GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Arthur Velwest, Paul Stefko, A. M. Queue, Lissanne Lake
System: Blades in the Dark: Dagger Isles
Metatopia offers a kind of playtest that (as far as I know) is unique to the con. The High Test is a chance to put a game in front of designers specifically to get critical feedback. Here was my pitch.
This high test will focus on the campaign structure of the game. Rather than playing a single score, I’d like to review the scores scoundrels can make to take back their home and escalations that will follow form the Empire in response. I’d like folks that are familiar with Blades in the Dark as well as other games with long form campaign structures (like Burning Empires or Band of Blades).
And so we did. We played seven scores in an hour and emulated how the new empire sheets and Fractures worked. It was my chance to see what long term play would look like in a condensed format.
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Feedback
- If we keep the model of going up in tier after enough fractures are made, we’ll need to do something with rep. Could use the Vigilantes option to spend it like currency? We could also use a hybrid approach that requires a full rep track and completing a certain number of Fractures.
- Could use Rep with Daggerites, but not with Imperials. They want coin.
- Some Fracture Names are confusing
- Hated by Daggerites sounds like it’s the crew that is hated. Consider Inflamed People or Daggerites Rise Up
- Leaders -> Consider Assasination or Remove Leader
- Slow to Act -> Sounds more like Sabotage and vice versa. Suggest changing it to Sabotage and changing Sabotage to something like Calm Imperial Aggression
- Internal Conflicts -> Something to make it clear that its conflicts with the Imperial leaders (not the Daggerites)
- Players only picked Fractures the whole game. Claims currently feel unimportant. Add to Claims (on crew sheets): Mutual Aid. Fractures can be how they break the empire, Claims can be how they preserve their home. Examples might raise faction tier/status or banyan rating. This might also have slower escalation.
- Having gangs that could do secondary scores was desirable.
- What if you want to skip ahead in the Fractures. Going right to assassinate the leader for instance. GM advice on handling that.
- Really liked the incremental advancement of both the Empire and the Scoundrels
- One player (not familiar with Blades) thought the fixed options felt like a board game. Do we include the option to: strike a blow (Fractures), help your people (Claims), and something else that is a wildcard (like normal scores in Blades)?
- Recommendation to look at how Brinkwood and The Watch handle the campaign structure.
- What to do with Make Your Mark? Take out a minor leader (Nuncio, Keel, etc).
- Fractures: Liberation, Contraband, Sabotage, Make your Mark, Sabotage, Hated by Daggerites, Leader
Out of contest this probably doesn’t mean much, but it was incredibly valuable to me. Thanks playtesters!
