Blades in the Dark tip: Narration should come from a place of knowledge,
Super simple, but maybe not clear, so let me unpack. In many games, narration is close to the surface, with the expectation that things will be *revealed* in play. In Blades, this is backwards.
Super simple, but maybe not clear, so let me unpack. In many games, narration is close to the surface, with the expectation that things will be *revealed* in play. In Blades, this is backwards.
In Blades - on a job in particular - the *assumption* is that characters have done their due diligence and legwork, so when an element is introduced, the narrator can reflect that with an "as you know, bob...", albeit cooler.
In most games, you might describe an imposing door.
In Blades, you would describe the door as a Wilson and Finch 9 tumbler lock with an etheric snap back mechanism which has three keys, one held by the mark, one by his chief of security and one in the W&F offices.
In Blades, you would describe the door as a Wilson and Finch 9 tumbler lock with an etheric snap back mechanism which has three keys, one held by the mark, one by his chief of security and one in the W&F offices.
Do not wait around for players to *ask* this stuff. And, players, if your GM does wait for you to ask this stuff, then don't ask, just narrate it yourself.
This may sound weird, but there are actually very strong examples of this approach to be found in fiction. For example, I loved Burn Notice, and if you narrate things the way Michael Weston would describe them to the audience, you're on the right track.
But pick the voice that works for you. Timothy Hutton giving a briefing? Mission: Impossible voiceover? Ron Howard snarky remarks? Whatever.
Because in Blades the question is almost never *can* they crew do a thing, but *how* will they do it (and *what* happens as a result)
Because in Blades the question is almost never *can* they crew do a thing, but *how* will they do it (and *what* happens as a result)
Now, you don't *have* to do this.
You can run things straight, and if all you ever do is use the flashback mechanic to save trouble on inventory management, it will work fine.
But if you narrate richly, then you give the flashbacks *fuel*, and you will be rewarded.
You can run things straight, and if all you ever do is use the flashback mechanic to save trouble on inventory management, it will work fine.
But if you narrate richly, then you give the flashbacks *fuel*, and you will be rewarded.
As a GM, this will make your life easier in many ways.
As a player, the fact that you don't need to *plan* a job makes everything WAY faster and easier. But as a GM, you still need to come up with an interesting job, and there are some curious challenges to that.
As a player, the fact that you don't need to *plan* a job makes everything WAY faster and easier. But as a GM, you still need to come up with an interesting job, and there are some curious challenges to that.
Making a job interesting is totally doable, but also making it feel different from every other job is the trick. if you've run any number of B&E jobs, you discover the same thing that the makers of stealth video games do - you need a differentiator.
And knowing this, you can plan for it, but you will not always have *time* to plan for it. Especially if the logic of the job seems like it's a very short path. "break in and steal the widget"
A few pieces of rich narration used to fuel flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks, because why not?" allows the *job* to be very short and simple while still letting the *play* experience be rock solid fun,
Ultimately, take your biggest lesson from the BitD book itself: Give people enough information to make their own coolness, and if the engine's not running, then give them just a little more until it catches.
