Originally posted by Manbearcat
Much of what is going on (from a basic resolution standpoint) in Blades is what we've been doing in other PBtA games, just more formalized and codified. Position and its status of Desperate, Risky, and Controlled have "always existed", its just that they've been handled implicitly during play or explicitly in the course of conversation rather than having the game jargon to rely on (I prefer Blades way of doing it).
So in Blades your going with the game-tech Consequences of:
Desperate = Harm 3 (or deadly), 3 ticks on a Clock.
Risky = Harm 2, 2 ticks on a Clock.
Controlled = Harm 1, 1 tick on a Clock.
Then you're extrapolating from there using rough equivalents for the various situations where Harm and "Clock-ticking" aren't the best Consequences (which will be a fair amount of the time) for stuff going wrong. And a fair amount of play is about whether players want to accept the proposed Consequences or make Resistance Rolls to suffer Stress but lessen the Consequences you give them (so you just step down to the next equivalent fictional escalation of the situation). Effectively this gives them the power to turn the classic 6- result into a 7-9 by (almost surely) paying some Stress (with a narrow chance of paying 0 and a narrower still chance of clearing 1 Stress).
Push, Devil's Bargain, and Resistance is a huge, player empowering, part of the machinery of the game. They give the players a lot of control over (a) the manifestation of their archetype and (b) the trajectory of the fiction. And this power comes in a very non-intrusive, low-overhead fashion. And honestly, I think most people hung up on process-sim wouldn't have any problem with these widgets because they pretty much stem very naturally from such a mental framework (at least Push and Resistance do).
Failed Risky (and Controlled to a lesser degree) Actions, Resisted Desperate Consequences, and Devil's Bargain (among some other things) are going to be your primary 7-9 snowballing-narrative machinery (note that 2 of those 3 are in the hands of the players!).
In the final analysis, even though I've only run it for about 10 hours of play, I feel confident in saying that, procedurally (and in some of the focus on some truly bloody awesome mini-game stuff), its a bit different than AW, but the feel of play and the snowballing of genre-coherent, exciting action is very much the same. Its sequential set-up is a lot like Torchbearer, so there is that component as well. Then there is the Vice component of play which is akin to Nature in TB or Beliefs in BW. They don't just have to be scoundrel-orthodox habits like Pleasure and Gambling. They can also be things like Faith and Obligation (to a noble cause). So long as they get you into interesting situations/genre-coherent trouble, that is all that is necessary. And you've also got the classically BW xp earned when things are at their worst (Mark xp on a Desperate Action roll). I'm confident you'll enjoy it mightily either GMing or playing.
And if at some point you guys want to try to play online, I should be able to give it a go. I've got free time now and again.
Originally posted by chaochou
I've posted sometimes about my methods for running AW - it always involves a lot of questions. I find a good combination is asking for a descriptor followed by loaded, action generator... like "So who's that old drifter you keep seeing on the edge of town..?" and let them get into describing him or her and then something like. "Yeah, so what did you do that's got her headed your way with a loaded shotgun and a pack of hounds?".
I'd say that was pretty standard Apocalypse World - a back and forth which roughly results in 'Announce future badness'.
Now I haven't got close to the GM section of Blades yet but I wondered if you could give an example (or more!) of your own play, where there might be negotiations, bargaining, interpretation of rolls, consequence, resistance, stress - in other words the resolution system in action.
Alright, I'm going to relay the first moments of the first Score we had in the games I GMed.
- The Crew were
Shadows (Thieves and spies). Playbooks were
Hound (Ranger-ey),
Lurk (Infiltrator-ey Rogue), and
Slide (Face Rogue). They had the following Crew Upgrade and Ability:
Underground Maps and Passkeys: You have easy passage through the underground canals, tunnels, and basements of the city.
Second Story: When you execute a clandestine infiltration, you get +1d to the engagement roll.
-
The Score: A wealthy noblewoman's daughter fell in with a gang who sold her off to a ruthless band of sex peddlers (HFS; Hooks For Slugs) to pay off a debt. She wants her freed and returned and she has the coin to make it worth the risk.
THE ENGAGEMENT
The Plan:
Stealth - Trespass unseen. Detail:
The point of infiltration.
The Bluecoats' (City Watch) courage is easily taken from them, but one thing most of them won't tolerate is illicit sex trade with non-consensual minors so their operation is very underground. Still, the HFS is extremely dangerous and there isn't a chance the authorities would make a move against them on their own turf.
During the Gather Information phase of play (precedes The Score), the Crew uncovered that the HFS sex den was a half-collapsed subterranean mine/canal system; an offshoot from the Coalridge Mine Proper. One of the HFX clients (a now blackmailed Bluecoat) even gave them the layout of the complex including hosting rooms and a secret point of ingress via an old coal chute.
THE ENGAGEMENT ROLL
1d for sheer luck
+ 1d for each Major Advantage
- 1d for each Major Disadvantage
So we settled on +1d because the plan's detail exposed vulnerability, +1d because the operation is particularly bold and daring, +1d because their Underground Maps and Passkeys should get them to the den and the point of ingress easily enough, +1d for Second Story, and -1d for a higher Tier target.
So that is 4d6. A 6 was rolled (only one so not a Critical). That earns them: "You’re in a
Controlled position when the action starts."
So I frame the PCs right into the action with the situation set up for success (it went something like this):
"You worm your way up the grimy ancient chute and peak out into the S&M Closet off the main hall where the hosting rooms are. The weird stink and eerie green glow of unrefined electroplasm haunts the dark of the cramped space as a small hanging lantern creaks on its hook by the door. A gaunt and disheveled lackey is going through a box of macabre devices until finally he finds what he is looking for; <keeping it clean for the faint of heart>. He hefts it over his shoulder and reaches high, struggling to unhook the electroplasm lantern. 'Damnable thing', he mumbles."
CLOCKS
So I had 3 Clocks for this Score; a pair of Linked Clocks for the PCs (Find Her at 6-ticks and Get Her Out at 4-ticks) and The Jig is Up (6-ticks) for HFS.
Lets start with that [MENTION=99817]chaochou[/MENTION]. See how it all comes together so far?
