BitD Fantasy or best FitD game to play fantasy? Tell me about it!

[Eilathen]

Hey everyone,

As the title suggests, I am thinking about taking Blades in the Dark for a spin for a standard fantasy game... . I am pretty sure there are Forged in the Dark games that try that already. Even if it's just a BitD hack at this point and not a polished game yet, please tell me about it.

It does not necessarily need to be DnD like fantasy, btw.
On the other hand, I don't think Band of Blades will be what i need (too focused on the military doom campaign). I'd need something for generic fantasy play.

Thanks in advance for any and all pointers/ideas/opinions/hacks

 

[niklinna]

Blades in the Dark is built around a specific structure of play that is not typical of most fantasy play. If "standard fantasy" includes discrete jobs/scores/missions/delves followed by recovery/downtime, with faction-climbing from the very bottom rung of society/power integral to all that, then you might be able to make it work. Else you'll need to do some heavy drifting and fight against the core design principles. Also, Blades in the Dark focuses very much on the bottom half of the "zero to hero" journey, and is prone to break down mechanically once you're well into Tier III status.

As for existing Forged in the Dark variants, a quick search on Itch revealed this – https://dave-craigen.itch.io/broken-wonders

Edit: Also this – https://bladesinthedark.com/blades-supplements

 

[Carnun]

I haven't played it yet but take a look at the Wicked One's expansion, "Valiant Ones."

 

[Reynard]

Hey everyone,

As the title suggests, I am thinking about taking Blades in the Dark for a spin for a standard fantasy game... . I am pretty sure there are Forged in the Dark games that try that already. Even if it's just a BitD hack at this point and not a polished game yet, please tell me about it.

It does not necessarily need to be DnD like fantasy, btw.
On the other hand, I don't think Band of Blades will be what i need (too focused on the military doom campaign). I'd need something for generic fantasy play.

Thanks in advance for any and all pointers/ideas/opinions/hacks

Any FitD hack is going to be mission based with an emphasis on whatever the (sub)genre most leans into. So, "generic fantasy play" isn't something that FitD is going to do especially well. However, I bet there are some PbtA games that operate closer to generic fantasy, and since FitD is a PbtA hack itself, that should get you close.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I bet there are some PbtA games that operate closer to generic fantasy

Dungeon World or Fellowship seem like the obvious places to start, depending on what one wants out of their fantasy game.

 

[Thondor]

The one I am aware of is "Sig: City of Blades."
This is a planescape like setting "where eternal planes and infinite primes meet." You pick one of the 5 major factions and help them increase their power and influence. You are "clever spies, renegade sorcerers and reckless smugglers."

You can grab a copy here: https://www.composedreamgames.com/marketplace/sig-city-of-blades

 

[overgeeked]

There’s a few options. Band of Blades. Into the Dark. Blades of Xenthra (if it was ever finished). Blades Against Darkness. Dungeons in the Dark. Those are the ones I know about or have heard of.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Hey everyone,

As the title suggests, I am thinking about taking Blades in the Dark for a spin for a standard fantasy game... . I am pretty sure there are Forged in the Dark games that try that already. Even if it's just a BitD hack at this point and not a polished game yet, please tell me about it.

It does not necessarily need to be DnD like fantasy, btw.
On the other hand, I don't think Band of Blades will be what i need (too focused on the military doom campaign). I'd need something for generic fantasy play.

Thanks in advance for any and all pointers/ideas/opinions/hacks

Here’s a pretty good list at this reddit post:

Forged in the Dark Games

It’s not comprehensive, and some of the links may not work anymore, but it’s a good starting point. Most games are easily found with a google searchz

In addition to those listed, I own both Galaxies in Peril (super heroes), and Sig: City of Blades (mentioned above, it’s a hack of Planescape).

There’s also Court of Blades (a courtly intrigue game) and Rebel Crown (a prodigal noble and allies trying to win back the crown), but I’m only passingly familiar with these. Both seem interesting, but I’ve not yet read or played either.

Your best bets are probably:

• Blades Against Darkness- it’s incomplete and you need to have the Blades in the Dark book and familiarity with BitD to run it- probably not worth the effort
• Sig: City of Blades- I’ve not yet played this, but I’ve read it- it should work and will give you the fantasy flavor you want, but it mostly revolves around working for a faction within the planar city of Sig
• Court of Blades- a solid game from what I’ve seen and heard; it may not deliver as strongly on the fantasy element, but that could likely be ramped up to taste
• Rebel Crown- my understanding of this one is that familiarity with BitD is probably best and a copy of the BitD rules is a good idea
• Wicked Ones- this is a decent option but the players take on the roles of monsters in a dungeon, raiding an area and defending against adventurers- I’ve read it but not yet played; it’s a good game. There is also a hack called Valiant Ones, as mentioned above, but that would likely require familiarity with the core game first.

There are likely others out there. Honestly, your best bet is to play Blades in the Dark first and get a handle on that before trying to use any of the hacks.

 

[Eilathen]

Thanks for all the comments!

I think I like the overall mechanical construction of Blades and FitD better than PbtA. If I were to go PbtA, I'd probably use the "fantasy" hack Fallen Empires by Baker himself.

Too bad that some of those FitD games don't have any kind of promotional material. Broken Wonders for example sounds interesting, but there is no demo material at all, just the purchase option.

What just poped into my head: Maybe I need to look at FitD-like games like Wildsea or Spire/Heart? Hmm...

 

[hawkeyefan]

What just poped into my head: Maybe I need to look at FitD-like games like Wildsea or Spire/Heart? Hmm...

I’m familiar with both Spire and Heart, and I’m a huge fan of them. Spire is more of a spy/criminal type game, and Heart is more dungeon delving. Both are fun, and they use the same core system, though there are a few differences.

Because it involves people who delve into a living dungeon, Heart is probably closer to pure fantasy as a result. The classes are strange and unique, but overall it plays out very much like D&D in the sense that resources management, finding the way, and fighting monsters are all important to play.

Let me know if you have questions on either game!