Blades In The Dark: The Tin Pests

Hi, I'm NinjaSocks (or Alex, if screen-names aren't your thing) and I’m here to put together a crew to rob a haunted city blind.

For the uninitiated, Blades in the Dark is a narrative-focused RPG written by John Harper and released in January 2017 to overwhelming praise. In it, you play out the rough-and-tumble lives of criminals eking out a living on the streets of Doskvol—a bustling port city existing in an original, pseudo-19th century setting where the sun is but a distant memory, and vengeful ghosts (as well as other, more malevolent things) haunt the cobbled streets, with a sense of normalcy maintained via the presence of massive lightning towers, which project an electrified field to keep out the swarms of spirits roaming the world. If you are interested in more details about the setting itself, I’ve actually written a small, eight page primer on the subject, which you can find here.

In Blades, you will create not just your own characters, but maintain a separate sheet for your crew as well, recording your progress up the criminal ladder of Doskvol. The focus of the game is all about maintaining your crew, its relationship to the other factions operating in the city’s underworld, undertaking in various criminal activities, resisting the siren’s call of your scoundrel’s own vices, and naturally, trying to stay one step ahead of the law.

MY RESUME
I’ve run Blades in the Dark fairly extensively, though most of my GMing background lies in other games like Apocalypse World, several of its spin-off hacks such as Monsterhearts and The Sprawl, and non-Powered by the Apocalypse games such as Shadowrun 3E, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, and others.

I also have created a (in my incredibly biased opinion) high-quality set of assets to run Blades with, including a detailed map, dozens of handouts, and custom made countdown clocks. I have also taken full advantage of the excellent character sheets built into Roll20—ideally, you should have everything to play Blades already provided for you.

HERE’S THE PLAN
My intention is to play once-a-week. The listed "Next Game Will Be" is not 100% accurate; the actual date-and-time will be determined once the group is assembled, though expect it to be in the mid-to-late afternoon.

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR
- ADULTS ONLY: Firstly, I will only be accepting “applicants” 18 years of age or older. Sorry for you youngins’, but it’s my policy and it's served me well.
- REGION: I am primarily seeking English-speaking players from the U.S and Canada, particularly those from more westerly time-zones, to avoid scheduling issues (I myself am on PST).
- CONSISTENCY & COMMITMENT: DO NOT put yourself forward unless you have both space in your schedule and a willingness to be active in the game. A single session of Blades in the Dark can last anywhere from 3-6 hours—a full “season” will typically last 9-15 sessions, and can go on much longer. Know what you're getting into.
- MATURITY: Blades in the Dark has several potentially controversial themes inherent to the game’s setting, the foremost being class struggle and racism. I only ask that we all approach these topics in a mature and open way. Non-constructive behavior, childishness, or a repeated inability to be respectful to other player’s opinions will be grounds for your removal from the game.

THE TECHNICALS
- VOICE: Voice chat will be over Discord. Server info will be provided to you via PM. I’d recommend using the actual program over the web client for reliability's sake.
- PDFs: Game assets such as the Character Playbooks will be provided for you.
- CAMERAS: Webcams are not required to play, though I do prefer the extra social aspect they bring to the game and the group. However, if you would prefer to not show yourself on camera, it’s completely fine.

GROUND RULES
- HARASSMENT: I have a ZERO TOLERANCE policy on any and all forms of bigotry, persecution or harassment between players. If I witness or receive a credible report of such activity, you will, in no uncertain terms, be asked to leave immediately.
- MISSING A SESSION: If you have to skip a session for any reason, please try to notify me beforehand. There’s nothing worse than everyone showing up, only to wait around for someone who’s not coming. Repeated instances of such is grounds for your removal from the game.
- CONTENT WARNINGS: Life in Doskvol is dirty and harsh, and I pull no punches in describing it as such. My portrayal of violence, for example, can often be detailed, clinical, and somewhat graphic, but never to a level where its gratuitous or revels in gore—that’s not my point. My point is to show an unidealized portrayal of how people in life-and-death fights behave, and to make those moments feel impactful and a bit scary. That said, not everyone is into that. If I ever begin describing something that makes you uncomfortable for any reason, a simple “Hey, can we move on?” will stop said description dead in its tracks, and I’ll do my best to gracefully move the game forward. Afterwards, if you want, we can discuss why it made you feel uncomfortable, and how best to deal with it or similar content in the future.

Also, I swear. A lot. There really isn’t a way around it. If that’ll bother you, you might not want to sign up.

APPLICATION AND SELECTION
If you wish to join, post a new topic in the listing containing the following:
- Your name.
- Your age.
- Your time-zone.
- Any prior tabletop-RPG experience, if any (none required).
- Anything else you wish to say about yourself.

I will review your “application” and then set up an interview via Discord. The interview is mostly a formality to give us a chance to actually chat and discuss the game beforehand. After that, you’ll be all set to play! Selection is on something of a "first come, first serve" basis, so earlier applicants stand a better chance of being selected simply by virtue of being processed first.

That’s it! Wall of text over! I will begin reviewing any applications a day-or-so after this post goes live. Good luck to all who sign up!

Cat Tax