Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Blades in the dark

 

I kickstarted BitD all the way back in 2016, but this is the first time I finally decided to print the rulebook and play it.
Created a cult with two members - a Whisper and a Lurk.

For the first score, I decided that some dock gang stole a box from one of the nobles traveling on a ship, and that cargo contains a book that might be worth a fortune to some of the occult bands.

Battle plan was to direct a flock of ghosts through the warehouse where cargo was kept. This will spook the guards and make them run away. Our boys will then waltz in and take a book without anybody noticing.

The first part of the plan went OK, ghost flock entered the warehouse and scared the guards, but then ghost went rogue and decided to stay inside instead of moving forward.
Ghosts


Time for plan B. Whisper attuned to to ghost field to detect where the ghosts are, but he also found out that some government ghost hunters and policemen are coming, so that our heroes need to hurry and finish the job before they arrive (6 parts clock, 2 ticks).

Lurk surveyed the situation and decided the best way they should move to attract as little of ghost attention as possible.
Team tried to sneak past ghosts, but they failed, and ghost stampede right through our heroes causing some serious psychological damage.
Additionally, that ticked off the 6th part of the clock, so police arrived.

Team made desperate run out, failing the mission. Additionally - the heat was super high, giving them wanted level.
Beaten and wounded, our heroes return to their empty home....
THE END

I really enjoyed this one.
But, also I finally understood why I like one shots.
To make it interesting, I really like to keep my characters at the edge of survival and success, on a razor edge, as that is what makes an exciting session for me.
So, after that first session, they are usually too beaten to continue into the next mission, or next mission has to be light to give them chance to recover, and therefore boring. And then I lose interest to continue the campaign.
Therefore, I will be sticking to one shots.