Intro to Blades in the Dark

Blades in the Dark on Discord, Roll20

About the adventure

New and experienced players of RPGs, Blades in the Dark, or any combination of the two welcome and encouraged to join! You must be LGBTQIA+ friendly, and must not be antagonistic to other players in the game. This is a storytelling experience, and it's not fun if some of the storytellers don't feel welcome, like their ideas are not encouraged, or like they are not able to be themselves. Your crew is caught up in a perilous (and possibly profitable) situation in the Crow's Foot district. Roric, the ward boss who ran the criminal operations in Crow's Foot, has been killed. People say it was his second-in-command, Lyssa, who did it. She now controls Roric's impressive gang of cutthroats, who call themselves the Crows. Can Lyssa establish dominance over the district the way Roric did? When Roric died, the peace he had brokered between two enemy gangs fell apart. The Lampblacks and the Red Sashes have once again exploded into open war on the streets. Will their old feud finally be resolved with bloodshed? Your crew is poised to profit from all of this, or be swept up in the chaos and destroyed. Who will you side with? Do you have loyalties and friendships in the mix, or are you detached outsiders coldly exploiting the situation? We'll play to find out!

Additional Details

How to prepare

Roll20 and Discord accounts are required, as are a mic/webcam/smartphone/headphones to hear and talk to other players*. Webcams are not required but are encouraged*, as it enhances the roleplaying experience. If you're not familiar with Blades in the Dark, feel free to read up on the rules, but it's by no means required. Just bring yourself, perhaps a drink and a snack, and an interest in storytelling, learning, and playing! *This game is not play-by-post/text-based, but we all have our off days. If you need to type your responses or turn off your webcam every once in a blue moon, we can accomodate. I would encourage regular voice and video, though, to make the game run smoother for everyone.

What I provide

Roll20 pro account, maps, screenshots, tokens, and anything else that you need to make your game experience successful!

Gameplay details

Blades in the Dark does include a lot of dark themes around magic, death, demons, religion, and other fantasy tropes, as well as murder, crime, drugs, and sex, and some themes that revolve around colonization, racism, sexism, power hierarchies, and various forms of governmental/police violence against citizens. If any of these things are off limits for you, they can be discussed as part of this Session Zero either as a Line or a Veil and we can try to find a way to still enjoy the game without these themes. That being said, there is a difference between in-character actions and out-of-character actions. I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to certain language or actions that either target a player or cause other players at the table, including myself, to feel unsafe, unheard, or otherwise put down. This includes but is not limited to racist, homophobic, sexist, and other oppressive actions or language, and will not be permitted at my table by anyone. Any player who engages in these actions or language will either be removed from the game immediately or will be warned once and then removed from the game if the actions or language continues, depending on the severity of the offense.

Content warnings

Alcoholism
Alcohol Use
Blood
Drugs (addiction, use, withdrawal)
Fire
Guns
Hostages
Kidnapping
Language/Cursing
Murder
Violence
Warfare

Safety tools used

Lines and Veils
Monte Cook RPG Consent Checklist
Open Door
Session 0
X, N, and O Cards

How will character creation work

During our Session Zero, we will create individual characters for each player as well as the overall Crew, a meta-character in Blades in the Dark that encompasses your join ventures together (think of it like a character sheet for the party). The crew, as well as all the characters, will start at Tier/Level 0, so you don't need to create anything beforehand.

Players can expect

• Find a game to join solo or search for a professional game master for you and your friends/coworkers/family.
• Book your session and wait for the Game Master to approve you.
• If you don't have a blast with your first game, your next game is on us.