Blades in 68′ (7/11/2024)

GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Eric Fattig, and Adrienne Mueller
System: Blades in 68′

We’re doing it. We’re getting the Doskvol Spectral Society back together to play some Blades in the…Light? Blades in 68′ is Tim Denee‘s project that envisions Doskvol 100 years in the future (the year 968). What’s this? Can I get involved? We’re currently doing internal playtests at Evil Hat, but if we launch an open playtest, I’ll share links for it!

Welcome to the Age of Consensus

Doskvol, Akoros. The year 968 A.C. After the leviathans went away, there was a dark period of history. The lightning towers began to fail, and frightened people went to war. There was
Unity War II, and then Unity War III. Now the Imperium as we once knew it no longer exists — Iruvia and Skovlan are their own world powers, while Severos and the Dagger Isles still struggle for full independence from the other nations.

As Unity War III came to an end, electroplasmic fusion was invented. Every major city of the Shattered Isles became wrapped in a bubble, with all the reality-warping danger of the deathlands kept safely out.

Today, supersitition is a thing of the past — this is the Age of Consensus. This is a time of science, rationality, conformity, consumerism and peace.

Or at least, it was.

The horrors of the past may be buried, but only under a thin layer of soil. Progress is here, but only for some. War may be over, but the shadowy game of espionage has never been more heated. Discontent bubbles under the surface and threatens to erupt at any time in any place.

They’ve tried to tell you that the future has arrived and everything is fine now, that it’s not the time to make a fuss. But you know better. You’re a scoundrel, a chancer, a troublemaker. You know the streets and you’re not afraid of danger. The moment is now, everything you’ve dreamed of is within reach.
Don’t look back.

Warmup

After we talked about the world a bit and covered some topics like The Bubble that protected Doskvol, the B.L.U.E. array that created “daylight”, anomalies, old superstitions like ghosts and demons, and The Crown, I read the opening lines of the starting situation The Alluvium Affair:

An anomaly wipes the first half of the score from the timeline. The crew find themselves in media res in a stolen autopod under hot pursuit, with valuable contraband in the backseat and no client to give it to. This starting situation suits crews with connection to the paranormal.

Literally starting off with a bang!

Crew Creation

The crews in Blades 68′ will feel familiar to a Blades in the Dark player, but there isn’t a one-to-one equivalence, which I’m excite about. 68 stands on it’s own:

Hit Squad – CONTRACT KILLERS, DISCREET AND SKILLED ASSASSINS
Militants – ACTIVISTS Pushing For REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE
Utopians – ESOTERIC BELIEVERS USHERING IN AN UNSETTLING VISION
Dealers – PUSHERS WHO ACQUIRE AND SELL ILLEGAL PRODUCT
Heist Team – EXPERT THIEVES WHO EXECUTE ELABORATE CRIMES
Racers – THRILLSEEKERS, SMUGGLERS, DAREDEVILS AND FAMILY

A lot of fun possibilities here. The crew was excited for a James Bond kind of vibe so the went with a Heist Team that focused on Intel Heists. We noted that where wasn’t specifically a “Spy” crew type but after some discussion realized that the Hit Squad, Militants, Heist Team, and even Racers (have you seen The Fate of the Furious?) could certainly work for and/or against some of the Intelligence factions in the game. The scoundrels ended up affiliating themselves with a crime family (The Gallo Family) who allow them to operate grift out of their casino, The Velvet Veil, in exchange for a cut of the proceeds.

Crew creation works similar to that in Blades in the Dark but there are some new sample bases, different crew upgrades, and some base features that don’t have mechanical effects but are nice flourishes. Here’s the Crew:

Dirt Barons

Reputation Daring
Base: Top floor of the Velvet Veil in Silkshore. Includes an aviary on the roof and a black box theater.
Ward Boss: The Gallo Family
Hunting Grounds: The Velvet Veil and surrounding areas
Preferred Operation Type: Intel Heists
Special Ability: Thieves with a Code
Upgrades: Prowess Training Facilities, Hidden Base, Secure Base, and Fine Supplies
Close Contact: Catton, a hotel concierge at the Plaza Imperial Hotel (owned by the Scorpion Syndicate)
Faction Status:
- Gallo Family +1 (they pay the rent and don’t give any fuss)
- The Tomorrow Program -2 (they stole their ultrasonic security system from them)
- Red Torque +1 (Supplied the Fine supplies to Scoundrels with a similar mindset)
- The Scorpion Syndicate -1 (Angry at Catton and by extension his friends, for selling secrets out of the Plaza Imperial)
- Mirror House +1 (Buying secrets from Catton. Favorable to him and by extension

Scoundrels

Naya “Nav” Siketset, the Operative (played by Karen)

Look: Calm and cold
Wearing: Mended by expensive
Heritage: Minor Iruvian Noble
Background: Underworld espionage
Vice: Obligation to keep up appearances with the family and stay out of trouble.
Keys: Professional, Sharp, Confident
Special Ability: Infiltrator (unaffected by quality or Tier when bypassing security measures. When you attack from hiding get +1)
Close Covert Friend: Ankhaya, an Iruvian Diplomat
Covert Rival: Bowman, an undersecretary

Δ986 CMLXVIII, Alias: Delta, the Hull (played by Adrienne)

Look: Gold robot with bits that wizz and click
Owning Faction: The Golden Hand
Contact: Croc, your controller
Ability: Automaton with Hidden Compartments and Surveillance Hardware
Ability: Powerhouse (bursts of incredible strength and speed)
And that’s about it. Hulls don’t start knowing who they are or where they came from.

Paolo D’Ambrosio, Alias L’Chance, the Swinger (played by Eric)

Look: Trimmed, torn
Wearing: Sunglasses, Scarf
Heritage: Dagger Isles Lorekeeper
Background: Aristocratic Dilletante
Vice: Gabling. Dealer is Afton Gallo at the Velvet Veil.
Keys: Flamboyant, Competitive
Fine Two-Seat Autopod: L’Imperantrice built for racing (including the racing stripes)
Ability: Smooth (Twice er score, use your mojo to resist a consequence of suspicion or social faux-pay, or push when talking your way out of a tight spot.

What Rocked

I’m so, so excite to play with his crew again. We decided not to link the crew back to the Doskvol Spectral Society which I think was a good choice. If actions from that game bleed into this one, that’s great, but it doesn’t have to happen. It’s a 100 years later and there are new adventures to be had!
Decorating the base and choosing flair was a blast.
I love reading up about all the factions and their goings on.
There are several “nexus” events that many factions are concerned with: The launch of Blueraker 5, The forced Hulling of criminals, strange forces working to control and monitor everyone, and the cold war between Akoros, Iruvia, and Skovlan, always threatening to boil over. I love that these are just hotbeds for potential heists!
Each faction has a method for individual scoundrels to gain affiliation with them and gain a unique perk. I think this will cause the players to get more invested in the other factions than they otherwise would!
I always love keys!

Work Needed

I’ve shared these with Tim as he works on the playtest draft, so they may be addressed before the draft comes out.

List of what’s going on in the world (some issues that everyone knows about and has thoughts on: Hulls, Blueraker 5, what’s happening in Crowfoot, etc). For example, in the Blades starting situation the players know the Red Sashes and the Lampblacks have beef and the Crows are trying to mediate it. Based on the way the Alluvium Affair is written the players don’t know what’s going on so I don’t think they have a good way of getting the local landscape of factions.
Instruction and examples for Heritage and Backgrounds
Hull character creation instructions (look, style, advice for how they function in the crew vs. being ON PROGRAM, etc)
Playtesting the new rules for Harm and Resistance
A faction for students (Charterhall University forever!)
Guide for playing characters that are spies
Lists of specific causes for Militants and specific products for Dealers
A faction sheet
A place on the crew sheet for Base flair
Lists of “looks”

Post game obsession

Every since this game I’ve been journaling, creating props, picking images for the NPCs, and generally obsessing. I think this video probably does a pretty good job of showing how invested I’ve become.

Graphic design for the image frames and business cards by Tim Denee.