Foot! We currently have a Lurk, a Spider, and a Leech diving into their next score.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Please come prepared to session zero with a microphone, a computer, a working internet connection, and a penchant for mischief and mayhem most daring!
What Clarissa brings to the table
In addition to teaching the rules, I provide: - Discord server to coordinate and voice-chat - All relevant rulebooks - Access to FoundryVTT (no download/purchase required), including customizable dice, useful automation, and an ambient soundtrack My experience as a Game Master - 10 years of experience running games - 3 years of running games through StartPlaying - Improv skills and entertaining voices - Professional service every week
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Clarissa creates a safe table
I'll create a safety document containing our lines and veils, which we will review during session zero. During the session, players can use the X Card over voice, chat, or Foundry to signal a pause in the session.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
Additional tables
1 available
Weekly / Monday – 12:00 AM UTC
1 / 5 Seats Filled