Favorite video so far. Only complaint is that you reference Dungeon World and other games so much and it really makes me want to check those out too. Otherwise I can't relate to the comparisons.
Yeah sorry about that, if I had known how big these videos were going to get I would have made it refer less to other games. They were originally made for friends of mine who were playing those games but skeptical of playing Blades because the rules seemed too complicated, so I wanted to make the connections clear. Glad the video is helpful nonetheless!
Can I ask if there are any hacks or systems for using real-time clocks? The way we're planning to run the campaign would involve never having a score take longer than one session, so one idea was basically just to have a real-world clock go off when there was something like half an hour left to kick in some much higher stakes and encourage the crew to disengage with or without the objective. And as a new GM I'm not sure if there are any obvious gotcha's I'd be missing that could come up there.
Does it matter if it goes beyond one session? Everything I have read and researched says that the scores are pretty short for the most part. Everyone says you can easily do one in a session and with experience probably two. But, what is your concern if it does stretch? I think a real world clock is just...I don't know, too meta? I just envision some really, really cool stuff going down that the entire table is really leaning into. Those things that you never see coming but are the reason that we play the game. Everyone is engrossed, wide eyed and having a full on blast. Then, the timer goes off and you just cut all that? Personally, I would hate that. The reasons we play these games aren't to get the objective or not, so forcing that decision isn't a big deal to me. But to have some really killer plot line start to unfold organically that you have to artificially cut short. To me, that is almost criminal :)
Jordan Kolbeck The relevant section of the text says "Remember that a clock tracks progress. It reflects the fictional situation, so the group can gauge how they are doing." This suggests to me that the clocks should always be labeled and visible to the players but that the outcome should not be determined in advance, because what happens will probably develop during the course of the clock being filled and predetermining it would disrupt the flow of play.
The only clocks that are hidden are faction progress clocks that the PCs dont know about. For example, The Unseen want to infiltrate The Spirit Watchers and have a clock on that. IF something happens that helps The Unseen make progress you advance that clock. But if the PCs dont know what The Unseen is or have never gathered info on their specific situation that clock is totally hidden. You can't go "here is the clock for the faction "The Unseen" which you know nothing about but still happen to know that they plan to infiltrate the Spirit Watchers. I just progressed it by one because you killed a spirit watcher who was investigating "The Unseen"". But as a GM you might think about these things since Doskvol is a living breathing city
Possessions sound terrible. How to avoid that? Since I as a player don't really choose, if I encounter a ghost. I'm afraid of this so I would run away. Does this mean, I'm out of the session? (my character has 1 in resolve)
Remember even with a 1 in Resolve you can still resist the consequences of possession with a Resistance Roll. You can also start a long term project to get an item that will protect your character against possession or get one of the special moves that protects against it. You have options!
Thank you, that's a good tip. I might do a project for that. :) Had my first session today and we just encountered a ghost. We'll figure out what happens next time.
I'm confused - In the case of a clock called 'Lord Kensey returns home' - as the crew are rifling his house; if a character gets a great result (3 ticks); how does doing well actually mean Lord Kensey is closer to discovering the crew? Seems ass backwards - i must be missing something!
Favorite video so far. Only complaint is that you reference Dungeon World and other games so much and it really makes me want to check those out too. Otherwise I can't relate to the comparisons.
Yeah sorry about that, if I had known how big these videos were going to get I would have made it refer less to other games. They were originally made for friends of mine who were playing those games but skeptical of playing Blades because the rules seemed too complicated, so I wanted to make the connections clear. Glad the video is helpful nonetheless!
Can I ask if there are any hacks or systems for using real-time clocks? The way we're planning to run the campaign would involve never having a score take longer than one session, so one idea was basically just to have a real-world clock go off when there was something like half an hour left to kick in some much higher stakes and encourage the crew to disengage with or without the objective.
And as a new GM I'm not sure if there are any obvious gotcha's I'd be missing that could come up there.
Does it matter if it goes beyond one session? Everything I have read and researched says that the scores are pretty short for the most part. Everyone says you can easily do one in a session and with experience probably two. But, what is your concern if it does stretch?
I think a real world clock is just...I don't know, too meta? I just envision some really, really cool stuff going down that the entire table is really leaning into. Those things that you never see coming but are the reason that we play the game. Everyone is engrossed, wide eyed and having a full on blast. Then, the timer goes off and you just cut all that? Personally, I would hate that. The reasons we play these games aren't to get the objective or not, so forcing that decision isn't a big deal to me. But to have some really killer plot line start to unfold organically that you have to artificially cut short. To me, that is almost criminal :)
Are 'all' clocks visible to the player? Do players always know the end result of the clock filling up? Are they labeled?
Jordan Kolbeck The relevant section of the text says "Remember that a clock tracks progress. It reflects the fictional situation, so the group can gauge how they are doing." This suggests to me that the clocks should always be labeled and visible to the players but that the outcome should not be determined in advance, because what happens will probably develop during the course of the clock being filled and predetermining it would disrupt the flow of play.
The only clocks that are hidden are faction progress clocks that the PCs dont know about. For example, The Unseen want to infiltrate The Spirit Watchers and have a clock on that. IF something happens that helps The Unseen make progress you advance that clock. But if the PCs dont know what The Unseen is or have never gathered info on their specific situation that clock is totally hidden. You can't go "here is the clock for the faction "The Unseen" which you know nothing about but still happen to know that they plan to infiltrate the Spirit Watchers. I just progressed it by one because you killed a spirit watcher who was investigating "The Unseen"".
But as a GM you might think about these things since Doskvol is a living breathing city
Possessions sound terrible. How to avoid that? Since I as a player don't really choose, if I encounter a ghost. I'm afraid of this so I would run away. Does this mean, I'm out of the session? (my character has 1 in resolve)
Remember even with a 1 in Resolve you can still resist the consequences of possession with a Resistance Roll. You can also start a long term project to get an item that will protect your character against possession or get one of the special moves that protects against it. You have options!
Thank you, that's a good tip. I might do a project for that. :) Had my first session today and we just encountered a ghost. We'll figure out what happens next time.
I'm confused - In the case of a clock called 'Lord Kensey returns home' - as the crew are rifling his house; if a character gets a great result (3 ticks); how does doing well actually mean Lord Kensey is closer to discovering the crew? Seems ass backwards - i must be missing something!
Hi, that would be a clock that fills when the players get consequences of bad rolls, not when they succeed.
@@wiegraf9009 Ah i see! Thanks for your reply. As has been said, invaluable videos on BITD. Good Work & best wishes from NE England.
@@princealiaps3751 Cheers and happy gaming!