Blades in the Dark
Originally created by John Harper
A crew of scoundrels gathers round a stolen blueprint as they plan their big score. Their target has them outnumbered and outgunned; they’re just a no-name street gang up against the rich and powerful. But they have something their mark never expects: the stone-cold audacity. The guts to risk everything. And a desperate hunger to get rich or die trying. Blades in the Dark is a tabletop roleplaying game about building a criminal empire in the industrial fantasy city of Duskwall. Inspired by video games like Thief, Dishonored, and Bloodborne, as well as crime drama films and television like Heat, Breaking Bad, and Peaky Blinders, players create scrappy scoundrels who commit crimes in a haunted city. They might play a smooth-talking Slide, a bloody Cutter, an ingenious Leech, or a weird Whisper (among others) to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top. They’ll also create a Crew, the gang they operate, and which, through a series of criminal jobs, will attempt to conquer the city’s underworld. One player, the Game Master (GM), takes on the role of the world those players inhabit; they’ll play as the rival gangs, wealthy nobles, and corrupt Bluecoats that pressure the player characters from all sides; the haunted, sunless, industrial city of Duskwall; and the ghosts, demons, and occult forces that lurk behind it all.
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Blades in the Dark Reviews (28)
See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Blades in the Dark
Sean Foer
New review
Ran 50 sessions
Blades in the Dark is my favorite RPG of all time. Not only is it intuitive for low-prep, high-intensity sandbox play that cuts right to the action, everything it does is aimed squarely at making players feel like capable, daring criminals in your favorite crime drama TV show. It pulls a virtuoso balancing act of faithfulness to an incredibly rich genre, a fantastic setting, and helpful rules, while still opening itself up to improvisation, collaboration, storytelling and worldbuilding to everyone at the table. I love flashbacks so we can act now and plan later. I love resistance so we can laugh in the face of danger. I love devil's bargains so we can make our own lives harder in the service of our ambitions. I love the crew sheet so the whole table is bought in to our shared goals as a criminal enterprise. I love clocks so we can see encroaching threats and build tension as they get closer and closer. I love position and effect so we can clearly set the stakes before the dice hit the table. I love the factions letting players play politics and turn their enemies against each other. This game does everything I want and more. You owe it to yourself to give it a shot!
Skuliver
Ran 20 sessions
Q: What is it? A: Story forward, highly collaborative play as a criminal organization (or cult) in a post cataclysmic event, dark fantasy setting, with steampunk elements which is SOOOOO so very haunted. Q: What for I like best about it? A: Each group will have different experiences as they set up their instance of the city of Duskvol. There are so many factions in the city and depending on what your group does, they will be friendly neutral or hostile (sometimes VERY hostile) There is a flow to the game of picking a job, trying to set the crew up for success, running the job and then dealing with payment, recovery and fallout from how it went. each of these is like a long phase and distinct from the others. No two groups are likely to have the same exact experience and there are no set Scenarios. There is also a fair degree of latitude on skill use. Q:What makes it challenging for some players? A: Well, it's not D&D 5th. It's also tonally dark in all ways. there can be humor but this game is like the mind baby of Arcane, Peaky Blinders and Penny Dreadful. There is only so much to do in character creation from jump and doing the crime can mean doing the time, slowly or crumbling from a life of vice and violence. Characters have a certain amount of stress to spend in a job, when it's gone, they are out of the job. They may have run, they may have passed out in some corner of the city. If they push too hard or take actual harm this can slowly change them physically and mentally. For people willing to embrace this "get rich or die trying" aspect of the game, this provides lots of deeper role play opportunities. If you want to play a super hero in a high fantasy setting, this game is not the place for that.
Dudley B
When ran as intended, the player is licensed to directly influence the narrative, plus Doskvol is a beautiful place for all kinds of mischief, revenge, and justice.
Jonathan
If you like heists and on the fly creative thinking, this is the system for you. My only dislike is how repetitive the loop seems at times.
Ginger GM
My go to system. Without out a doubt my favorite system of all time with a setting and tone that can be dark and gruesome or a hilarious disaster. One of its main draws is having zero prep for the GM; and making the party as a whole its own character, incentivizing everyone to work and grow as a team. When I want a rules light game I pull out blades. But the system is not all sunshine and rainbows, it is particularly difficult to get into, if you only have traditional systems in your background. The games rules are also more of a tool box then a system. No GM runs blades the same way, even more so than with other systems. Playing blades requires you to find your own style and to pick and drop mechanics and aspects as it suits your table.
Your GM Chandler
The best mechanic in BitD is one where the characters go on an adventure and don't plan everything they need because in the moment the player can do a 'flashback' and retroactively explain why they have something just right for the moment. This fosters creativity, on-the-spot improvisation and can lead to funny and outrageous moments at the table. Lots of fun! The other mechanics in the game range from very good to satisfactory. The game setting of BitD is not particularly exciting for me personally so it gets 3 out of 5 stars.
How to Play Blades in the Dark
Become a master criminal with this comprehensive (and entertaining!) video explaining Blades in the Dark in detail and including an extensive example of play.
The core mechanic is the Action Roll, where players roll a pool of d6s, the size of which is determined by their rating in the relevant action, and may be increased by spending resources, using special abilities, or getting help from a fellow scoundrel. Only the highest result counts, and if it's a 1-3, the action goes wrong, and the character faces consequences. If it's a 4 or 5, the character succeeds, but still faces the consequence. On a 6, the character gets what they want and avoids consequences. If they happen to roll multiple 6s, it's a critical success with an additional bonus or edge! If the action was only a part of achieving a larger goal, it might fill in segments of a clock, a track of 4-12 segments that allows visualization of complex obstacles, countdowns to consequences, or an approaching threat, like a patrol of cops, the suspicion of your target, or the alarm being raised from too much noise.
Characters have a resource called Stress, which they can spend to push themselves to use bonus dice or special abilities, as well as perform flashbacks, where they can reveal actions they've already taken to prepare for or overcome a challenge they're facing now. They can also use stress to resist consequences. This allows scoundrel player characters to take wild risks, act now and plan later, and laugh in the face of danger! Rather than spend hours making a plan for a job that gets thrown away as soon as things go wrong, Blades in the Dark lets players dive into the action and plan retroactively for the challenges that actually arise.
Play in Blades in the Dark comes in phases: free play, where players interact with other PCs and NPCs, gather information, and seek opportunities; the score, where they undertake daring criminal operations; and downtime, where they unwind, indulge their vices, work on long-term projects, and manage the heat on their operation. Players have not only their character to play, but also their crew, the shared criminal enterprise the whole party is a part of. As the crew grows and expands, they'll have to deal with greater threats and take on even more ambitious jobs.
How to Create A Character for Blades in the Dark
Players from the Oxventure actual play walk through creating a character for Blades in the Dark in this video.
To start, choose a playbook for your character, a general criminal archetype like the Slide (the face), the Lurk (the sneak), the Cutter (the muscle), the Whisper (the weird one), among others! Then you'll pick your heritage and background, where your family came from among the Shattered Isles of Blades in the Dark's setting, and what you did before you turned to a life of crime. Next, you'll assign your "action dots," which improve your ratings in the twelve actions of Blades in the Dark. The more dots you have, the more dice you roll when taking that action. Some of these will come from your playbook, but you'll also get a handful of extras to distribute based on your character concept. You also get a special ability, a unique talent or edge that helps you play into your criminal archetype. Next, you get a selection of criminal contacts, and choose one to be your close friend and one to be your rival. Maybe you've befriended a psychonaut and angered a demon...or the other way around! And every scoundrel has a vice, a dangerous habit they turn to when they need to blow off steam or unwind from their dangerous lifestyle. You'll choose your vice, whether its drugs, luxury, family, faith, or something stranger.
Finally, you'll pick a name for your scoundrel. Their given name is important, of course, but far more fun is coming up with their alias, a cool criminal street name that will come to be their identity as it adorns police reports, wanted posters, and the fearful whispers of the citizenry.
Once everyone's characters are complete, you'll then get to create your crew: the criminal enterprise you're all a part of, complete with its own character sheet and special abilities everyone benefits from!
Frequently asked questions about Blades in the Dark
Explore Blades in the Dark Classes
Cutter
This is the fighter of the team. The Cutter can take more hits than other characters and command allies to push past their limits. This Playbook also allows you to use spirit energy to grapple spirits with your bare hands.
Hound
While it’s usually best for a crew to stick together, sometimes a lone warrior needs to scout ahead or track an enemy. The Hound excels at this set of skills. This Playbook gives you tools for tracking, sharpshooting, and surviving in hostile environments.
Leech
If you like the techie characters in heist movies, the Leech is for you. They excel in preparing gadgets and alchemical solutions even when under a short deadline. You can use certain Leech skills can also help you act as a saboteur, planting destructive devices that detonate quietly.
Slide
The Slide is your fast talker and master of disguise. Slide into a location, talk up that crucial contact, and get out before the guards even notice you were there. Their communication skills are so honed that they can even talk to ghosts!
Spider
Here’s the Playbook for those who like being the mastermind. The Spider has several ways of bailing teammates out of danger by planning for just that moment. You don’t actually have to be a genius to play the Spider, however; your master plans come out in the form of enhanced dice rolls.
Whisper
BitD is seen as a heist game, but there’s a strong supernatural element to the world as well. The Whisper is the best at channeling those ghostly powers. These abilities let you summon entities, control ghosts, and even summon storms.
Virtual table tops for Blades in the Dark (VTTs)
Blog links about Blades in the Dark
How to Create a Character for Blades in the Dark
A guide to creating a scoundrel, soon to be Doskvol's most wanted.
The Best Virtual Tabletops for Blades in the Dark
If you're seeking to play on the haunted streets of Duskwall online with your friends, you have plenty of options--but which one is best?
Why StartPlaying is Great for Learning Blades in the Dark
Go from zero to (anti)hero in a single session by finding a GM on StartPlaying who will show you how to dive right in to doing crime in Blades in the Dark.