PDA

View Full Version : Blades in the Dark - One Shots



Black Hammer
October 30th, 2017, 21:26
Since apparently Blades in the Dark is the new hotness, I figured I'd give it a try here on FG, since there doesn't seem to be too much PbtA or related stuff going on.

I'm looking to run a couple of one-shots to help me figure out what I'll need for a decent MoreCore set as well as running a campaign in general.

License: Ultimate
Time: I'm pretty flexible; mainly looking for afternoons or early evening EST most days. Once I get three or more people agreeing on a time, I'll go ahead and schedule a session.

System: To quote the book, Blades in the Dark is a game about a group of daring scoundrels building a criminal enterprise on the haunted streets of an industrial-fantasy city. There are heists, chases, escapes, dangerous bargains, bloody skirmishes, deceptions, betrayals, victories, and deaths.

It plays very differently than most traditional RPGs, with an emphasis on narrative elements and roleplaying instead of tactical combat. The system is relatively easy to learn, as most of the character information is baked into the character sheets.

Number of players: 3+ to get a session going
Game duration: One shot sessions, probably around four hours each

damned
October 31st, 2017, 02:32
If you need any help working out how to best set out your character sheet and rolls in MoreCore ping me up. Am happy to help you get it setup but Im unlikely to be able to join a game due to all the other stuff real life throws at me. Can do a theme for it for you too.

Black Hammer
November 1st, 2017, 02:59
I appreciate the offer, and I'll probably take you up on it if I get far enough along to have a better sense of what I want automated.

Ctmega
November 1st, 2017, 14:36
I am in to play... Interested in learning the system. Please let me know.

Thanks!

Black Hammer
November 2nd, 2017, 01:38
Cool. I have some interest elsewhere, so are there any times that work better for you?

Black Hammer
November 2nd, 2017, 03:48
I've decided to stick to straight MoreCore to start with, and I'll gradually work up a more sophisticated extension as time goes on.

Got a character sheet mostly set up:
21282

And here are my clocks, version 3:
21283

Final version of the clocks, I'm going to try drawing up some stylized Steampunk/Gothic clock face, then use a token as the hands. Since tokens can rotate by default, it'll be an easier way to mark time than making a full set of eighths and sixths filling up.

damned
November 2nd, 2017, 04:08
I downloaded an earlier quick start rules but havent had tome to read yet.

What are the main dice rolls it uses and how do you calculate success?
And how does combat work?

damned
November 4th, 2017, 07:56
Heres a start on the theme...

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=21355&d=1509590788

21355

And the extension.
Havent done anything with clocks. Suggest you might want to use the MoreCore - Dice Pool extension too.

Black Hammer
November 4th, 2017, 18:41
Ooh, that's all kinds of pretty. Looks way better than what I was slapping together piece by piece, since I've never tried something as complicated as a full reskin with an extension.

I'm making progress on the clock design. My design goals with those so far are:

1. Need to be changeable on the fly
2. Players need to be able to see most, if not all, the clocks at once
3. Need to be able to mark quarters, sixths, and eighths easily

Right now the plan is to have a single large image sheet with blank clocks on it, then I'll use the Image Label Extension to name them when they are created and then use fractional (1/4, 3/6, etc) tokens to mark them being advanced. I considered using a simple set of clock hands as a token and just rotating it to advance, but that's less visually obvious than the book style of just filling in the clock entirely.

Black Hammer
November 4th, 2017, 23:51
Here's the current setup I'm messing with for clocks:

21358
21359

damned
November 5th, 2017, 00:18
I watched a video of some live play and these scenes dont move fast so I think that will work fine and look good visually.

Black Hammer
November 5th, 2017, 00:24
I watched a video of some live play and these scenes dont move fast so I think that will work fine and look good visually.

Well, the background clocks there are part of the image, not tokens. I can't think of a way to generate custom content in-client that's faster than denoting progress with tokens and adding labels with that extension. Just scribbling a little circle on scrap paper and naming it is quick and easy, but that's the sort of record keeping that doesn't transfer easily into FG, unless I somehow design an entire window from the ground up for the purpose of displaying this stuff.

damned
November 5th, 2017, 00:30
Coding it will require something new and specific so Id do what you are doing.

Black Hammer
November 5th, 2017, 00:43
Coding it will require something new and specific so Id do what you are doing.

Yeah. I think this covers the needed bases. Same reason I'm not worried about automating rolls; the /rolld function could be used to roll several d6 and drop all but the highest, but rolls and most other actions in this game are something you discuss at length before doing, as opposed to more mechanically focused games. In D&D, everyone is constantly rolling predefined pools and modifiers against predefined targets, whereas every roll in BitD has to have its action rating, position, effect level, and bonuses determined before dice are picked up.

damned
November 9th, 2017, 15:05
Ok... so... I spent some time on this but before I go further in the direction I am...
Can you test this out - is it better to have all the clocks on one page or have each one in its own window (like I have now)?
If they are all on one page what is an average number of clocks/threats/challenges one might need to track?
What would the rough ratio of clocks be?
3 extreme clocks
6 difficult clocks
6 standard clocks
Would that be enough clocks to see you through?.

Instructions for current beta extension.
GM click Library and tick Clocks
Create new Clock and name it and click the complexity (at the moment you need to close and open to save the name)
Right click and share.
Click the clock to advance it.
If you shared the clock on the wrong complexity right click and close for all, open and click the correct complexity and right click and share.

damned
November 9th, 2017, 16:25
Ok Ive fixed this bit:


If you shared the clock on the wrong complexity right click and close for all, open and click the correct complexity and right click and share. (thanks ianmward)

but will wait on your direction for single vs many clocks before I upload and go further.

Black Hammer
November 9th, 2017, 17:45
I don't really know yet. Haven't run enough sessions to have a concrete idea of what I want yet, to be honest.

Imiri
November 26th, 2017, 09:59
Ok Ive fixed this bit:

(thanks ianmward)

but will wait on your direction for single vs many clocks before I upload and go further.

The extension is also useful for other games that need tracking.

Stryfe484
March 2nd, 2018, 02:36
I see it has been awhile since a post has been made in here. Have you all released an extension for this? I recently played a one-shot of this game on Roll20. I wondered if anything had been done on FG. I am loving this system!

damned
March 2nd, 2018, 03:14
I havent played the game so I need others to guide me...
I have a basic clock working - once 3.3.5 comes out the clock slices can go forward and backward (not sure if that is required - it will be for City of Mist if I get around to adding interactive spectrums)...
Clocks can have 4/6/8 slices (though I think we may actually require 10 slices too?).
Clocks are shared by GM and players can view but not alter them.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=22463

damned
March 2nd, 2018, 03:16
And stop consorting elsewhere!
You dont get clocks like these just anywhere!

Stryfe484
March 2nd, 2018, 11:53
Haha! Someone was running a one shot for charity, so I jumped on it. I have the Ultimate license, so FG is my platform of choice!

As far as the clocks go, and I've only played once, I believe they only increase. However, it WOULD be nice to have the ability to go backward in case you accidentally increase it.

In the book, they have a 4, 6, and 8 slice. I don't see why you couldn't do higher, though.

*Note* I've only played a one-shot and JUST received the book. I'll let you know if I read something different from what I've said above.

damned
March 2nd, 2018, 12:27
Haha! Someone was running a one shot for charity, so I jumped on it. I have the Ultimate license, so FG is my platform of choice!

As far as the clocks go, and I've only played once, I believe they only increase. However, it WOULD be nice to have the ability to go backward in case you accidentally increase it.

In the book, they have a 4, 6, and 8 slice. I don't see why you couldn't do higher, though.

*Note* I've only played a one-shot and JUST received the book. I'll let you know if I read something different from what I've said above.

The things you do for charity!
I thought it was only 4/6/8 too...

Stryfe484
March 3rd, 2018, 02:35
The things you do for charity!
I thought it was only 4/6/8 too...

It IS only 4/6/8. There ARE clocks that you can increase and decrease according to the situation. Still in the beginning of the rules, but I just read through this section.

trenth99
January 17th, 2019, 13:37
There are certain clocks that can regress as well. Tug-of-war clocks can fill and unfilled. They represent turf war & control situations.

Also, is this a plug-in or mod that we can add those clock like features to another game? I'd love to try and modify Skill Challenges in 5E by using a hybrid of this Blades in the Dark clock system

Oberoten
July 27th, 2019, 01:40
Damn(ed) you answered my question almost a year before I had it. May I poke through this and see if I can wrangle out a version for my Ars-Magica set from them?
- Obe

damned
July 27th, 2019, 01:44
Damn(ed) you answered my question almost a year before I had it. May I poke through this and see if I can wrangle out a version for my Ars-Magica set from them?
- Obe

Go for it.

Oberoten
July 28th, 2019, 23:08
28149

Well well well. I went through the code fishing for the bits and bobs could use. This is the first version and I am going to see if I can make it into a 12hour clock tomorrow.

- Obe

hazardousindex
December 3rd, 2019, 18:24
damned,

Wow, thanks for the work on these. I am interested in helping to develop a Blades extension for Fantasy Grounds. I'm an experienced Blades GM, and I can possibly answer any questions you might have on the system or rules. That is, if it's something you're still interested in doing? (I know this is an older thread.)

I might also give it a shot myself using your tutorial videos for rulesets on Youtube (thanks for those, too) but my coding skills are....well, let's say they are not as developed as my GM skills! XD

And 4, 6, and 8 segments are fine for the clocks. 10 and 12-segment clocks are rare, and the GM can always make multiple smaller clocks with the same title and share them (a 6 and a 4, or two 6s). Multiple and linked clocks are common in gameplay, though sharing out multiple clocks is fine for that functionality. Tug-of-war clocks, where ticks are added and removed based on rolls, are uncommon but it would be great if they were supported.

Brightmane
January 29th, 2020, 10:46
Hi, I own a copy of the game and although I couldn't help with creating an extension I'm happy to participate in any play-testing that follows.

tenderfoot
March 25th, 2020, 01:56
Hi all,

Stumbled upon this thread while looking for a Blades in the Dark custom roll for a Blades game I'd like to GM. I've made a couple attempts at creating a Blades in the Dark custom roll myself, but I lack the fundamental knowledge in LUA to get it working. The /pnp roll is very close to what I think would work (success on 6), but it lacks partial successes on a roll of 4 or 5. You could also use the dice pool system for augmenting rolls depending on the skill ranks, positioning, and other factors that can add dice to a roll. Is there any kind of resource for creating new rolls aside from the section on Adding New Rolls at https://www.diehard-gaming.com/mchelp.html? If not, I'm sure I can figure it out with more training in LUA.

Loving MoreCore so far. Thank you to everyone in this thread for all of your hard work on this!

damned
March 25th, 2020, 03:28
Welcome tenderfoot

Can you, perhaps in the main MoreCore thread, post a detailed description of the roll mechanic including all the things that can impact a roll. Things that change target numbers, change number of dice, add modifiers to etc.
Are rolls opposed, are they against a variable target, a static target?
And also how a roll should report its results?

tenderfoot
March 25th, 2020, 04:49
Welcome tenderfoot

Can you, perhaps in the main MoreCore thread, post a detailed description of the roll mechanic including all the things that can impact a roll. Things that change target numbers, change number of dice, add modifiers to etc.
Are rolls opposed, are they against a variable target, a static target?
And also how a roll should report its results?

Posted the basics here: https://fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?34860-MoreCore-Ruleset/page199. Thank you!

John Bull
March 28th, 2020, 07:23
Have you got a game set up?
I am more into role playing than systems.
Let me know if you needs players.