[IC] A More Game-y Sort Of Game (BitD)

I'm trying to find a GM-ing style that suits me and I'm looking for willing guinea pigs.

What I'd like to try is running a game that feels more like a game. More structured than what I've experienced so far, with more OOC interaction and coordination among the players and the GM and with the cogs of the system more exposed.

The seed of my idea are CYOA books and games like Fallen London - I describe the scene/location/situation and then present the players with several choices. The two main differences are a) because the game is not pre-written I would be able to adapt to the players instead of just funnelling them down the "plot" and b) instead of just saying "I pick option 2", the players would get to write how and why their PC decides to pick that option (a big CYOA pet peeve of mine is the author assuming the player/hero's motivation to pick one option over another. Just because I gave the beggar a coin it doesn't mean I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart, dang it!)

Another thing I'd like to do is cut ingame dialogue to a minimum. I mean actual line-by-line conversation. I find them very hard to write in a way that sounds natural (especially when there are several characters in the scene) and even harder to direct when some goal is supposed to be achieved. Instead of sitting through two weeks worth of posts hoping and praying the PC asks the right question so I can finally have the NPC give them the vital information, I'd much rather have the player state clearly what their goal is and how are they approaching it.

The game want to use to give this a try would be Blades In The Dark. I have been discouraged from running BitD as a PbP game because the mechanics make it somewhat hard to stay in character, but here I am not shying away from going OOC, quite the contrary. It also has a very fitting structure - Scores, small missions which are very focused and goal-oriented, Downtime, which is a bit of a worker-placement minigame, and Freeplay, where the PCs can do their more traditional faffing about, fraternising with minor NPCs and having all the heart-felt conversations I'd be denying them during the Scores.

Fallen London mentioned, must comment. :O

This idea sounds fun, I do love me a lot of OOC chatter. Can't join because I don't have the system, but I'd love to know how it goes! :3 Or, you know, observe. Provide insightful commentary.

Hey!

I'm a big fan of BitD, and I think you're actually making a good choice of system for the type of gamey game you want to run. A lot takes place at the meta level in Blades.

I ran a few sessions worth of it here a few years ago when Blades first came out, and I've ran several sessions for my irl group as well.

Would love to have the opportunity to play - which I haven't had yet!

The Bladed in the Dark SRD should have all the rules you need to play... unless the GM is setting this in the build-in setting, in which case you might be missing a fair bit.

Also, right after it Kicked, or maybe even when the game was still in the process of Kicking ... Evil Hat released a bunch of "Player Kit" rules summaries to the public for free, to try to help the system spread. They contain the basic rules and some fluff on the setting.

I have those pdfs and would share them for personal use with anyone who was interested in playing.

Oh, good to know, thank you both! If Merivel can confirm that I won't need any additional stuff, I wouldn't mind trying this then. :)

The SRD is a good starting point. I'll also be using the new Deep Cuts supplement which makes some changes to the mechanics, but you don't need to own it. I'll post a list of the changes before we start and I'll be explaining stuff as needed during play as well.

The setting will mostly be the stock one, but with some changes as well. There are some things I'd like to "steal" from Dishonored. I'll provide an overview of the setting, the most basic stuff, and I'll be feeding you more as we play. Hopefully with my idea of giving you clear suggestions whenever an action or a decision is required, you won't end up in a position where you couldn't decide what to do because you don't know how the world functions.

@FlyingSucculent I only hope that me mentioning Fallen London hasn't left you with the wrong impression. BitD is also pseudo-Victorian/industrial/darkly magical, but isn't nearly as weird and whimsical as FL. No hookah-smoking tigers, or sentient rats raising giant racing slugs under the floorboards, I'm afraid.

Ah, the hookah tigers, almost forgot about those. Good times.

And yeah, I figured it was a darker setting from the descriptions on the site. But as long as its an original setting and not historical, I'm fine with whatever dark industrial vibes it brings. I shall embrace it and become a factory owner trying to create an underground black market! Or something along these lines? Depending on how grim the mood is, I suppose. Or what will be the story premise.

Oh, speaking of sharing resources. @emsquared you mentioned having ran some BitD here - do you happen to have a template for character sheets? I'll probably be making my own, but I'm not very experienced with it and I would appreciate some ideas of how to put them together.

Actually, that's one of the things I'll be tweaking. Yes, Doskvol is dark and dangerous and there is crime and corruption and so on and so forth, but it's still a place where regular people live their lives. And people always find ways to make their lives bearable, and look for kindness and happiness. It won't be completely GrimdarkTM.

I like it, I'm always in for some happiness and optimism in gloomy settings.
(...and now I'm wanting to give my theoretical factory owner a pet.)

The game pre-dated GP users having the ability to hard code charger sheet formats.

But I do have a purely text-based one...

Here's what it looked like, if you want to use it I can maybe pm you the "scrubbed" bbcode:

*THE HOUND*
NAME:
Dunvil Kallocain
ALIAS:
Dune
CREW TYPE:
Cult
HERITAGE: Iruvian BACKGROUND: Military
VICE/PURVEYOR: Veleris, Iruvian Spymaster (Obligation)
INSIGHT: [X]
[X] | [X] Hunt
| Study
[X] | Survey
| Tinker
PROWESS: [X]
[X] | Finesse
[X] | Prowl
| Skirmish
[X] | Wreck
RESOLVE:
[X] | Attune
[X] | Command
| Consort
| Sway
STRESS:[X][X][X][X][X] TRAUMA:
HARM:
3 [ text ] (Need Help!)
2 [ text ][ text ] (-1D)
1 [ Minor Shock ][ text ] (Less Effect)
HEALING:

ARMOR USES:
- Armor
- Heavy
- Special (text)
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
> Scout: When you gather info to locate a target, you get +1 effect. When you hide in a prepared position or use camouflage, you get +1d to rolls to avoid detection.
> text
> text
ITEMS:
> Hunting Raven, Old King Rube
> Spiritbane Charm
> text
DANGEROUS FRIENDS:
Friend - Veleris, Spymaster
Enemy - Callistege, Bluecoat
LOAD: (Light - 3) (Normal - 5) (Heavy - 6)
- text
- text
- text
- text
- text
- text
PLAYBOOK XP:[X][X]

XP GAINS:
-->When you make a desperate action roll, mark 1xp in the attribute you rolled.
-->You earn xp when you address a challenge with tracking or violence. (1xp for once, 2xp for many times)
-->You earn xp when you express your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background. (1xp for once, 2xp for many times)
-->You earn xp when you struggled with issues from your vice or trauma. (1xp for once, 2xp for many times)

Dune emigrated to Akoros from Iruvia several months ago, bringing much of the desert kingom's strange customs with them. They are covered from head to toe in multiple layers of clothing with a strange hooded cape that covers their lower face with a hardened strip of leather in the shape of a bird's beak. The only darkened skin showing is around the eyes and while they do shine with a foreign intelligence, their dress and their somewhat gravelly voice keeps them shrouded in mystery.

Dune never goes anywhere without their lifetime companion: a trained hunting raven. Dune claims the raven is inhabited by the spirit of Iruvia's oldest despotic warlord, cursed to serve out another lifetime trapped in the body of a bird. However Old King Rube, as Dune calls the raven, is incredibly loyal and indespensible to their operations.

Secretly, Dune is still enlisted in the Iruvian military and they were stationed here in Duskwall to report on the city's infrastructure and factions. They report to Spymaster Veleris here in town regularly on the proceedings of Duskwall's various gangs and coalitions. Double-secretly, Dune fought VERY hard to get this assignment. They began to receive dreams from She Who Thirsts and came to Duskwall in search of the enigmatic cult know as The Hunger who are rumored to commune with her. After paying their dues as a low-level adept cultist they started maneuvering their way into a leadership role with Silver, Smiley, and the Daughter of Want.

You are welcome to quote and steal from my Character and Crew Playbook Templates. They are from before the custom sheets got lots of nice features, but take whatever you find valuable.

Thank you both!

Oh those are still much nicer :)

@vagueGM I took a look at your game too, and boy, was it a harsh reminder of the GP reality. You've put so much work preparing for your game, only for it to fizzle after fewer than 10 posts.

I mean that's a pbp reality, not just GP.

On average, my games at GP have lasted a good bit longer than other pbp mediums I've used actually.

Ok, we have two players, which is perfectly fine by me (unless @vagueGM wants to join also?). I'm going to need some time for prep, let's say a week? To begin with I'm going to run you through a more linear adventure I've used for a game event. We are not going to create a crew, you are going to start as dissatisfied low-rung members in another gang. The adventure will be a bit railroad-y by necessity (I need you to go from score A to B to C) but after that you should be able to go out in the world and do your own thing.

Sounds good to me!
I've been thinking about the character, but I'll need more information about the setting (and chargen changes, if there are any) before making a sheet. Probably will work on the avatar in the meanwhile. :)

Also, a question in advance: are we allowed to make custom playbooks, heritages, backgrounds and NPC contracts? Or only vanilla from the SRD?

You can download the playbooks and such from the website [link], the SRD probably does not have all the options.