Blades In The Dark
Originally created by John Harper, One Seven Design
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, or TTRPG, 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 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 (27)
See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Blades In The Dark
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.
Jonathan
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.
Dirk
Probably the best game for running heists out there. Fairly quick to learn. And just a lot of fun.
How to play Blades in the Dark
Players roll pools of six-sided dice based on their character’s skill and take the highest roll; a 6 is a complete success, a 4–5 a success with consequences, and a 1–3 is a failure. Players can also spend a resource called Stress to boost their rolls, activate special abilities, and even flashback to plan retroactively. In addition to controlling their individual characters, players also collectively control their crew, a gang of scoundrels fighting to carve themselves a place in the haunted city of Duskwall.
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.
