Blades in the Dark

Blades in the DarkBlades in the Dark cuts right to the action of doing dirty deeds, then keeps cutting to the bone.”— Sean Nittner, playtester

Since my first game at Nerdly, I knew I was going to love the hell out of this game…and I do. Here’s a collection of my AP reports as well as playsets and scores I’ve cobbled together. Enjoy!

Vigilantes

“Doksvol is a sewer of crime and corruption filled with thugs of one stripe or another. The Bluecoats? There for show. Servants of the rich and the powerful, oblivious and unconcerned with the plight of the people. There is no one to protect the downtrodden and the low. No one but me.”

—Argus Fern, Vigilante

Vigilantes is a Blades playset about playing the good guys, or as close to the good guys as you can find in Doksvol. The playset includes one new gang type, Vigilantes, as well as new rules for turf, claims, entanglements, downtime, and payoffs as they apply to Vigilantes.

Direct Download: Vigilantes (rules and sheets)

Broken Spire

“The Emperor will never die. The sun will never rise.”

– Imperial City idiom that means life is hard and it isn’t getting any better.

Your lives, and more, have been dedicated to finding a means of unseating the Immortal Emperor from his throne, and now it is finally in your grasp.

Broken Spire (formerly Broken Crown) is a Blades in the Dark playset about revolutionaries set on breaking the shackles of the Emperor’s rule. They may seek power for themselves, political change, or have a personal grudge. We’ll play to find out what political favors they must garner, what occult rituals they must perform, and which devil’s bargains they must accept to have a shot at the Emperor himself.

Direct Download: Broken Spire

Academia

“Charterhall University houses the finest minds in Doskvol. We are not the privileged brats of Whitecrown Academy, handed a degree and Leviathan Hunter simply for inheriting the name Strangford. We are the experts of jurisprudence, alchemy, electro-engineering, and spectrology. We are the future!”

—Una Farros, Sparkwright Tower Chair

Outside of the Imperial City, the greatest universities in the empire are found in Doskvol. From the high walled towers of Whitecrown to the merchant class guilds of Charterhall, if there is a mystery to be solved, a philosophy to be extolled, or a schematic to be designed, some student of Doskvol is toiling late in the night to gain course credit for it.

Direct Download: Doskvol Academia.pdf

Young Offenders

“There are two things you need for an adventure, a treasure map and someone dumb enough to go with you.”

—Conor MacSweeney, Young Offender

This was an April Fools joke that ended up having some legs. Here’s a playbook for a young criminal, based entirely off the movie Young Offenders and our quirky love of Cork, Ireland. This playbook was co-designed with Karen Twelves. It’s is not playtested, it is probably not good, but it is fun to read.

Direct Download: Mate.pdf

Scores

“Angering Lord Scurlock is inviting suffering to your doorstep. Here are the secrets I know about him. Your doorbell is ringing!”

—Mordis, Night Market Merchant

I’m a fan of quick to assemble scores that are based on the players input at the table. If you want to run something for a convention game or to kick off a campaign, give these a look.

Gaddoc Rail: The northbound Argonaut from Wintercliff clattered into Gaddoc Rail Station, its cattle catcher ablaze with electroplasmic lightning. On it was your mark. Nobody left the station after it pulled in…No one has left the station since.

Direct Download: The Score – Gaddoc Rail.pdf

Charterhall University: The Noble Order of Crows is an institution which claims it’s origins date back to the Emperor’s gift of Deathseaker Crows to Bellweather Crematorium in year 492. They are a benefit society pledged to elevate the status of their members and of the Doskvol Devil Hunters…Yesterday charges were brought against your chapter. You’ll be expelled if you are lucky, joining the Deathlands Scavengers if you’re not.

Direct Download:  The Score – Charterhall University.pdf

Scurlock Manor: On behalf of a patron who offered enough to make it worth your while, you bypassed Scurlock’s external defences, made your way into the manor, and got your hands on the score. That’s when all hell broke loose.

Direct Download: The Score – Scurlock Manor.pdf

Doskvol Riots of 847: You were woken by shouting in the street, torches lit, and the crack of a gun shot. Whatever was stirring under the surface has erupted…and you’re crew is right in the middle of it.

Direct Download: The Score – Doskvol Riots of 847.pdf

Spirit Warden Escape: We begin as the lever is pulled and the juice begins to drain from the ghostly prison your crew member is kept in. As their ghostly moans fill the room you begin to hear it, alarms. Blaring! (Written by Benjamin Herder, Layout and Editing by Sean Nittner.)

Direct Download: The Score – Spirit Warden Escape.pdf

Events

Scarlet Bride: The Feral Ghost known as the Scarlet Bride kills at will in the back-alleys while those the Immortal Emperor’s sent to protect us are holed up in their Ivory Manor in Whitecrown, denying the specter’s very existence. (Written by Judd Karlman, Layout and Editing by Sean Nittner.)

Direct Download: Event- Scarlet Bride.pdf

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