Thoughts

on Forging
in the Dark

By Small Cool Games

version 1.4 • June 2024
 Contents
Intro....................................................1 Heat and Entanglements....................... 18
Why Forged in the Dark?.........................1 Downtime Actions................................ 20
How to Use This Thing.............................1 Vice..................................................... 21
How Deep Does Your Hack Go?................1 The Faction Game................................. 21
If It Doesn't Belong, Take It Out...............2 Advancement....................................... 22
Turf and Claims.................................... 24
Setting................................................2 Rep and Tier......................................... 24
Characters and Crew....................3 Crafting and Acquiring Assets............... 24
Zero to Hero...........................................3 Rituals................................................. 24
Playbooks..............................................3 Non-Player Characters.......................... 25
Character Details...................................4 Resolution Systems...................... 26
Contacts................................................4 Rolling the Dice.................................... 26
Actions and Attributes............................5 Action Roll........................................... 27
Special Abilities......................................7 Position and Effect............................... 30
Advanced Abilities................................ 10 Consequences...................................... 32
Equipment and Load............................. 10 Resistance............................................ 35
Other Playbook Things.......................... 11 Armor................................................. 37
The Crew.............................................. 12 Fortune Roll......................................... 38
Cycle of Play................................... 13 Progress Clocks.................................... 38
Game Phases........................................ 13 Gathering Information......................... 38
Free Play.............................................. 14 Teamwork ........................................... 39
The Score............................................. 14 PC vs. PC............................................. 40
Engagement Roll.................................. 14 It’s Your Game................................. 41
Flashbacks........................................... 15
Stress.................................................. 15
Credits.............................................. 42
Trauma................................................ 16 Resources......................................... 42
Coin.................................................... 17 Games and Supplements....................... 42
Stash................................................... 17 Other Resources................................... 42
Payoff.................................................. 18

First version © 2021 by Small Cool Games You may print a paper copy of this digital document
Version 1.3 © 2022 by Small Cool Games for personal use. That means you have express
Version 1.4 © 2024 by Small Cool Games permission to make a copy on your printer or have
the clerk at a copy shop print one for you.
 Intro
Forged in the Dark (FitD) is a rules engine for making The FitD System Reference Document ruleset is
tabletop roleplaying games. It was introduced in optimized for the specific setting and style of play
Blades in the Dark by John Harper in 2017 and has of the original Blades in the Dark game. Which is
since been used as the basis for many other games. to say:
If you are not already familiar with 1. A gang of scoundrels who have banded together
Blades in the Dark or other FitD games, this guide to commit crimes;
will not make much sense to you. You can find the 2. In a corrupt, ghost-ridden, early industrial city.
system reference document (SRD) for FitD (as If you’re going to hack FitD, you’ll find that the
well as a discussion forum and other resources) more your game deviates from the assumptions
at bladesinthedark.com. There are links to other the system makes, the more you’ll need to change
FitD games (some free) on page 42. things. So be realistic about the scope of whatever
In this guide, I’ll discuss various options for mod- project you have in mind. If your game is radically
ifying the FitD engine to fit different settings, play different from the original setting, you'll be doing
styles, and preferences. I can’t and won’t attempt to some significant system hacking.
cover every possible way to hack FitD, but I will try
to take you through all the pieces the system, talk How to Use This Thing
about what they are for, give some examples of pos-
This is a fairly long and comprehensive document
sible hacks, and give some guidance on when and
(longer than I realized it would be when I started).
how you might change each of them to suit your
If you are all in on designing FitD games, then go
own purposes.
ahead and read the whole thing.

Why Forged in But you can also use it as a reference. If there is a

the Dark? part of the FitD system you are thinking about or
unsatisfied with, find that section and see if it’s
FitD supports a fiction first, narrative-driven play helpful to you. Each piece of this guide is written to
style with strong player agency. With deep and be mostly independent of the rest, so you can just
elegant mechanics, the system drives a continuous check out the bits you’re interested in.
interactive conversation among all the players. The
multiple levels of success and consequential failure How Deep Does
built into the dice mechanics create dramatic situa-
tions almost automatically, allowing low-prep play.
Your Hack Go?
You can approach a hack of FitD at various levels,
Be Aware from changing a playbook to designing a new game
There are lots of RPG game engines that are that is only distantly related to the base system. I'll
designed to be generic and easily adapted to many organize hacking FitD (somewhat arbitrarily) into
different kinds of settings and styles of play: Fate, several layers.
GURPS, Savage Worlds, Cypher System, Genesys,
and many others.
Forged in the Dark is not one of those.

1
 Layers of Forged in the Dark Hacking If It Doesn't Belong,
Setting
Doskvol, ghost field, history, NPCs,
factions, maps, lore
Take It Out
Actions and attributes, playbooks, A common mistake for someone first messing with
Characters
special abilities, contacts, crew FitD (including me) is thinking that all the pieces of
and crew
sheets the game need to be shoehorned into yours. They
Claims, cohorts, coin, crafting, really don’t.
Cycle of downtime, entanglements, faction
play game, free play, heat, retirement, If there are subsystems that do not reflect what your
rituals, score, stash, trauma, vice game is about, don't spend energy trying to re-skin
Dice system, stress, resistance, them into something that sort of fits. Just remove
clocks, position & effect, all the bits that do not belong. Your game will be
Resolution consequences, harm, fortune better without leftover, ill-fitting complexity. Then
mechanics rolls, progress clocks, gathering create any new systems you need for your game.
information, armor, stress,
resistance As I go through the different parts of FitD, I'll com-
ment on which are likely to belong in most games,
You might find that someone has already done
which are most readily removed, and what kinds
something similar that you can borrow (with
of interdependencies you might need to take into
attribution please). But if not, I'll try to give you
account as you make changes.
some guidance on various levels of hacking, from
minor adjustments to rethinking the core systems
of the game.

Setting
Here are some things you might do with setting. ⚫ Adapt a FitD game to a different setting. Maybe
⚫ Play a published FitD game, but with some you want to play Blades in the Dark, but using a
house-rule adjustments to fit your preferences. city in a different world with different kinds of
magic (or without any kind of magic). This will
⚫ Expand on the setting of Blades in the Dark or
require relatively few changes (such as changing
some other FitD game. You might make a new
references to ghosts, the ghost field, etc.). You
playbook, crew sheet, or move the action to a dif-
might re-skin some default playbooks to better
ferent place or time in the setting. There already
reflect the new setting or change the names of
plenty of resources available at bladesinthedark.
some parts of the game (renamed actions, etc.)
com to let you do things in other parts of the
and add some new things.
Blades in the Dark setting. I will not address
those in detail here, but if that kind of hack is ⚫ Make a totally new FitD game. This will require
what you’re working on, some of the discussion significant work if it’s very different from a
in this guide will still be of use. (Note that the current game, especially if you also have ideas
setting of Blades in the Dark is proprietary and about changing the core system. Go for it.
not part of the free-for-use SRD. Don’t use it
commercially without permission.)

2
Converting Your Elf Game Rant over. Yes, you can do that. You could check out
Blades Against Darkness or a few other games using
Looking at online forums, a fairly common ques-
Forged in the Dark to do similar things.
tion asked is: FitD seems cool, but my players and
I only want to run in the same familiar medieval Or, you can do the hacking yourself. Mostly that will
magic setting we have always played in. Sometimes involve re-skinning the playbooks and setting. Get
a group has multiple players who just won’t play any rid of stuff like going to prison and replace heists
other way. To try a different game system it has to with going into dark and dangerous places or
look familiar or those players are out. going on wilderness adventures and experiencing a
predictable number of balanced encounters per day.
First, pseudo-medieval fantasy settings are
all well and good, but there is a lot more to You can improvise a lot of it during play if your
RPGs than what the nerd kids do in a couple of friends are willing to go along for the ride. See
Stranger Things episodes. below for plenty of discussion of which elements
you might end up changing.

Characters and Crew

Zero to Hero In thinking about your game, one of the first things
to consider is whether the FitD model (moderately
In standard FitD, characters by default start mod- capable starting characters, steady progression
erately competent, with seven dots distributed to being able to handle most challenges) fits your
among twelve actions, a max of two dots in any game. How capable should starting characters be?
action, and one special ability. During the first few Do you expect each player to have multiple char-
sessions, any character who takes harm is signifi- acters? How many sessions of play do you think a
cantly impaired, and without extra coin they may typical game to run? How do characters begin and
have to live with that harm through multiple scores progress over that span? How hard should it be to
because healing can be quite slow. (Some groups challenge veteran PCs?
might choose to ignore, fudge, or hand-wave some
of the harsher aspects of the game for newer PCs,
but that’s not what the rules call for.)
Playbooks
An obvious place to start when hacking FitD
The characters become progressively stronger and is to create new playbooks. You can download
more resilient as they (and the crew as a whole) gain the standard Blades in the Dark playbooks from
advancement, until by the end of a long campaign bladesinthedark.com to use as an example of
they are very capable, with various special abilities, what FitD playbooks contain and how they can
up to four dots in their best action (able to roll six be organized.
or more dice when they need to), the coin to take as
many extra downtime actions for healing as needed, Are Playbooks Required?
higher tier equipment providing potency in many
Nope. You could design a game in which characters
situations, resources to manage entanglements,
are differentiated from each other in other ways
plenty of crew bonuses, etc.
than playbooks or “character classes.” There would,
in effect, be only one playbook. This could work if
you want your game to have characters with similar

3
backgrounds and starting roles, for example, or ⚫ Add a structured system for generating charac-
contrariwise if you want to provide so many cus- ter history or life path. You could ask the player
tomization options that playbooks are too limiting. to come up with two or three significant events
from the character’s life, or roll for them on a
Character Details random table. For example, you could generate
one critical event from the character’s child-
Standard FitD uses Heritage and Background as hood or adolescence and one more recent event
quick ways to establish the character’s origin and that drove the PC to join the crew. Each event
culture. You can modify or rename these (or the could potentially involve one or more other PCs
items within each category) to fit your setting. They if you want the group to have a history together.
act as xp triggers, so players are motivated to incor-
porate them in large or small ways. Contacts
If you wish, you can provide other mechanisms The contact list on a playbook provides both the
for the player to flesh out the character. Be aware player and the GM with hooks to NPCs that are
that too much extra stuff can feel like a burden for specific to that sheet. Standard FitD gives five
players who don’t have a clear sense of character at contacts to each playbook, with a name and brief
creation or just want to play without having to do description. That adapts well to many kinds of
homework. But here are some options: settings where the PCs are likely to have access to
⚫ Replace (or add to) heritage and background. people they already know. If appropriate, you could
Use other structured character details, such as divide those into categories (such as family and
drive, beliefs, dread, destiny, occupation (either non-family or professional and personal) or let the
what the character does for a living now or did player define one or more contacts.
before being thrust into the plot of the game),
The assumption here is that these contacts will be
family connections, etc.
available to come frequently into play. That fits the
⚫ Each PC could start the game with one trauma standard FitD setting, in which the PCs are likely to
condition already marked. This would create engage with the underworld and other social strata
some level of pathos at game start. If so, you of a single city over the course of a short or long
might set retirement at 5 trauma instead of 4. campaign. If you expect the PCs to travel far and
See the discussion of trauma on page 16. wide, contacts can be left behind and become less
⚫ Create a system for bonds with other PCs. These relevant. Consider whether the format of contacts
can be used as xp triggers or given additional fits your game, or if you want to integrate the PCs
mechanical weight. For example, maybe you can with specific NPCs in some other way. For example,
only assist a PC you share a bond with (or get PCs could have relationships with specific factions
free assists if you do share a bond). PCs might rather than with individual persons, or they could
have a specific number of bonds or do some have other kinds of game world connections.
action to establish or maintain them. Instead
of restoring stress by indulging vice as in the Contact Overlap
standard game, you could create a mechanism If two players want to use the same playbook, they
whereby PCs recover stress by roleplaying a will get the same contacts. That might work fine in
scene with another PC with whom they share a game where the PCs run in the same social circles.
a bond. You could also provide alternate contacts for each
playbook, just in case.

4
 ⚫ In designing Vergence, family and faction con- ⚫ Band of Blades gives one unique action rating to
nections are crucial to the setting. I wanted to each playbook. That action is available only to
provide players with more engagement and characters with that specialization. Each dot
control than just presenting standard contacts in one of these ratings lets the PC perform a
with each playbook. Instead, players pick NPC particular action once per mission.
contacts from several lists that depend on the ⚫ You could also have actions that differ in mean-
character’s family background. ing from one character to another. For example,
in a game about a galactic civilization, you
Actions and Attributes could have a species action rating. The higher
that rating, the better that PC is at doing things
Anything challenging that a PC might do is struc-
specific to their particular species. You could do
tured into a list of actions. By default, the action list
the same thing with heritage, profession, fam-
consists of 12 verbs: Attune, Command, Consort,
ily, or other important differentiator. Players
and so on. Actions are evenly grouped among three
could choose from a predefined list or make up
attributes: Insight, Prowess, and Resolve.
their own.
You can mess with this structure in all sorts of ways.
Attributes
Change the Action Words Attributes (Insight, Prowess, Resolve) in FitD are
You can change any or all of the words used to used for resistance rolls. The higher an attribute,
describe actions. Maybe attune doesn’t really have the lower the cost of resisting a consequence of that
the feel of how magic works in your setting, so you type will tend to be. Attributes are also used to see
change it to cast, scry, or invoke. You can change one how much stress is restored when indulging a char-
or two of the words, or all of them. acter’s vice (using the character’s lowest attribute).
The way attributes work encourages breadth of
Your action list should evoke the genre of your game
choice in actions. Having one dot in many actions
and expectations for what the PCs will be doing. If
across each attribute makes resistance and vice
the game is supposed to be about daring expedi-
rolls more effective—easing the economy of taking
tions into unknown space, choose words like scan
and restoring stress. If you change those systems,
and pilot. If it’s about swords and sorcery, choose
consider whether you want to find other ways to
words like cleave and enthrall. (A good thesaurus is
provide incentives for action rating breadth.
invaluable for this. I like wordhippo.com.)
Just as with actions, you can change the
It’s probably a good idea for all of your actions to
names for attributes to better fit your game.
be the same class of word. The standard game uses
Brother Bear, Sister Wolf uses Mind, Body, and Soul.
verbs (hunt), but you could change them all to adjec-
tives (quickly) or adverbs (swift) instead. You could also change the number of attributes.
Bladebreaker uses four, for example. Each has two
You should give a description of what kinds of
associated actions.
activities fall most clearly under each word. FitD
also gives examples of activities that kind of fit, Number of Actions
but not that well (another action might be better,
depending on the circumstances). That establishes Instead of twelve, you can use a different number
what that action rating does uniquely and also areas of actions. Why would you do this? Well, twelve can
where it might overlap with other actions. be a lot to keep track of. Every time a player makes
an action roll, a short discussion can ensue about

5
which actions might fit what the player describes Max Action Rating
doing. Fewer actions mean less complexity in
By default, action ratings can start as high as 2 and
remembering which options are available.
can eventually go up as high as 4 (after an expensive
Assuming you use the regular FitD system of crew upgrade). When making a roll, a player can
determining resistance using three attributes, a push or take a devil’s bargain for +1d, get assistance
different number of action ratings also changes for another +1d, and might sometimes get +1d from
the cap on attribute ratings and how many dice a special ability. So when the character gets up to
can be rolled to resist a consequence. If there are a base rating of 4, you're looking at 6 or possibly 7
9 actions and 3 attributes, then each attribute dice being rolled on actions the players are willing
can only go as high as 3 instead of 4. to invest in.
If you reduce the number of actions, each one will With six dice, the chance of a critical is 26%, suc-
have to carry more weight, since they establish cess 40%, partial 32%, and failure only 2%. It is
what PCs do in your game. Make sure that your list challenging for the GM to establish meaningful
is broad enough to cover the things likely to happen opposition when that many dice are rolled, because
in the game. You don’t want to have players describe the standard rules never take dice away (other than
what they are doing and not be able to figure out for harm) when making even the most difficult
which action could reasonably apply. You also don’t action roll.
want two actions to overlap so much that the dis-
For that reason, you should consider how capable of
tinction between them isn’t very meaningful in play.
success you want PCs to be at game start and how
⚫ After many hours of testing Vergence, I real- high you want that to go with advancement, along
ized that no one ever really used the Engineer with how many bonus dice are potentially available.
action. So I changed it to Craft and adjusted the In Scum and Villainy, for example, the highest an
definition to fit how play actually works instead action rating can be is 3.
of how I originally envisioned it. Then I had
to change some special abilities to fit this new Other Ways For Ratings to Work
action word structure. Subsequent playtesting
The system used in standard FitD is not the only
showed that players make use of Craft much
way to generate a numerical rating for action roll
more often.
dice pools. Assuming you use the standard dice
You could also have more than 12 actions (such mechanic, it’s probably reasonable to aim for typical
as 15). If there are more than 12, the action list dice pool numbers that range between 0 and 3 or 4.
becomes more of a skill list. You could change the
names or structure to fit a skill system instead of an There are many inventive ways to come up with
action system. that, including:
⚫ In Blades Against Darkness, the players have two
If you do change the number of actions, consider
points to distribute among three attributes.
how many dots a character gets at game start. The
Each point gives one die for any of the actions
default for FitD is three pre-chosen dots for the
encompassed by that attribute. The player can
playbook, plus four that the player assigns. If you
also underline three actions. An underlined
change the number of actions without changing
action gets +1d.
how many dots they get, then the PCs begin with
somewhat broader or narrower capabilities. ⚫ In Moth-Light, you can mark a number of rat-
ings. The total number of marked ratings under
an attribute is the dice pool for any rating that is
marked under that attribute.

6
⚫ In Brother Bear, Sister Wolf, you mark two attri- ⚫ In Vergence, the PCs have broad cosmic powers.
butes. Each action within a marked attribute They start with one default playbook ability that
gets 1d. You also mark three actions. A marked allows them to travel the multiverse and three
action gets an additional die. other abilities chosen by the player.
⚫ In Microblades, you assign three points among
four attributes and then mark two actions. You
Veteran Abilities
use the attribute as the dice pool for any action There is a slot on each playbook for “veteran abil-
under that attribute. Instead of adding to the ities.” It’s not well explained in the text, but the
dice pool, marked actions have 2 effect while intent (based on statements made by the designer)
unmarked actions have 1 effect. is that the player can take any special ability from
⚫ You could establish two different scales, each any other playbook. Don’t be confused by the three
running 0 to 2. One scale could be a list of skills dots in that category on the playbook: that doesn’t
while the other could represent other resources mean (as I thought the first time I looked at it) that
like luck, magical power, physical and mental the cost of veteran abilities is three times that of
talents, or other characteristics. When it's time those on the PC’s playbook. Nor do those dots mean
to perform an action, choose one from the first you can only ever take three veteran abilities.
scale and one from the other and add the two The rules say you should take your first ability (at
together to form the dice pool. creation) from your playbook. After that, you can
⚫ The PC could have descriptive tags that repre- take any ability from any standard playbook. The
sent abilities, resources, items, allies, etc. On ones on the character sheet are just suggestions.
each action roll, the player gets one die for each Over the course of advancement, you can take as
applicable tag. You might need to set a limit on many veteran abilities as you want. Essentially,
how many tags can apply on any single roll, with there is only one big, freely available list of abilities
special abilities or advances perhaps increasing for everyone, which happens to be divided up among
that maximum in certain circumstances. specific playbooks for space and thematic reasons.

Special Abilities However, even if a GM makes sure to point that out

to players during advancement, many players will
Special abilities customize each PC by providing focus mainly on the abilities that are right there
cool and useful capabilities or tricks—they are on the sheet. In choosing which abilities go on the
essentially individual exceptions to the normal con- playbook, create ones that fit the theme of that
straints of play. Each playbook in standard FitD has character type. At the same time, think about how
seven abilities listed (except, weirdly, the Cutter, characters with other playbooks might use each
which gets eight). ability on any of them.

In your game, how many special abilities should a Sometimes, an ability is a weird fit for other char-
PC have at game start? Just the one as in standard acter types. For example, an ability might assume
FitD? If the game concept involves more capable availability of special items from a playbook (e.g.,
PCs, give them more abilities at start. If the PCs the Leech’s alchemical abilities in Blades in the Dark).
are absolute beginners, they might start with no If the character doesn’t have those items, a special
special abilities. ability may not make sense. Consider this when
designing abilities and add any necessary special
⚫ In Scum and Villainy, each playbook has a signa-
rules, such as marking some as not available to
ture ability that the character has by default. The
other playbooks or requiring fictional justification.
player chooses one other ability at game start.

7
Messing With Special Abilities ⚫ Abilities that give a mechanical benefit with
a mechanical trigger (“you can take +1d on a
It’s fine to take the standard abilities and distribute desperate action if you also accept -1d to your
them among re-skinned playbooks. Maybe you resistance roll”). These abilities stay fully within
want to do a more traditional fantasy game, so you the mechanics of the rules.
make a Fighter playbook and start with most of the
Cutter abilities. All of these fit the structure of a special ability; none
of them are correct or incorrect. You may want to
As you continue to refine character types, you’ll have a mix of all of these available, perhaps on each
probably find yourself making completely new playbook, to support different ways of interacting
abilities. In doing that, don’t worry too much with the game.
about “game balance” in the formal sense. What
you want is for every player to be able to do Here are the kinds of things the standard set of
uniquely awesome things fairly often, but not special abilities allows:
dominate the game to the detriment of other ⚫ Give narrative permission to do something that
players’ fun. From a design perspective, it’s great might otherwise be difficult or impossible.
if there are so many good choices that there is ⚫ Give a bonus (+1d, +1 effect, potency) when
never any one best ability to take. That’s as close performing a specific kind of activity (a subset
to balance as you need. of an action’s usage).
Since PCs can take abilities from other playbooks, ⚫ Increase load limits.
you’ll figure out in playtesting if you’ve made an ⚫ Allow the player to choose a benefit in exchange
ability too good to not pick or so peripheral that for a penalty (such as +1d on desperate rolls
almost no one would ever want it. while accepting -1d to resistance rolls).
Special abilities interact with the rules and the ⚫ Allow the player to mark the special armor box
fiction in four basic ways: to resist a certain kind of consequence or get a
free push for a specific purpose.
⚫ Abilities that give a fictional benefit with a
fictional trigger (“you always know when some- ⚫ Allow the player to do something extra when
one is lying to you”). These have no mechanical pushing. Note that the character also gets the
effect in the game rules, they just require that regular benefit of pushing at the same time.
the GM treat the character differently from Many standard special abilities give a couple
other characters in specific circumstances. of different possible benefits when push-
ing, such as making an attack at long range
⚫ Abilities that give a fictional benefit with a
without penalty -or- unleashing a barrage of
mechanical trigger (“when you spend 2 stress to
suppressing fire.
push yourself you learn a secret an NPC wants
to keep hidden”). This provides a benefit in the ⚫ Reduce how much harm is taken in specific
fiction, but triggered mechanically. circumstances.
⚫ Abilities that give a mechanical benefit with ⚫ Reduce penalties from harm by one level.
a fictional trigger (“you get +1d when you are ⚫ Permanently fill one segment of the character’s
aiding an ally”). The player must establish a healing clock.
fictional basis to receive a mechanical benefit. ⚫ Give the character an extra downtime action
that can be used for a specific purpose.
⚫ Give the character a bonus to a certain type of
downtime activity.

8
 ⚫ Give the character an extra xp trigger. You could choose to impose some kind of pattern to
⚫ Give the character enhanced access to crafting, every playbook’s special abilities. In standard FitD,
alchemy, rituals, or other system that can be the first listed ability on each playbook is presented
used to create new capabilities. as a good default starting ability if the player isn’t
sure which to choose. You might make sure that
⚫ Improve 1–3 results to 4/5 in specific circum-
every playbook has one ability that is useful for
stances (making partial success the worst
downtime actions. At least one could give narra-
possible result).
tive permission to do interesting things rather
⚫ Gain +1 stress box.
than manipulating game mechanics. One could
⚫ Get extra ticks on a clock for certain activities. provide a special armor box that can be checked
⚫ Improve the capabilities of cohorts when for a free to resist under specified circumstances
instructing or acting alongside them. (or used for some other purpose, if you wish). In
⚫ For playbooks that have a companion in their Blades in the Dark, every playbook has an ability
equipment list (such as the Hound’s hunting that interacts with ghosts. If your game needs it,
pet), a special ability can give the companion you could have other patterns that occur in every
extra abilities. playbook’s list of abilities.
⚫ Reduce the cost of flashbacks for specific pur-
poses (never less than zero) or give bonuses to
Changing the Special Ability Format
actions performed during flashbacks. The special abilities in your game do not have to
⚫ Mitigate the cost of leading a group action (e.g., follow the structure of the standard game. The FitD
a group action using a specified action rating abilities tend to give one specific advantage. That
can’t cost you more than 1 stress). makes sense in a heist game in which every unusual
capability is significant. It also fits many other
⚫ Give a bonus to your roll when leading a group
kinds of RPG genres.
action.
Some special abilities do one powerful thing (you But your game might require characters with a
always know when someone is lying) and others broader set of abilities. If the genre is any variant
provide more than one benefit (+1 effect when on super-powered or much larger than life char-
scouting a target -and- +1d to avoid detection when acters, the standard ability format may not reflect
concealed in shadows). that. You can design special abilities in many other
ways, including:
When making a playbook in FitD format, much of
⚫ Use the same basic format for special abilities
your time is likely to involve creating a coherent set
as FitD, but expand to allow some abilities to do
of special abilities. You’ll want a range of abilities
other things. You could create a special ability
that fit the theme of the playbook and help the
that provides a personal vehicle or magical
player embody what that kind of character can do.
familiar, for example. You could specify what
They should be engaging and likely to get a player
that asset can do, perhaps allowing the player to
excited to try them out.
chose some number of customized advantages
You’ll also want to avoid the easy mistake of having from a list.
the same or similar abilities on two different play-
books—that’s pointless, since PCs can take abilities
from other sheets. Remember that in default FitD,
you’re really designing one big list of abilities that
all the players have access to.

9
 ⚫ Make each special ability a thematically-related These include a set of special martial arts techniques
combination of advantages rather than just one. (Iruvian sword arts), commitment to ancient and
This will tend to make characters more broadly terrible gods, and binding to a pact with a demon.
capable. Since their abilities can do more,
You could include similar kinds of advancement
players will use them more than in the standard
paths appropriate to your setting.
game (but will also need to keep track).
⚫ Give a list of sub-powers within a special abil-
ity and let the player pick one, two, or three
Equipment and Load
of them. Each playbook in standard FitD has a list of regular
⚫ Define special abilities more in the form of items everyone can have and another list of items
broad permissions. “Super strength” could just specific to that playbook. Special equipment is
define the character as being vastly stronger one of the ways to make each playbook unique
than a regular person and let the effects of that and interesting. The character doesn’t need to put
be defined by what seems reasonable to the in any extra effort to get access to an item on their
group during play (and, of course, affect posi- list, unlike others who might be able to get it via a
tion and effect). long term project or other action to justify having
⚫ Devise a more crunchy system of building something unusual.
abilities from constituent pieces. Many other In the standard system, each playbook gets six
games have gone this route, but it adds a lot of special items. Generally, they are a mix of things
complexity. with a mechanical effect (a fine weapon) and those
⚫ Have special abilities structured in levels. The that give narrative permission (blueprints). Some
more dots you put into an ability, the more take up no equipment slots and can be declared for
things it can do. “free,” while others use one or more slots and are
⚫ Set up special ability advancement in a tree declared just like any other item in the inventory.
structure, with those lower down being prereq- “Items” are ways to manipulate the fiction to gain
uisites for more powerful abilities higher up in advantage. They do not necessarily have to repre-
the tree. sent physical objects. A playsheet item could give
If you don’t need advancement to be such a big part the character an extra skill or capability, such as
of your game, you can have PCs start with some “fine martial arts technique.” While special abilities
number of character-defining special abilities, but are available as "veteran" choices to all other charac-
then have a set of smaller perks that they can gain ter types, items are specific to a playbook and not
during play. That would fit a genre (such as 19th and readily available for others to pick from (without
early 20th century adventure fiction) in which char- some kind of special action in the fiction, such as a
acters start out very capable but don’t really change long-term project).
significantly from one story to the next.
Load can also represent things other than just car-
rying stuff—it can essentially function as a limiter
Advanced Abilities on uses per score, just like the special armor box (but
more than one, and more flexible). A wizard charac-
Blades in the Dark includes several sets of additional
ter might check off load slots when using magical
abilities that are not available at game start. The
spells (which, interestingly, would naturally tend to
requirements to obtain access are not defined in
support the traditional RPG trope of magic users
the rules, but are established fictionally during play.

10
not tending to wear armor or carry a lot of stuff), amount of stuff. If a character got loaded down, the
a hacker could check a load box for use of intrusion GM could reflect that via position, effect, etc., but
software, and so on. there is no system for it.

Other Playbook Things

If you want to be more detailed with load, you
could incorporate a system in which players declare
which items they have ready to hand and which are Any number of other items could be added to play-
stored away and would take longer to get to in an books to fit the setting and tone of your game. Do
emergency. you need to track the progression of a character’s
You can change the equipment and load structure Doom, Social Credit, or Corruption? Add whatever
in large or small ways. In standard FitD, load lev- trackers you need to the sheet and develop systems
els run 3 light, 5 normal, 6 heavy, apparently (?) to for making them meaningful. Structure your play-
correspond with the die roll progression of 1–3. books to represent the things that are important in
4/5, 6—even though the rules never call for a die roll your game.
directly related to load. That means the difference
between normal and heavy is only 1, which seems Gather Information Questions
like not much benefit for being narratively much Although not in the actual rulebook, each printable
more encumbered and conspicuous. Change this to Blades in the Dark playsheet has a unique list of
a different progression if you like, such as 3/5/8 (as Gather Information questions. These are not the
Scum and Villainy does in the rules text, although the only questions a character of that type is allowed to
S&V character sheets confusingly don’t reflect this). ask, but suggestions that appear intended to focus
the player on their character type's role.
Create a standard list of equipment that showcases
the kinds of assets the PCs would reasonably make I myself don't find these especially useful. As far
use of. as I can tell, most groups don't seem to use them
much (although maybe your group does). I would
Another possible aspect of load is supply. In a game
speculate (without evidence) that they might a
about exploration or travel, it might be useful to
holdover from earlier drafts of Blades in the Dark,
keep track of the supplies or goods that can be car-
which evolved away from its original roots as a
ried by a wagon, spacecraft, porter, sailing vessel,
Powered by the Apocalypse game with moves that
etc. You could create a whole mini-game about
allow specific questions to be asked. The play-
managing scarce resources.
book questions seem to fit that kind of game, but
⚫ In Deathwish, one of the actions is called Pack. there is no mechanical support for them in the
For each dot in Pack, PCs get one point of existing FitD engine.
Supply. You can use Supply to declare access to
larger or rarer items than they would otherwise If you like these kinds of Gather Information
have available. prompts, you can include them on playbook forms.

You can also get rid of the equipment system entirely. It would be possible to give them more structure
In Vergence, there is no formal system for items or in the rules, such as a special ability that gives +1d
load. There are no item lists. The game isn’t really or +1 effect level when gathering information while
about resource management or wealth, so players asking a question from the list on their sheet (inter-
can declare any equipment they could reasonably be estingly, if you put that ability on just one playbook,
carrying. They can carry any fictionally appropriate other character types taking it as a veteran ability

11
would be limited to the questions on their own
playsheets, so it would automatically customize The Crew
itself to whoever takes it). The crew is a means of binding a group of PCs
together for a common purpose. The specific kind of
Ancestries crew tells us, generally, what the PCs will be doing
In some games, players will choose an ancestry together and how they will advance themselves. In a
(species, kin, race, kind, nationality, cultural back- game with high PC lethality or retirement, the crew
ground, etc.). That could be mainly a detail with no also becomes the thing that the story is about. You
mechanical effect in the game rules (or perhaps an might end a campaign with none of the original
xp trigger). You could also give some kind of ability PCs, but their legacy remains.
to each PC species.
If your game is about something other than a gang
⚫ In Scum and Villainy, any PC can choose the of criminals, you could change this structure (or
“xeno” special ability (instead of a playbook eliminate it entirely).
ability) when created. This ability is described
⚫ In Scum and Villainy, the crew is replaced by a
narratively for each character. Then, whenever
ship (with a literal crew); different types of ships
the player wants to use it, the GM assesses a
suit different kinds of activities that the crew
cost in stress from 0–2, depending on how
engages in.
much it allows the character to do more than
“normal.” This xeno method from S&V could ⚫ In Band of Blades, the crew is replaced by
work in almost any game with divergent spe- membership in a legion of mercenaries beset
cies or types. If, for example, the characters are by magical foes. In that game there is only one
different kinds of intelligent animal, a Bear’s type of “crew” because it is about a single kind
special ability could let her be strong and fierce, of story.
a Mouse could fit through tiny spaces and be ⚫ In Vergence, the players choose an interdimen-
elusive, etc. The GM would assess a stress cost sional challenge to face and form an alliance
when those abilities have a significant effect on against it.
the game. ⚫ In Moth-Light, the players choose a pact which
⚫ In Band of Blades, each character is from one of will determine the kind of goals and obstacles
four heritages. Each heritage has a list of traits the PCs will engage with.
which give minor advantages that also act as ⚫ You could design a longer term intergenera-
xp triggers. The player picks two heritage traits tional game in which you only play one or two
for the character. Players and GMs can create scores per decade, with the PCs retiring and
additional heritages for characters from places being replaced by the next generation (who
less common to the lands where the campaign could be their children).
is set.
If you don't have a system analogous to a crew, you
may need some other mechanism for giving the
characters a reason to work together toward com-
mon goals.

12
Crew Sheets per sheet. Many repeat from one sheet to another
(sometimes mechanically the same but with differ-
A crew sheet functions as an additional shared
ent names).
playbook, giving extra bonuses and opportunities
for advancement. Crew abilities have the same kind of veteran advance
system as character playbooks (see page 7), so
Crew Special Abilities there is really only one big list of abilities for all the
Crews have their own special abilities, which apply crew types.
to everyone in the crew. These abilities work sim-
Crew Upgrades
ilarly to those on playbooks, providing collective
advantages such as: Upgrades mostly create or improve crew resources:
the crew’s lair, cohorts, equipment, etc. They can
⚫ Increase the maximum allowed action rating.
also provide more xp to crew members when they
⚫ Give some special skill or capability to everyone train a specific trait.
in the crew.
⚫ Allow each PC to add one dot to an action rating. Crew Contacts
These are divided up by attribute, so that if you In addition to individual PC contacts, the crew also
take the Prowess crew special ability, anyone has a contact list, with one friend and one rival.
can choose to add one dot to an attribute within These are professional connections for the group as
Prowess. a whole. Keep this if the group’s contacts should be
⚫ Decrease a cost or increase a benefit. important to the game.
⚫ Give +1d to the engagement roll for a specific
type of plan. Do You Need Crews?
When you create a crew sheet according to the No. Crew sheets focus the game on different types
standard FitD format, you’ll create a set of special of play. If your game is really about one kind of
abilities that fit the setting and the tone of that type thing, then you can eliminate crew sheets or have
of crew. The standard game gives seven abilities tracking forms for managing group resources (as
Band of Blades does).

Cycle of Play
Like the rest of FitD, the various subsystems that opportunities—and the players are motivated to
comprise the cycle of play are optimized for the participate in scores because that's where most of
original setting and style of the game. Depending the game resources they need come from.
on your hack, you might need to tweak or com-
You can use this basic structure, with perhaps a few
pletely revise some or all of these systems.
tweaks, or you could change it in significant ways.

Game Phases One option is to change the cycle itself. A forced

sequence of free play, score, and downtime reflects
FitD is built around a continuous cycle of free the constrained nature of criminals struggling to
play, score, downtime. The assumption is that advance within a city, but not necessarily the open
the GM and players collaborate to establish score ended nature of heroic fiction, for example.

13
⚫ In Vergence, the PCs are very powerful and to end the score and get to downtime so they can
can travel freely within an infinite multiverse. restore their stress meter—even if means the score
Constraining them into a limited phase struc- is not successful. Harm is different limit—a group
ture doesn’t fit the setting and genre. Instead, of PCs who have taken harm are much less capable,
much of the game is intended to happen in free so they might need to end a score. If one or two PCs
play. Play can move into a more detailed oper- have taken trauma, they’re out and might not come
ation phase if an engagement roll is needed. If back during that score.
they need to restore stress, the players can take
You could keep the basic structure of a score while
a rest phase (which just restores 4 stress and
just renaming it to fit your game. Explorers of
resets abilities). Or, if they want to take larger
ancient ruins could run an expedition or delve instead
scale actions, they can take a longer scheming
of a score. Commandos could conduct an operation.
phase. A scheming phase allows the GM to check
Psychic children could fall into a shared nightmare.
off a greater number of segments on opposition
clocks than a rest phase. There is no constrained Renaming might be all you need to do, or you
phase sequence: the players can choose to move might adjust some of the systems that are used to
freely from one phase to another as they wish. define a score. For example, if you want to allow for
There is a mechanism to allow players to take somewhat longer scores, you could provide some
different kinds of phases at the same time if mechanism for recovering some amount of stress.
they want, so one PC can rest while others stay ⚫ In Raiders in the Dark, the crew can find a safe
in free play, for example. The game calls this a location and rest for a few hours. During a rest,
“phase split.” PCs restore stress up to half their maximum,

Free Play
or 1 stress if they are at more than half. They
also reset their armor boxes and clear any short
FitD calls out free play as a phase of the game term harm.
between other, more formally defined phases. Since Not all game genres fit the episodic nature of scores.
it doesn't have specific game systems associated If necessary, you can change the game structure to
with it, you could mess with other game phases and build the action around other kinds of events, such
leave free play alone (although you might change as encounters, scenes, missions, or rests. Just make
some of the systems that are used within free play). sure you take into account the economy of stress
and stress recovery so that the PCs have resources
The Score to work with during play (but still have constraints).
If you change the system significantly you'll proba-
With its focus on criminals committing heists, bly need to playtest and make adjustments so that
cons, smuggling runs, and other criminal actions, stress is precious and limited, but not to the degree
standard FitD is structured around scores. Scores that the players are afraid to use it.
establish a default episodic structure: each game
session is likely to involve a score. Some sessions
might have multiple scores and longer scores can
Engagement Roll
take multiple sessions. However, the game delib- The engagement roll is designed to focus the players
erately imposes an inherent limit to how much can on the action instead of planning and prepping. It
reasonably happen in a score. That limit is stress, works well in games that are set up to abstract the
which is a precious resource that cannot in any planning part of PC actions.
reliable way be recovered during the score itself. As
the PCs use stress and start to run low, they need

14
⚫ In a game that is more about resource manage- Blades in the Dark puts the rules for flashbacks in
ment and planning, you could create a more the chapter on Scores. This generates the natural
formal structure for prepping before a score, question about whether they are allowed in other
such as a planning montage, scouting, build- game phases. You might want to clarify.
ing super-science creations in the laboratory,
Flashbacks fit many kinds of fiction, but not all. In
etc. This could be used to establish facts about
a horror game, for example, you might eliminate
what is about to happen, give extra dice to
or adjust flashbacks so that PCs are less proactive
the engagement roll, affect what items can be
and have less control. To limit flashbacks, you could
included in load, or other relevant tweaks to
increase the cost, so that they always require at least
the system.
1 stress (but if you do that, the players will tend to do
⚫ Another change could be to make engagement more planning and be more hesitant).
rolls optional. The purpose of an engagement
roll is to determine the starting position when ⚫ In Idiot Teenagers With a Death Wish, flashbacks
the action starts. Depending on the narrative have been removed as a default option. However,
structure of your game, free play might often there is a Flashback special ability available
merge right into a score, so the starting position to the Strategist playbook. All flashbacks cost
is already clear. In that case, you could provide 2 stress, further limiting their use to only times
the GM with the option to skip the engagement when they would have a dramatic effect.
roll and just declare that the action has begun. Some play groups lean into flashbacks and use
You might also consider whether your game should them constantly to flip back and forth between
have a mechanism for disengagement. present time and prep. Other groups (sometimes
with experience playing other games) use flash-
⚫ In Raiders in the Dark, at the end of a delve the backs rarely or even think of them as “cheating.”
crew can make an exit roll to get themselves Consider the types of people who might play your
out of a dangerous location. Depending on the game and how they might respond to a flashback
result of the roll, they might all take one or more mechanic. If you are likely to get a lot of tradi-
consequences or they might get away free. The tional RPG players and include flashbacks, you
exit roll is not required (they might just play could consider ways to ease them into using that
through the exit normally), but it is a way to narrative structure.
abstract that part of the delve if the group is not
interested the details.
Stress
Flashbacks Stress is the core currency of PC activity in FitD. For
players, it is useful and precious.
Flashbacks work hand in hand with the engage-
ment roll to encourage players to skip tedious You can change how stress works in a few ways:
preparation for a score. They can always flash back ⚫ If the word “stress” doesn't fit your game, you
to the work they have already done to prepare for can rename this resource to a different word,
the situation at hand. They can do that as needed such as moxie, power, grit, élan, vigor, vitality,
rather than making the players attempt to plan for doom, or heart.
every foreseeable contingency.
⚫ The standard game gives players a max stress
of 9, with a couple of more points available via
crew upgrades. If that's too much or too little,
change the number.

15
⚫ A crew that is connected psychically could have ⚫ In FitD, trauma is permanent. If that doesn’t fit
a shared pool of stress. Each PC could have a the setting, you can provide a mechanism for
few personal stress points and then a stress removing trauma—using advanced technology,
track for the crew that they can all draw from. magic, a boon from the gods, or any other
method that aligns with the fiction. Removing
Trauma trauma should probably be a significant under-
taking that takes time (perhaps via downtime
PCs who check off their last stress box suffer actions) or some other player resource.
trauma. Trauma takes the PC temporarily out of the
⚫ In Deathwish, there is no trauma. When you get
game (some interpret this as the rest of the score,
to zero stress, you are exhausted. You can keep
but the game does not require that). Trauma is a
playing the character when exhausted, but you
dramatic event that some players enjoy. But it also
can't do things that require spending stress.
keeps the player from playing for some (not quite
Some abilities let you mitigate exhaustion in
defined) period of time, which can feel intrusive
certain ways or gain a bonus when exhausted.
and not so fun.
When a character returns to play after taking
Because resistance rolls cost a variable amount of
trauma, all stress is restored (and vice requirements
stress, it's very possible to go into trauma unex-
have been satisfied for the next downtime). This
pectedly (two very bad resistance rolls will do it).
could be a big help during an especially challenging
This system is designed to reflect the desperate
score, leading players to sometimes go into trauma
and unpredictable nature of a criminal gang on the
on purpose if they think the character will return
bottom of the social hierarchy. It might or might
soon. Consider whether that provides the feeling
not fit your game.
and incentive structure you want in your game and
⚫ You could also be more defined about what change it if needed.
it means to gain trauma. For example, for the
rest of that score it could limit the actions the Forced Retirement
character can take by themselves or otherwise In the standard game, PCs who mark a fourth
place constraints on action. trauma condition cannot continue as playable char-
⚫ A character taking trauma might play through acters. They must retire or take a fall and become
a flashback scene to address some element of incarcerated. This reflects the standard setting
the trauma condition the player has chosen— (desperate scoundrels) and encourages campaigns
potentially gaining some advantage (such as a in which players may have multiple characters. It
setup action) that applies to the current fiction. also gives players reason to avoid trauma.
⚫ You could have some system for a player whose
You could change this in a few ways:
character is taken out via trauma to temporarily
take some specific role while not playing the ⚫ In a game like Deathwish, without trauma, there
character. That could be playing one or more is no automatic retirement except for the end-
NPCs, flashing back to a time when the char- ing of the campaign.
acter provided guidance or assistance to the ⚫ You could lean even harder into this mechanic
PCs who are still in the scene, choosing the next so that the fourth trauma condition means
big narrative beat, or any other role that fits the going out in a blaze of glory. The PC could get
theme of the game. some temporary bonus, such as being able to
ignore harm penalties and a fully restored stress
track, but will not survive past the current score
or scene.

16
 ⚫ Make retirement fit the theme of your game. If The Coin Economy
it’s about adolescents who have a way to travel
⚫ If you want to give players an incentive to shop
from our mundane world to a magical realm,
through equipment lists, haggle over prices,
then exceeding the trauma limit (or equivalent)
search bodies, and keep track of every pfennig
could mean that the character has become a
and farthing, you can establish a less abstract
grownup and is no longer able to cross over.
and more granular economy of money or other
⚫ Instead of retirement, taking on too much units of value.
trauma could mean some kind of transfor-
⚫ If wealth is not a driving factor in your game,
mation. Perhaps the character transcends
you could choose to remove it. For example, in
from being a mortal into some altered state of
a game about intrepid galactic explorers from
existence, which doesn’t require retirement but
an advanced post-scarcity culture, a wealth
does involve changing to a new playbook with
system is largely irrelevant to what the PCs
new abilities and limitations.
are doing. You might need some other mech-

Coin anism for determining how PCs get stuff and

influence others.
The coin mechanic provides a way to abstract wealth
and reward, avoiding tedious accounting of small Stash
units of currency or a cycle of petty theft and fencing
Stash represents banked or invested coin. Once
of stolen items. This system is fairly easily adapted
banked, converting stash back to coin is penalized
to any game that is about PCs scrabbling for wealth:
by 50%. Despite this, the game provides players
cyberpunk, sword and sorcery, gangsters in 1920s
with a few incentives to convert coin to stash:
Shanghai, etc. If appropriate, you can rename coin
to whatever fits better, such as “cash” or “cred.” ⚫ There are hard limits on how much coin a char-
acter can carry and how much the crew can keep
Each unit of coin represents a relatively large available. Any more must be spent or converted
amount of money that cannot be broken up into to stash.
fractional chunks. That means the game forces
⚫ Stash reflects the quality of the character’s life-
the players to elide minor uses of money such as
style. When the player wants to do something
bribing a bluecoat, buying a drink, or getting a new
reflective of wealth, the GM can use stash, or a
pair of boots. Actions that are routine and neces-
fortune roll based on stash, to determine how
sary in “looter shooter/murder hobo” type games,
it turns out. This might or might not come up
such as searching every desk drawer and corpse for
often in any particular game, so a pauper’s
money or valuables, are also abstracted and have
lifestyle is felt by the character much more than
no mechanical reward. Instead, the overall score is
the player.
what generates coin. The game gives the players no
reason to constantly loot. This can be confusing for ⚫ Stash determines what happens after the
players used to some kinds of tabletop and video character retires. While the character may have
roleplaying games who expect to be constantly excellent reasons to desire a prosperous retire-
searching for valuables. ment, the player will never see that benefit after
the character is no longer being played. Some
players will role-play a great desire for stash,
while others will prefer to spend the money now.

17
Payoff Payout Roll
Roll your blue Each 5 or 6: 1 coin.
The standard game assumes that successful scores loot dice Three blue sixes: special item.
generate coin fairly reliably. The larger the score, Roll your red Each 4, 5, or 6: 1 coin.
the greater the payout, but otherwise the GM is loot dice Two red sixes: special item.
directed to just give the crew a consistent reward
for completing a score. The Coin Economy
If your game doesn’t use coin or some other cur- Although PCs become significantly more capable
rency equivalent, you will need to consider some over a long campaign, the monetary economy of
other game structure to motivate the players to take play is oriented toward steady state. Scores pay out
game-relevant action. according to the type of job, not the tier of the target.
That means the game presents no notable increase
Assuming you do use coin, you can build in tropes of in earnings per score from tier 0 to tier 5—certainly
criminal fiction—that the standard game explicitly not a logarithmic progression as a typical dungeon
avoids—by making payoff less certain: an erstwhile smash ‘n grab game might assume. Nor is there a big
ally takes off with the loot, a fence cons the crew increase in cost pressure as tier increases. Paying
into thinking the loot isn’t worth much, or the crew off a boss does cost tier + 1 per score. Increasing tier
gains access to a huge payout that belongs to some- costs new tier × 8, but that can be delayed and is
one powerful (who wants it back). If your game offset by the benefit of having a high crew tier.
is designed to explore betrayal, you could choose
to lean into those kinds of events mechanically, If you want a game in which starting characters are
perhaps with a random table of complications that poor, but very advanced characters are rich enough
must be rolled after a score. to buy themselves their own duchy (or equivalent).
you will need to change the progression of earnings
You could also change the mechanics for payout, over the course of a short/medium/ long campaign.
making the benefit from scores less predictable
or adding in other kinds of renumeration besides
abstract coin.
Heat and
⚫ Raiders in the Dark is about venturing into
Entanglements
ancient crypts and acquiring loot. During a This system is a way to give mechanical weight to
delve, the PCs can acquire loot dice to represent troublesome attention from the powers that be. If
various items they’re picking up that they think your game is about acting illicitly within a corrupt
will be valuable. Each loot die takes up one load, power structure, the heat system in FitD might not
so they must make choices about what to carry. need any significant changes aside from creating
There are two kinds of loot dice: red and blue. entanglements that fit the setting.
One red is more valuable than one blue, but
However, if your game is about proactive heroes
two blue are more valuable than one red. They
instead of scoundrels coping with unprincipled
can combine two blues into a red (representing
power, you might want to just remove this whole
sorting and keeping only the most valuable
system. In that case, factional issues could substi-
stuff). When they get back to their base and
tute for heat and entanglements.
have the opportunity to convert their loot to
coin, they roll on a payout table to learn what
coin or special items they have acquired.

18
Heat Without incarceration, you may need another
mechanism for the crew to reduce their wanted
The heat mechanic includes a whole subsystem
level, such as doing favors for powerful factions,
involving wanted level, incarceration, prison
paying large bribes, moving to a different territory
claims, and entanglements. This reflects dealing
where they are less notorious, or setting up others
with power and those who control it. It may be over-
to take the blame for their actions.
kill for games in which that kind of action belongs
more in the background. ⚫ In Scum and Villainy, heat is tracked separately
in each star system the crew operates in. The
If legal entanglements need to be important, then crew can avoid places where they have become
make them important. Use the incarceration notorious by going elsewhere.
system or build something equivalent to fit your
⚫ In Asphalt & Trouble, the crew builds up heat in
game. Make entanglements significant enough to
a specific region and can get rid of it by moving
drive major game events. Create a game in which
on to some other location. But if they do so, they
the crew either puts a lot of energy into minimizing
lose whatever local assets they have acquired or
heat or pays the consequences.
improved, such as a base of operations.
If you don’t like the standard entanglements table,
you could use something like this: Entanglements
If you use entanglements, you may need to create a
Entanglements new set of events. If giant monsters are a thing in
Roll dice equal to Critical: Disastrous your setting, then include events with giant mon-
wanted level. entanglement
sters as entanglements. If there is a secret society
6: Major entanglement
4/5: Minor entanglement pulling all the strings, then an entanglement could
1–3: No entanglement be contact with a peripheral (or not so peripheral)
part of the Illuminati.
For each level of entanglement, give the GM a list of
options to pick from. Many entanglement results can be bought off by
expending resources (coin, rep, etc.). This gives the
Incarceration players control of whether they play through an
entanglement plot or not, but if a group just rou-
A formal mechanical system for sending PCs to
tinely pays up so they can get to the next score, the
prison and then giving them the means to stake
entanglement system is just a resource tax, not an
prison claims fits some genres of RPG. Note that
engaging part of the story.
incarceration can split the crew, with some in
prison and others out of it. That could be disruptive ⚫ Entanglements could happen less often, but be
to the game flow (unless players are willing to create a bigger deal when they come up. For example,
new characters, some in prison and some out). One if 1–3 on the table is that there is no significant
change you can make is to not have one PC do a entanglement, then the other results you put on
stint in the hoosegow, but the whole crew instead. the table will be less common.
⚫ If you need entanglements to be major plot
In many game settings, a structured incarceration
elements, then remove the option to buy them
system is not a good fit. If that’s not what your game
off. The players will just have to deal with them
is about, you can take it out while keeping heat and
in play. The potential problem with that is
entanglements.
that they can derail the plot that the GM and
players are interested in and force them onto a
different track.

19
 ⚫ In Asphalt & Trouble, entanglement rolls are default FitD. It also encourages a game with more
made just before the score. The results are a sort than one PC per player. When one PC is too hurt to
of extra consequence that will have to be dealt go on a score, another one can sub in.
with during the action.
If your game doesn’t fit that model, you can make
Entanglements could trigger a more free form con- healing easier. Here are some ways to do that.
sequence discussed among the players and decided
⚫ You could just let PCs clear all harm in between
upon by the GM. If so, the game would give a list
scores. If, in the fiction, the crew would normally
of examples to pick from. Triggering an entangle-
be able to wait until everyone is healed (or if
ment could mean that some genre-relevant event
magical or high tech healing is easily obtained)
happens such as interference from an established
then letting PCs heal completely between scores
NPC rival or faction.
is nice and simple.

Downtime Actions ⚫ Level 1 harm is cleared automatically at the

start of downtime (this is how it works in
Downtime actions create a mini game within FitD Scum and Villainy).
that is oriented toward longer term activities. If ⚫ All harm drops by one level automatically each
your game incorporates downtime, you can make downtime. A PC can take a recovery action to
it a big deal, with lots of different actions that can heal more quickly than that.
be accomplished, or just a pit stop in between more ⚫ Provide a more forgiving recovery system, such
important things. as this one (which doesn’t use a clock and gen-
erates some kind of healing with each recover
Long-Term Project action):
This simple, abstract, and versatile system is
functional as written. Unless you have a reason to
Recover
change long-term projects, they fit well into most Roll PC action rating Critical: Clear all harm
or NPC Tier 6: Clear two levels of
types of FitD game.
Add +1d for harm
⚫ In Vergence, a project can be basic (completed assistance 4/5: Clear one level of
in one action without a roll), simple (completed harm
Get +1 effect level per
in one action with a roll), or complex (requires 1-3: Clear all level 1 harm
coin spent
a clock). A Vergence campaign does not usually
involve a lot of downtime actions, so this lets ⚫ Taking more downtime actions for healing
players resolve less involved activities without doesn’t cost coin, it only means the GM has
extra rolls. justification to advance troublesome clocks.
⚫ Magical or high tech rapid healing is available at
Recovery a cost in coin. If the PCs have the right connec-
Recovery from harm in FitD can be punishing. tions (which could be a crew upgrade), they get
Especially in the early stages of the game, when some amount of healing for free, without using
PCs may not have access to healers or the coin to a downtime action.
spend on extra downtime actions, a PC who goes
into downtime severely wounded might be just as
hurt at the beginning of the next score. This reflects
the desperate nature of the criminal gang setting of

20
Vice ⚫ A simpler and more forgiving system is to have
PCs recover all stress at each downtime. This
In a game about criminals, it makes sense could fit a game about larger than life action
that indulging in vice is the mechanism for heroes, for example, or one in which each
recovering stress. downtime represents a significant amount of
time in a calm environment and a chance to
⚫ If you want to use the same basic system but
fully reset. That could be a “free” reset, require a
make it feel less seedy, you can rename vice to
downtime action but no roll, or it could require
something different, such as solace or decom-
a downtime action and a roll such as this:
pressing. Providers of stress recovery could be
family members and friends rather than drug Recover Stress
dealers and bookies.
Recover all Critical: Gain extra information,
The vice mechanic for recovering stress includes an stress and a new contact, or other
element of risk, since PCs who recover more than roll worst advantage
their maximum stress overindulge. The lower you Attribute 6: No problems
are on stress, the lower the chance of overindul- rating 4/5: +1 heat or minor narrative
gence (it’s impossible if you have more than 5 stress complication
1–3: +2 heat or major narrative
to recover). Players in longer campaigns with a lot
complication
of dice to roll might prefer to roll fewer than they
are entitled to—is this allowed in your game?
⚫ The PCs automatically recover some set amount
If you want to dissociate the likelihood of overin- of stress, such as 4, each game session. They
dulgence from the PC’s current stress level, you could then choose to indulge vice (or some other
could use a table like this: mechanic, such as giving up a downtime action)
if they wish to recover more than that.
Indulge Vice ⚫ Create some other restoration method, such as
Roll worst Critical: Recover all stress roleplaying through a small recovery scene with
Attribute 6: Recover 5 stress -or- recover all another PC or an important NPC.
rating stress and overindulge
4/5: Recover 3 stress -or- recover
all stress and overindulge The Faction Game
1–3: Recover 1 stress -or- recover
If there are factions in your game, you can use the
3 stress and overindulge
standard FitD faction mechanics, integrating your
⚫ Bladebreaker lets the player choose whether to own set of factions.
recover a small amount of stress (lifestyle +1) or Here are some other ways to make factions work:
overindulge to recover all stress. Overindulging
means the GM rolls to determine some extra ⚫ A simpler system would be to just use roleplay-
problem the character suffers. ing and faction clocks. When the PCs interact
positively with a faction, establish a clock to fill
toward gaining their confidence or earning a
significant favor. When the PCs interact nega-
tively, then create a negative faction clock and,
when it fills, have the faction take some kind
of reprisal.

21
 ⚫ If factions don't go to war in your game, change
the effects of being at -3 status—or remove or Advancement
redesign the faction status level system entirely. FitD has advancement systems for both PCs and the
⚫ In Vergence, most factions are led by a single crew, with xp triggers that are marked at the end
strong individual, so factions are presented as of each game session. The game explicitly says that
a list of NPCs and what they are in charge of. players, not the GM, have final say on xp triggers.
The group can earn a game currency called favor
with individual factions, which can be spent for XP Sources
extra dice and other bonuses. For PCs, xp can come from several sources:
⚫ In Deathwish, there is a formal system for estab-
⚫ Action roll at desperate position. Every desper-
lishing different levels of alliance. The stronger
ate roll provides 1 xp on the relevant attribute
the alliance, the more resources are available for
track. It gives players an incentive to get into
loan to the crew.
more trouble and trade position for effect on
War risky action rolls. Players who like to push their
luck will get this more often.
When your crew is at -3 status with another faction,
⚫ Playbook trigger. This rewards the player for
you are at war. That has some mechanical effects,
leaning into the role presented by the playbook.
such as each PC getting one action per downtime
instead of two. ⚫ Expressed identity. In Blades in the Dark, the
standard identify factors are beliefs, drives,
However, the game doesn’t explicitly countenance heritage, and background. Only two of these
situations in which the crew might be the subject are mechanical parts of the game, while the
of attacks by other factions. Where in the cycle of other two are abstracted.
play does that fit? It’s not a score if the PCs are not
⚫ Struggled with personal problems. These are
initiating the action. Usually, the GM fits it into free
vice and trauma. If you add harm to this list,
play or makes it approximate a score, but the game
players get a small compensation for the prob-
provides no mechanism for it.
lems it causes.
If you need to, you can provide more elaborate ⚫ Special ability. Some special abilities provide
guidance on situations in which the PCs must an additional xp trigger, letting the charac-
defend against attacks. For example, you could call ter advance faster if the player leans into it
for a defensive engagement roll to determine how during play. If you like this idea, you could
surprised or overwhelmed the PCs are when they provide one for each playbook.
suffer an attack. You could set up rules for different ⚫ Training. The player can use a downtime action
kinds of enemy action, such as raids, ambushes, to add 1 xp to a track (or 2 xp if the crew has a rel-
divide and conquer, reputational attacks, theft, evant upgrade. Players who choose this option
kidnapping, turf invasion, and so on. frequently will advance their characters faster
Similarly, if there is a larger scale war that the PCs than those who do things like acquire asset,
get caught up in (such as a revolutionary uprising reduce heat, or work on long-term projects.
among downtrodden migrants in a ghost-infested
city), you could establish rules for how to partici-
pate or try to survive.

22
The crew sheet has its own xp track with these Advanced PCs also often also have 3 or 4 dots in
triggers: their lowest attribute, so they roll a lot of dice when
⚫ Crew type, challenge level, reputation. These resisting. That means resistance costs little (and
different triggers reward players for playing they can easily manage their indulge vice rolls to
their crew type, running scores on higher tier recover stress they lose between scores). They have
targets, and enhancing their public reputation. plenty of coin to pay for extra downtime actions
when healing is needed. Because the game provides
⚫ Identity. Earn xp for playing to the goals,
few tools for a GM to provide serious challenges to
drives, inner conflict, or essential nature of the
characters who have earned a lot of xp, the end of a
crew. This is a relatively undefined xp trigger
campaign can fall rather flat.
for playing up how the crew interact internally.
Some possible changes have been proposed else-
Changing Advancement where in this document to address this issue (such
If you like the basic FitD xp system, keep it, perhaps as limiting each action to 3 dots instead of 4), but we
reconsidering which xp triggers fit your game and can also consider it in thinking about how advance-
how fast characters and crews should advance. ment works.
⚫ Is your game designed for one-shots or just Here are some possibilities:
a few sessions you could have a very simple ⚫ Scale the cost of advancement. For example,
advancement system (or none at all). you could make the first dot in an action cost
⚫ Is it designed for a range of different game 4 xp, the second 7, the third 9, and the 4th 11.
lengths? If so, how will it work for just one or Special abilities and crew advancement could
two sessions? 10 sessions? 20? 40? Is the game scale in a similar manner. This would let players
still playable once the PCs have earned many advanced quickly at the start, but slow it down
upgrades or does it become uninteresting over time.
because they’ve become too powerful and don’t ⚫ Deathwish has no xp system. The crew just gets
have much else to strive for? one advance after completion of each score.
Most players like advancement, so it can be a Advances provide relatively small benefits.
good idea to make sure the first advances happen ⚫ Vergence also has no xp. Each type of crew
quickly. Even during a one-shot, you could allow (alliance) has milestones that are specific to the
for advancement halfway through. On the other threat they are facing. When enough milestones
hand, during a long campaign, it’s important to are met, the entire group earns upgrade points
make sure players don’t get all the shiny things very they can spend communally for group advance-
quickly and then have less motivation to continue. ment. They get upgrade points faster during the
A common concern raised about Blades in the Dark first few sessions and slower after that.
and some other FitD systems is that in a long cam- ⚫ Place a cap on xp for making rolls at desperate
paign, PCs become powerful enough that the GM position, or remove this xp trigger. Alternately,
has great difficulty figuring out how to challenge remove some or all other xp triggers and make
them. With expected advancement, PCs are likely advancement all about desperate actions.
to have 4 dots in the actions they use frequently,
so they often roll 5–6 dice on important actions,
which means a very low chance of outright failure.
Position and effect become less relevant with large
dice pools.

23
Turf and Claims These systems can produce results that are not
“balanced,” but that might be OK, especially in
Turf and claims are another mechanic that fits a a short-term game. It’s fun to make and invent
game about criminals establishing control of terri- stuff, and if the PCs get cool advantages over
tory in a corrupt city. If your game isn’t like that, it’s NPCs, then the GM has tools to correct that if it’s
fine to just take out this whole system. necessary for the story. If your game emphasizes
this kind of thing, you could include a discussion
If you do keep it, you’ll want to establish a modified of the implications and what can be done to keep
claim map for each crew type, with mechanical the game both fun and challenging.
effects of taking over each kind of claim. Your claim
map could represent parts of a decrepit space habi- The crafting and acquire asset systems are fairly
tat, nodes in cyberspace, control of an ancient tele- flexible, in that what is possible can be established
portation system, secret passages within a magical by consensus among the group. If you have crafting
school, or any other contested “territory.” in your game, you’ll probably want to come up with
a list of sample craft-able items to fit the setting.
Rep and Tier However, if you use Blades in the Dark as your model
for special items, you will notice some apparent
Crews “level up” by advancing their tier. They do this
inconsistencies. The crew starts at tier 0, which
by accruing rep and spending coin. Tier is a mea-
means their equipment is normally tier 0 (or tier 1
sure of how much strength the crew has acquired
if it is of fine quality). The base tier of crafted items
vs. other gangs within the corrupt underworld. Tier
is also 0. But the special abilities they can access at
is used for dice pools when crafting or acquiring
game start say they can have items of up to tier 4.
assets and when using the crew’s influence. It also
determines quality of equipment and the size of the Does taking a special ability give them access to
gangs the crew controls. those higher tier items? Do the PCs have to do
anything to replenish, or does that just happen off
This system can be adapted to any other way
screen? In Blades in the Dark, the Leech bandolier
of scaling the crew vs. opposition they might
equipment description says, “During downtime, you
struggle against.
automatically refill your bandoliers, so long as you have
⚫ Band of Blades uses threat instead of quality or reasonable access to a supplier or workshop.” Does that
tier. PCs with standard equipment are threat mean you ignore tier and quality for the alchemicals
level 1 and fine equipment increases their threat and items on the special list?
to 2. Enemies also have a threat level, some-
If you use this model in your game, you might want
times much higher than 2. This is considered in
to address how tier and quality interact with any
assessing position and effect.
free stuff provided on a standard equipment list.
Crafting and
Acquiring Assets Rituals
This is another system that can be adapted to fit
Crafting is a subsystem to allow PCs to create spe- your setting, by establishing what the “rules” of
cial assets for themselves. Acquire asset is another magical rituals are. What kinds of things can be
system to allow PCs to get temporary access to accomplished, what are their limits, and what do
special assets (items, experts, cohorts) from other they cost? If your setting has magic and this system
people or factions.

24
fits your conception of how it works, then use this many RPGs. Fighting, if it happens, is treated as
system. Develop those rules and provide some another series of events in the fiction that the PCs
examples of rituals. interact with.

Magnitude This approach has great elegance and simplicity. In

other games, GMs often have to spend lots of time
If you use the FitD ritual system, you’ll need some- prepping before each game session to lay out all the
thing like this as well. Some abilities might also statistics that define the NPCs the players might
depend on it. If the scale is not right for your setting, (or might not) encounter. By contrast, FitD games
you can adjust what each of the numbers means. can involve little or no prep other than just thinking
Magnitude can also be used as a formal measure of about the fiction, which removes a lot of drudgery
other kinds of scale, such as effect level of magical from the GM’s role. The game can also more easily
spells or size of huge kaiju monsters. go in any direction, because the GM has no invest-
ment in having planned out encounters and scenes.
⚫ You could use the magnitude tables (or some
version of them) to set the cost of spells, super- But there is a trade-off. During play, the GM has to
powers, or other effects. For example, in a fan- keep track of the fictional status of all the NPCs in
made Wizard playbook for Blades in the Dark, the a scene without much help from the game system.
PC creates a supply of a resource called Flow Usually, that’s fairly simple, but when a scene
by making risky action rolls using the Attune includes multiple named and important NPCs, or
action. Spells are cast by spending Flow, with the when an NPC should fictionally be able to bring a
cost determined using the magnitude tables. broad range of abilities to bear, the GM has a lot
to remember.
The game provides magnitude numbers, but the
GM must decide which apply and whether they add This is a reasonable trade-off in the core
together or are combined in some other way. There Blades in the Dark game because NPCs mostly have
is no formal system of magnitude math. mundane abilities and are pretty simple to keep
track of. But if your game might include lots of
Non-Player NPCs who are powerful mages, mystical martial

Characters artists, cyber-enhanced netrunners, powerful

super-villains, alien mech warriors, or other NPCs
In many RPGs, the mechanical treatment of non- with complex capabilities, consider whether the
player characters is similar to that of the PCs. While GM needs more help with managing those “boss”
they are usually simpler than PCs, they take turns opponents.
along with the PCs. The NPCs are treated symetri- The game suggests using clocks to track the defen-
cally with the PCs. sive abilities of notable and competent opponents.
In FitD, that’s not the case. The PCs have a formal It also has a mechanism whereby a prepared and
action resolution system but NPCs are just part of capable enemy can impose consequences on a PC
the fiction. If a PC is trying to convince a hotel con- even before any dice are rolled. Those are useful
cierge to tell her which room Lord Acton is staying systems and they may be all that is required.
in, there may be all sorts of rhetorical flourishes
happening in the conversation, but if dice are rolled
to determine the outcome it’s the same as if she
were trying to pick a lock to get into his room. There
is no special set of rules for combat as there is in

25
You could add others, such as: ⚫ When an NPC is a master, the GM can tell the
⚫ A list of abilities for NPCs, with guidance for player what they have done and require the
the GM on how they can be managed. These player to decide whether to resist. This inflicts
do not have to be as narrow or clearly defined a consequence outside of the regular action
as PC special abilities, but they can provide roll structure. Technically, the GM could inflict
suggestions about how those abilities will affect resistable consequences at any time, but giving
game play. an NPC mastery status sticks that capacity to a
specific kind of threat.
⚫ Examples of what the most complex and
capable opponents might be like and how to You could set up a more formal system of actions
manage them. that dangerous NPCs can take. For example, player
actions can trigger NPC responses, or an NPC could
Dangerous NPCs have danger levels associated with controlled, risky,
While NPCs don’t get formal stats in this system, and desperate positions.
the game does recognize that an NPC could be ⚫ Enemies in Band of Blades are more mechan-
especially dangerous. There are two levels of ically defined than in standard FitD. They have
dangerousness: a threat level and various powers they can use
⚫ When an NPC is skilled, the GM can say what against the PCs.
they are about to do and ask the player for a
reaction. This does not disrupt player primacy
in taking action, but does force the player to
respond to the NPC.

Resolution Systems
Deep in the core of the game are the systems for
resolving various activities. You can do all kinds of
Rolling the Dice
things with FitD without ever touching this part. The basic FitD dice mechanic is simple: roll a pool of
But if you are dissatisfied with how FitD resolves six sided dice and count the single highest number.
action (or just like to mess around with game 1–3 is a fail (bad outcome), 4/5 is a partial success, 6
rules) you can make major or minor changes to a full success, two or more sixes is a critical success.
these systems.

Dice Critical Success Partial Fail

0 0% 3% 22% 75%
1 0% 17% 33% 50%
2 3% 28% 44% 25%
3 7% 35% 45% 13%
4 13% 39% 42% 6%
5 20% 40% 37% 3%
6 26% 40% 32% 2%

26
This resolution system is easy to teach and plays ⚫ You don’t have to use dice at all. Crash Cart uses
quickly at the table. It is universal to almost all of a deck of regular playing cards. Instead of a
the dice mechanics in the game. dice pool, you draw a number of cards equal to
your rating. Different combinations of cards
As you can see from the table of probabilities, rolls
determine whether the result is a success,
start to lose suspense as we go above three or four
partial success, etc. By controlling where cards
dice. Once we get to five dice, the chance of a full
go after drawing them, the game can change
success or critical is 60% and outright failures will
odds over the course of a session: lots of success
be very rare.
early on means failure is more likely later, while
That’s not very dramatic, so in general you may early failure is balanced with more face cards
want to have a system in which most rolls involve remaining in the deck, so success is more likely
1–3 dice, with 4 or more dice reserved for special later on.
circumstances or extra expenditure of player ⚫ You can easily add a critical failure system by
resources. That’s something to keep in mind when saying that any roll in which the highest result
devising the mechanics for figuring out a base dice is a 1 is a catastrophe. (When rolling 0d, you get
pool and for gaining extra dice by pushing, assist- that if either die is 1.) The more dice you roll, the
ing, using special abilities, etc. lower your chance of a critical fail. A system like
Another consideration is how bonuses work. FitD this could work in a game intended to treat the
does not really allow small granular advantages or PCs comedically or to emphasize that they are
disadvantages. An extra die makes a big difference. overwhelmed by a terrible situation.
If you allow two or three kinds of bonus to stack
together, you can inadvertently make success Action Roll
almost guaranteed. Make sure you understand the
The action roll in FitD uses the standard dice
economy in your game of how players can optimize
mechanic to resolve any risky or troublesome action
their rolls for best results, considering what incen-
a PC is likely to do. This is a useful system that is
tives you want in play.
easy to design around.
Most FitD games keep this dice resolution system.
The action roll is a “fail forward” system. Every roll
Deviating from it makes a game “feel” less like it fits
produces a change in the fiction; there is no such
into the FitD family.
thing as nothing happening when a player decides
But it is possible to tweak the system. For example: to take action.
⚫ Your game doesn’t have to use six-sided dice.
Explaining the Action Roll
If you wanted to change the range of results,
you could use d10s or some other kind of die The standard FitD rules have a long, detailed, step-
instead of d6s. That might be helpful in adjust- by-step explanation of how the action roll conversa-
ing the probability of different results, such as tion happens. Many game authors have found that
if you want to use dice pools that involve more they can describe it in a lot fewer words. This has
dice being rolled or if you want more kinds of the advantage of being less overwhelming, but it
results than fail, partial success, full success, also means that your fewer words have to explain
and critical. A bigger size of dice could fit with a it very well, because there is no redundancy to help
system in which the player gets a plus or minus with clarification. Consider how much wording,
adjustment to the highest number rolled. You and in what format, will best allow people likely to
could also use different sizes of dice for differ- play your game to learn it.
ent purposes or probability ranges.

27
Action Economy, or Lack Thereof FitD instead reflects task difficulty several ways,
some of which are not obvious to someone first
FitD does not have a formally defined action econ-
looking at the system:
omy as many other role playing games do. Neither
PCs nor NPCs take turns in any kind of predefined 1. You only roll if the action is dangerous or trou-
sequence. This can be challenging for those who are blesome, so if you want to punch a blustering
used to other games. fool who is no challenge for your character, the
GM might not bother calling for a roll and just
⚫ Players may be confused if they don’t know narrate how the buffoon got taken out.
when they are allowed to act.
2. Although the difficulty of the roll does not affect
⚫ It can be challenging for the GM to manage a the dice pool, it does establish the stakes of
complex action scene without rules for how to that action (via position and effect). Getting
do that. a success against a mook might take him out
⚫ Because NPCs don't roll and there is no turn immediately, or even take down a whole gang,
order, a GM can find that NPCs seem to just while a success against a boss might just stagger
passively react to the actions of the PCs, without her. And a consequence received while tangling
ever really taking initiative. This can be overrid- with a mook could be much less severe than
den when NPCs are designated as dangerous if you are in a final battle with the big bad. If
(page 26) but it can be hard for a less expe- you’re used to other games in which you might,
rienced GM to figure out how to manage that, for example, roll against difficulty rating, this
since the game doesn’t provide much structure. method takes some getting used to.
For these reasons, in can be important to provide 3. FitD descends from Powered by the Apocalypse
advice and examples of how the game is intended (PBtA) games (a different, but related, game
to play. The GM needs to understand how to man- engine). Like those games, FitD does not set a
age action, move the spotlight, and represent both difficulty for action rolls (“moves”). Compared
passive and active NPCs. And the players need to to PBtA, FitD is highly engaged with action
understand how to work with the GM to frame their difficulty. Compared to many other games,
choices and decide what each action roll should however, FitD abstracts difficulty in a way that
reasonably accomplish. can be hard, initially, to grok. How much help
will the people picking up your game need
Alternately, you change the game to incorporate
with that?
turn taking or some other formal action economy
system that standard FitD does not have. You could change the system to include dice mod-
ifiers for harder or easier situations. You might do
Bonuses and Penalties this instead of position and effect, or as part of a
combined system. When the GM determines that
In the standard system, the chance of success is
the situation is especially good or bad for the PC,
solely a function of how many dice are being rolled,
that roll could be made with various kinds of advan-
which does not depend on the difficulty of the task.
tages or disadvantages.
You have the same chance of getting a full success
on your roll regardless of whether you’re trying to Here are some ways that having an advantage
do something that is just a bit challenging or some- could work:
thing that seems close to impossible. ⚫ Set the worst result at partial success, so any 1–3
result is upgraded one level.
⚫ Upgrade every result by one level, so 1–3 is par-
tial success, 4/5 is a full success, etc.

28
 ⚫ Give one or more bonus dice. If you do that, instead of the full page outcome
⚫ Allow the player to select one benefit from a list table printed in the Blades in the Dark rules it looks
(which might vary depending on the situation like this:
or the action rating used).
Action Roll Results
And here are some ways to impose disadvantage:
Crit Succeed with no consequence and +1 effect.
⚫ Make 4–6 partial success and critical a full
6 Succeed with no consequence.
success.
⚫ Downgrade every result by one level, so 1–5 is 4/5 Succeed, but suffer a consequence.
fail, 6 is partial success, critical is success. 1–3 Fail and suffer a consequence.
⚫ Remove one die. If that drops the pool below 0
dice, the action is an automatic failure. That’s a lot easier to memorize, but it loses the spe-
cial options for controlled position that are in the
⚫ After the dice are rolled, take away the highest
standard game.
die before determining the result.
⚫ Allow the GM to select one additional conse- Pushing
quence from a list (which might vary depending
Pushing yourself is a simple mechanic that gives
on the situation or the action rating used).
+1d or increased effect for two stress. It works
If you do use some kind of advantage and disadvan- well in play. Unless you change the core dice and
tage, you should probably also eliminate or simplify stress mechanic, pushing should probably stay in
position and effect. Otherwise, the discussion your game.
required before rolling dice becomes redundant
and tedious. Can you push for effect after a roll? Despite the
order of decision making presented in the rules,
Options by Position Blades in the Dark has an example of play in which
the GM explicitly suggests and allows it (page 40).*
When there is a failure or partial success on an
action roll, the options available to the player vary Obviously, the designer knows the intent of the
depending on the position. game system. But there is potentially a problem
with doing it that way. If you allow the player to
⚫ 4/5 Controlled: Choose to either fail without
wait until after the roll and then decide to push for
a consequence or succeed with a (minor)
effect, it becomes foolish to ever do it before rolling
consequence.
the dice—if you push for effect and then roll 1–3,
⚫ 4/5 Risky or desperate: Succeed with a
you failed and took 2 stress for nothing. If allowed,
consequence.
a player with any degree of system mastery will
⚫ 1–3 Controlled: Choose to make a new roll at always wait until after the roll to decide whether to
risky position (requiring new decisions about push for effect.
pushing, devil’s bargains, assistance, etc.)
or fail with a consequence.
⚫ 1–3 Risky or desperate: Fail with a consequence. * In that example, the GM waits until after the dice
are rolled (with a critical success!) to specify effect
The player has more options at controlled position
level and tell the player that still won’t be enough to
than the others.
achieve the goal. Consider, when writing an exam-
Some groups seem to naturally (perhaps without ple intended to present best practices, showing the
thinking about it) just simplify the options by taking GM clarifying what a success will achieve before the
away those extra decisions at controlled position. player throws the dice.

29
For this reason, it would make sense to either explic- ⚫ Instead of a devil’s bargain, the player can accept
itly require all pushes to be declared before the roll a devil’s die, which is a different color from the
(which is the order presented in the standard game others. If the devil’s die comes up 1–3, then
seems to imply, despite the contrary example in the (regardless of the result of the overall action
Blades in the Dark rulebook), or add an extra step roll) a serious consequence ensues, which the
to the action roll process for the player to decide player can’t resist.
whether to push for effect if the action succeeded. ⚫ Special abilities can interact with devil’s bar-
(Or don’t worry about it and let the GM allow it gains. For example, the PC could get +1d -and-
when it fits the fiction—but even then it might be increased effect on a devil’s bargain, be able to
worth a discussion in your text.) resist the DB consequence, or on full success
take an action to try to redirect the devil’s bar-
Devil’s Bargain gain consequence onto someone else.
The devil’s bargain gives the player a way to get More Devil’s Bargains
an extra +1d in exchange for a negotiated conse-
If you like devil’s bargains, you can use them for
quence that will happen no matter how the dice roll
more than just +1d. For example, allow a bargain to:
turns out.
⚫ Get +1 effect.
Can you resist a devil’s bargain? I have always
assumed you could not, but the rules do not ⚫ Say that the minimum result of the roll will be a
explicitly say that. You might want to clarify mixed success (a 1–3 is the same as 4/5).
this point. ⚫ Tick a clock.
⚫ Roll an extra die after an unsatisfactory result.
Here are some ways you could change
devil’s bargains: ⚫ Get +1d to a resistance, fortune, or
engagement roll.
⚫ The devil’s bargain can slow down the conver-
⚫ Get a one-time use of a special ability you
sation and delay rolling the dice and getting
don’t have.
a result. It may not fit a game that’s intended
to play quickly or that give players other ways ⚫ Ignore penalties from harm.
to complicate the narrative. You can remove it ⚫ Call for a flashback without paying stress.
from your game without breaking anything. ⚫ Achieve any agreed change in the fiction.
⚫ Change the name of devil’s bargain to some- ⚫ Get an automatic partial success without rolling
thing that fits better: twist, glitch, snafu, taking dice.
grief, etc. It could be something very specific to ⚫ Take a Devil’s bargain after a roll in order to
the lore of your setting. re-roll the dice.
⚫ Have two levels of devil’s bargain. The standard
If the benefit the player is looking for is especially
DB could be as written in the game, while a
strong, the bargain might have to be more severe to
“demon’s bargain” is a greater gain (such as
compensate. This could be a matter of negotiation.
+2d or automatic success) that also creates a
very serious problem for the PC, equivalent to a
consequence at desperate position. Position and Effect
Position and effect set the stakes for an action roll.
On 4–6, effect tells us what has been achieved. On
1–5, position tells us how severe the consequence is.
These overlap on 4 and 5, so partial success mixes

30
success and failure. Because the discussion hap- Here are some ways to change this system:
pens before the dice are rolled, everyone knows the ⚫ It's possible to just get rid of position and effect
stakes before committing to an action. The flow dif- entirely. Success is just whatever seems like
fers from that of many other RPGs, in which a lot of this action could reasonably achieve. There
conversation (and dice rolling) for action resolution is no position: the GM just applies whatever
happens after determining the success of the action consequences seem reasonable in the current
rather than before. situation. Unless some other system replaces
it, this removes any formal consideration of
Wording of “Position” and “Effect” the stakes of a roll from the game. Position and
Some people find the word “position” to be a effect become implied elements of GM assess-
counterintuitive term for how much danger the ment rather than formal elements of the rules.
character is in. I’ve talked to people who were ⚫ In Blades Against Darkness, an action roll is
turned off to the whole game system largely by that trivial, daring, or insurmountable. That sets
word sounding so nonsensical to them. You should both how much you will be able to accomplish
either make it clear how the word “position” applies and what kind of consequence you may face if
and how to make sense of it, or change the word: the roll is not fully successful. This combines
danger, threat, peril, hazard, etc. position and effect into a single assessment of
You could change “position” to “risk,” but the how challenging the action is.
problem with that is that there is a level of posi- ⚫ Slugblaster uses a simplified the system in which
tion called “risky.” That means you will get con- an action roll is risky except when the PC is try-
versations at the table in the form of, “your risk ing to “look cool,” in which case it's desperate.
is risky,” which sounds really awkward. If you This streamlines play in a game intended to be
change position to risk, consider also coming up quick and casual.
with a different word for that middle level. ⚫ In Sig: City of Blades, the GM assesses effect
“Effect” is a less confusing term, but if you want you (no position). It is then increased by one level
could change it to something like reward, benefit, for each of these: the roll was 6, the roll was
or result. multiple 6s, outnumbering or outclassing the
opposition, having quality equipment, and
Changing Position and Effect being in a controlled (low risk) situation.
I’m a fan of the position and effect system and ⚫ Deathwish gives more mechanical weight to
would find it hard to imagine designing in the FitD effect. Significant opponents have a threat level
space without them. But that doesn't mean you that is compared to the capability of the PCs. For
can't change or get rid of them—others have done each level difference, the effect level of action
so successfully. The usual objection is that the posi- rolls are adjusted upward or downward. When
tion and effect require a brief conversation before the PCs are facing very powerful opposition,
every die roll, which some find tedious. If you want they often begin at zero effect and must use var-
your game to play really fast or be easy to explain ious mechanical and fictional manipulations to
to players for a single session game, position and achieve significant results (pushing for effect,
effect might not be a good fit. setup actions, etc.).
⚫ As noted earlier, you could replace position
and effect with bonuses and penalties to the
action roll.

31
Adding an Additional Position exactly what happens: some troublesome event
(reduced effect, complication, lost opportunity,
In FitD, harm goes from level 1 to level 4, but posi-
worse position or harm). The worse the position,
tion only goes from controlled (level 1) to desperate
the more vexatious the consequence is supposed
(level 3). That leaves an implied position more peril-
to be.
ous than desperate, which could be called “deadly.”
⚫ For non-harm consequences, one option sim-
⚫ In Deathwish, there is an additional position
plify all them into one category. In Vergence, any
level—eponimously called “deathwish.” At
consequence that isn’t harm is just a complica-
deathwish position, the consequence you risk is
tion. The GM can still impose the full range of
dying. This fits a game that is explicitly designed
things in FitD, but they are not formally divided
for high lethality and multiple PCs per player.
up. That has the advantage of allowing the GM
Should the GM State the to just focus on the fiction, while providing a bit
less specific structure.
Consequence Before the Roll?
⚫ You could structure consequences in various
Blades in the Dark recommends that the GM state ways. For example, you could devise a set of
what the consequence will be before the dice are condition cards such as “confused,” “stymied,”
rolled. In a video on his YouTube channel, John or “equipment malfunction.” Each condition
Harper says that this is pretty much what you would apply until the character takes action to
should always do. I see two problems with this: clear it. The cards could be assigned randomly
1. Less tension. Immersive gameplay gets players or chosen by the GM.
deeply invested in each die roll. If you pick ⚫ The reduced effect consequence can negate all
up the dice not knowing precisely what the or most of the success achieved on a 4/5 roll.
consequences could be (as your character does That can make sense in the fiction, but it turns
not), you’ll be experiencing more suspense a partial success into a non-success, which is
and immersion. kind of a drag. You could choose to eliminate
2. It might depend on the outcome of the roll. this kind of consequence or provide advice to
Let’s say you’re trying to stop an assassin from the GM on when it is appropriate and when
making the kill. If you roll 4/5, then the assassin it’s not.
fails and the target lives. The GM comes up
with a consequence that reflects the assassin’s Harm
failure (such as hitting you instead). On a 1–3, Online forums discussing Blades in the Dark and
however, you fail and the target dies. The most other FitD games are full of advice for GMs that they
fitting consequence might be wholly different should minimize how often they hand out harm
(maybe the target’s lover swears a vendetta consequences—even though the game itself doesn’t
against you). Before the roll, the GM often say that. This is because harm is a different and
doesn’t have enough information to come up usually more harsh kind of consequence (the advice
with the right consequence, so why would the is often that harm is the “most boring” consequence,
game expect that? but ultimately that comes down to how long and
how severely it will affect character actions). Other
Consequences consequences create interesting problems to deal
with, but harm just makes problems harder to solve.
The game intends that most action rolls come up
4/5, which means a consequence. Consequences
also happen on 1–3 (failure). The GM decides on

32
Getting hurt makes sense as a thing that can hap- One practical issue with harm is that people (GM
pen in the game (for many settings and genres), but and players) may often tend to forget to apply the
you may want to change how it works. The game penalties the character would normally suffer.
presents harm as if it exists on the same scale of That’s because it’s an extra thing to remember
severity as other kinds of consequences, but that and the penalties are severe enough that they
isn’t really true. make the character less fun to play.
In theory, all consequences at a given position are One way to slightly mitigate this effect could be
equally troublesome. But in practice, level 2 harm is to design your character sheets so that the harm
likely to be more of a problem, over a greater period section is right next to the action ratings, so
of time, than any other kind of consequence that when players are thinking about an action roll
can result from risky position. When a consequence they are more likely to look at both.
is called for, and the GM chooses to impose harm,
There are various schemes for changing how harm
that’s an escalation. I’ve listened to actual play
works. These include:
podcasts of Blades in the Dark in which the GM says
the position is desperate, but then gives level 1 harm ⚫ If your game is not really about people taking
as the only consequence, because those seem to go serious risks and potentially being notably hurt,
together regardless of the rules. you can get rid of harm. For example, Slugblaster
is about adolescents doing cool things on high
(This issue is mitigated to some degree by the avail- tech skateboards. PCs can’t get really hurt or
ability of armor, which can provide a "free" resist die, and there is no harm mechanic.
against most kinds of physical harm—but that costs
⚫ FitD harm can be both long term damage
a lot of load and not all harm is physical.)
(cracked ribs) and short term physical or psy-
It’s not necessarily bad that the game makes harm chological problems (drunk, freaked out). As
so rough on the character. It’s built so that it the standard rules are written, clearing all kinds
encourages players to have alternate characters to of harm is handled the same way. In effect, that
play while injured characters heal up. Once the crew means it could take weeks of fictional game
acquires the resources to allow extra downtime time to recover from being confused or winded,
actions for healing (and more dice on healing rolls), which doesn’t make a lot of sense (and in prac-
harm becomes less of a long-term problem. But tice, most GMs won’t actually follow the rules in
in the early stages of a campaign (or if the crew is this way). In Band of Blades, the GM can identify
at war and can take only one downtime action per harm as temporary. It still takes up a slot in
PC), it requires that players either have multiple the harm tracker, but it disappears when that
characters or accept that they will often have to makes sense in the fiction rather than requiring
go do scores while severely constrained by harm downtime actions to clear.
(unless the GM knows to fudge the action system ⚫ You could use hit points instead of harm, as
by avoiding harm, even when it is a reasonable many other games do. PCs have a number of
fictional consequence). points and taking harm subtracts from their
If an ensemble crew structure doesn’t fit your game, total. When they get to 0, they are incapacitated
then you might need to take another look at how (or dead). In effect, this gives each PC a health
harm works. clock. There could be some penalty that they
face when below, say, half hit points, such as
taking -1d or -1 effect on actions that would be
impaired by being hurt.

33
⚫ You could have multiple harm tracks: physical ⚫ You could use a system of predefined condi-
harm, emotional harm, corruption, etc. For tions instead of harm. Each type of condition
example, in Band of Blades, corruption is on a could have a separate penalty and a method for
different track than harm. When you fill your clearing that condition. For example, Ruralpunk
corruption track, you take a permanent blight (a game by Cass K. that used to exist as a web
condition, which causes physical change and site but, unfortunately, appears to have been
advances the character toward becoming taken down) replaces harm with a set of pre-
unplayable. defined conditions (hurt, angry, etc.), each of
⚫ In Scum and Villainy, you automatically clear level which is matched to one of four attributes. If
1 harm by taking the recover action. Additional you have a condition and you take an action
harm is addressed via a healing clock. under the matched attribute, that roll is made
with an extra condition die. Depending on the
⚫ In Blades Against Darkness, harm can be des-
result of that die, the action may generate extra
ignated as magically tainted, which cannot
problems (but on a 6 you overcome the problem
be healed by normal means. The PC will need
and the condition is helpful).
to seek out some source of special healing to
recover from that kind of injury. This makes ⚫ You could eliminate harm as a separate category
trained harm even more penalizing than of consequence. If a PC has a cut on the arm,
regular harm. blinding headache, or broken nose, that’s just a
complication like any other. Any complication,
⚫ Band of Blades has a broader range of levels of
including being hurt, will affect the narrative
harm. Level 4 is a fatal wound (dying), while
and can require player actions to deal with
level 7 harm is “blown to bits” or equivalent.
(including, potentially, a long-term project to
⚫ In Vergence, level 1 harm imposes no mechanical
heal a serious injury).
penalty (“it hurts but you’re OK”). This gives
players a bit more of an “action hero” vibe in that Death
harm is a problem but less of an impediment to
In standard FitD, a character can die in two ways:
doing things. At level 2 harm, the player chooses
to spend 1 stress or take -1 effect on actions. At 1. The character takes level 4 harm (without
level 3, they just take -1 effect. resisting) and dies. The game doesn’t actually
⚫ In Brother Bear, Sister Wolf, there is no level 1 have an explicit mechanism for level 4 harm,
harm. A controlled consequence just can't since harm at desperate position is normally
result in harm. Level 2 harm is -1 effect level on level 3. Presumably, the GM could assess a
affected actions, level 3 harm is -1d, and level 4 super-desperate position and inflict level 4
harm is dying. harm, or a devil’s bargain might be struck.
2. If the character needs to mark level 3 harm,
⚫ Harm could represent "damage" to specific
but that box is already filled, they suffer a
action ratings or attributes. For example, when
“catastrophic consequence” which could be
you take harm you'd need to identify an attri-
either death or some severe permanent damage
bute it applies to, such as Resolve. Any of the
(potentially forcing retirement).
actions under Resolve would be suffer a penalty.
When all of your attributes have harm (or an Case 1 can really happen only if the player chooses
attribute takes a second level of harm), you're not to resist (though resisting could transfer the sit-
incapacitated. uation to case 2 if resistance drops the consequence
by one level and the level 3 box is full). Also, if the

34
character is low on stress and has three trauma But the GM still has a lot of control. The player
conditions already, the choice is between character can resist, but the GM determines the position
death and likely forced retirement. that sets up the severity of the consequence and to
what degree resistance mitigates a consequence.
In Blades in the Dark, a character who dies might be
When presenting skilled enemies, GM can inflict
gone or might transfer to the ghost playbook. Any
consequences without any roll at all and so could
game with undeath could have a similar option.
overwhelm a player with too many consequences
In your game, do you want characters to be able to resist. Ultimately, the resistance mechanic can’t
to die? If so, when should that happen? Should protect players from a harsh GM.
characters feel fragile and in deadly peril during
Resistance is also a gamble, since it has a variable
high-danger scenes, or should death happen only
cost. With an unlucky roll, it can fill more than
when the player has chosen to keep going even after
half your starting stress boxes. Thus, in situations
running out of the last vestige of resources?
requiring a series of action rolls most consequences
⚫ To make death impossible within the rules, just must be accepted, but the player can resist the ones
remove it. If the genre of the game is supposed that seem especially egregious. That fits the “des-
to be light and fun , that could well be the right perate criminals” default FitD setting quite well.
choice. Perhaps a character is either unhurt, Since the range of possible results of a resist roll
hindered, or temporarily out of play, with no goes from restoring 1 stress to taking 5 stress, it’s
worse outcome available. a very swingy gamble, especially when rolling 1d or
⚫ To make death possible but less likely, make it 0d. Any time PCs have 5 or fewer free stress boxes
a player choice upon receiving level 4 harm: the they are risking the possibility of a resistance roll
character dies or takes a “scar” for example. A pushing them into trauma.
scar might have long-term effects, such as rear-
You can reasonably leave resistance as-is in almost
ranging action dots or abilities to reflect that
any FitD game. But there are many possible resis-
the character is different now.
tance tweaks, such as:
⚫ To make it easier for characters to die, consider
⚫ Make the stress cost of resistance less extreme,
a Deadly position option (page 32) or a rule
using a table such as this one:
that a character with level 3 harm will die unless
promptly treated and stabilized. Resistance Roll
⚫ To make death more narrative, remove it from 1d for each Critical: Recover 1 stress
the harm system. The character dies when Attribute rating 6: Take 1 stress
the fictional situation requires it, generally 4/5: Take 2 stress
by agreement between the GM and player. 1–3: Take 3 stress
You might have a rule about who has final say ⚫ In Blades Against Darkness, PCs don’t resist by
over that. rolling an attribute. Instead, there is a track

Resistance
indicating increasing levels of distress, starting
at Fresh. When you resist at Fresh, you roll with
Resistance is a core piece of FitD. It allows players a 4d to find out the stress cost and cross off that
limited capacity to say no to whatever consequences box. The next resist is also at 4d, but crosses
they don’t like. This provides a high level of player off the next box. Then the next resist is with 3d
agency compared to most other traditional RPGs, and crosses off the Tired box. As the boxes are
in which a PC who gets “hit” just has to take it. crossed off, the PC has fewer dice to resist with,
eventually landing at 0d.

35
⚫ In Deathwish, you can avoid level 1 harm by Resistance Roll
spending 1 stress. You can do that after resist- Roll dice equal Critical: Avoid the
ing, if you want. to the stress you consequence and recover the
⚫ You could let the player choose how much want spend, limited stress you spent
to mitigate a consequence (from level 2 to level 1 by the attribute 6: Completely avoid the
the GM decides consequence
harm, for example). Then roll on a table like this: on for that 4/5: Reduce the consequence
Resistance Roll consequence. by 1 level
1–3: No luck
Decide how Critical: Recover 1 stress
many levels of 6: Take 0 stress + levels of ⚫ You could standardize how much a resistance
consequence reduction roll reduces the consequence. Instead of having
reduction. Roll 1d 4/5: Take 1 stress + levels of it be GM fiat, for example, you might specify
for each Attribute reduction that resistance is two levels. That would make
rating. 1–3: Take 3 stress + levels of
resistance a bit more effective and reliable.
reduction
⚫ The Changing the Game chapter of
⚫ The player pays a set cost in stress and then
Blades in the Dark has an alternate way of man-
rolls to see if it works. For example, take 1 stress
aging resistance. The cost of resisting a conse-
per level of consequence (controlled 1, risky 2,
quence generated by an action roll is equal to
desperate 3), and roll on this table:
the lowest die result of an action roll (so if you
Resistance Roll rolled 3d and got 5, 2, 1, you’d get a partial suc-
Take 1 stress Critical: Completely avoid the cess and resisting would cost 1 stress). It doesn’t
per level of consequence and recover the say how you resist a consequence not generated
consequence, stress you took by a roll. In that case, you could do a standard
then roll 1d for 6: Completely avoid the resist roll, or (if you have take out attributes) roll
each Attribute consequence an action rating with the cost in stress equal to
rating 4/5: Reduce the consequence
the lowest die (or 0 if you roll a 6).
by 1 level
1–3: No luck
Who Does the Resisting?
⚫ No roll. It costs a flat 2 stress per level of miti-
FitD requires no fictional justification for a
gation to resist. To drop a level 2 (risky) conse-
resistance roll. The game doesn’t ask the player to
quence to level 1 (controlled), for example, take
describe any PC action in order to resist. Yet resis-
2 stress. To eliminate a level 2 consequence, take
tance depends on PC attributes and costs PC stress.
4 stress.
⚫ The player chooses the stress cost and then rolls So who resists, the character or the player? The
that many dice to see whether the consequence game doesn’t really care.
is reduced or avoided. The attribute limits the Frequently, it’s easy to explain resistance in terms
maximum stress expenditure. of the PC doing something. If the PC slips and falls,
we could narrate the character starting to slip, but
using willpower to stay upright instead.
But what if a group of drunken bravos unexpectedly
wanders around the corner and stumbles toward
the crew? If the player decides to resist bad luck, it’s

36
harder to rationalize the character doing something ⚫ Checking an armor box could improve position
to avoid it. It’s more like the player choosing to exert (and reduce the consequence) by one level.
control of the story, independent of the character. Alternately, being armed with shield could
improve position or give +1d to resist, while
In practice, many groups mix these modes depend-
armor works as per standard FitD.
ing on what seems to make sense in the moment. But
you could change how your game views resistance. ⚫ In Sig: City of Blades, if you have a kind of
armor that applies to a consequence you
⚫ Resistance could be made into an explicit PC suffer, you can pay 1 stress to resist instead of
move. Resistance would require justification making a roll. You can also resist to reduce the
and narration of something the PC does in the consequence further.
fiction (in the present or via flashback). That
⚫ Checking an armor box could add +1d or +2d to
would mean that some consequences could not
a resistance roll instead of providing an auto-
be resisted.
matic resist.
⚫ Alternately, resistance could be a player move.
⚫ Armor could give a +1d to relevant resistance
It is a matter of luck or fate: something that
rolls throughout a score (not just once).
happens to the PC but is not done by the PC. You
could lean into that by personifying the fates, ⚫ Armor could set a max cost on resistance. For
gods, AIs, or other beings intervening on behalf example, if you are wearing armor, then resist-
of the PCs. There could be a currency separate ing relevant attacks might cost no more than
from stress, such as divine favor, that the player 2 stress no matter the resistance roll.
uses to resist. If you make armor less useful, you could provide
more armor boxes to compensate.
Armor Note, also, that you might want to specify whether
Armor provides “free” resistance at no cost in stress. you can both resist -and- use armor on the same
The term “armor” in FitD refers to both physical consequence. It’s implied in the rules that you can,
protective gear, as well as “special armor” that may but it’s not clearly stated.
protect against other sorts of undesirable events.
Special Armor
Any use of armor requires a box to be checked off,
which refreshes at the next downtime. Since even Each playbook in the standard game has at least one
physical armor works once per score (though the ability that gives access to special armor. When the
character is fictionally wearing it during the whole special armor box is checked, it gives a free resist
score) it functions as a kind of plot armor rather against some category of consequence, such as
than trying to simulate the benefit that wearing being surprised or being magically attacked.
armor could provide against one or many blows. This system can fit many kinds of games, but it isn’t
There are other ways to handle some or all kinds of required. If you do other things with resistance you
armor. These could interact with special abilities can cut special armor and nothing will break.
where appropriate. Some special abilities do other things than resis-
⚫ Checking an armor box could allow the player tance when the special armor box is checked. It
to convert harm to some other kind of conse- essentially provides a “once per score” box.
quence of equal (or lesser) level of severity.

37
 It can be counterintuitive that the game uses You could also use a track or other visual indicator,
the word “armor” to refer to both physical armor instead of a clock, if that better fits the theme of
you wear on your body and also a separate game your game.
resource that lets you do a thing once per score
If your game has a specific use for a progressive
(sometimes resisting, sometimes some other
event, such as a “doom clock” leading to some sort
ability). You could rename special armor to
of big plot twist, you can build that special kind of
something else if that bothers you or if there is
clock into your system.
a name that better fits the theme of your game:
special box, limit break, extra box, power up,
finishing move, my jam, ace in the hole, etc. Gathering Information
Gathering information is a way to formalize the reg-
Fortune Roll ular systems in the game as they apply to learning
things. It is possible to cut this section out and, by
The fortune roll is a simple way for the GM to allow
implication, the PCs will still be able to make action
a decision to be made randomly rather than by fiat.
rolls that let them find things out. Nevertheless, if
GMs have been using the equivalent of fortune
your game will involve investigation (and what RPG
rolls for decades, but FitD provides a neat system
doesn’t?), it can be useful to include it.
for resolving questions not addressed by other
mechanics. I think standard FitD is a little confusing about how
gather information rolls are supposed to work (the
It depends on ratings in the game all being on the
text implies it’s a fortune roll but the table says it
same (usually 0–4) scale to use the standard FitD
could also be an action roll). In writing Vergence, I
dice mechanic. It's one of the few times in the game
clarified that there are three kinds of gather infor-
that the GM rolls the dice instead of the players.
mation rolls:
This generally works well enough that there isn't
much hacking that needs to be done. ⚫ Gather information action roll. This roll is
made when the act of information gathering
New players can get confused by the difference could be dangerous or troublesome. Position
between action rolls (danger) and fortune rolls (no is handled normally, determined by how much
danger to PCs). Make sure your game clarifies that risk is involved in getting the information.
to the degree it needs to. Effect determines the detail of the information
acquired.
Progress Clocks ⚫ Gather information fortune roll. This roll is
made when there isn’t any risk to gathering
information but the GM wants there to be
a random factor involved. The result of the
roll determines the detail of the information
Clocks are a simple concept that can be easily acquired.
adapted to tracking many kinds of progressive
⚫ Gather information long term project. When
events in the game (or other games, which seems
research will involve multiple activities that will
to be more and more common). It’s reasonable to
take significant time, the GM sets up a project
retain clocks in some form, although you could
clock and the PC can use downtime actions to
simplify your text by removing the long description
fill it.
in the SRD of the many different uses for clocks.

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 Critical Information: Depending on the kind ⚫ You could limit assists to only actions that the
of game, you might take an idea from the (non- assisting character has one dot in.
FitD) Gumshoe system and declare that the GM ⚫ You could allow the assist to happen after
never calls for roll to see whether the PCs get the action roll, adding +1d afterward rather
the basic information they need to make sure than before. This could be a special ability.
the game doesn’t stall. They always get those
⚫ You can allow a higher level of assistance, such
important clues that will keep the plot moving,
as +2d if the assisting character pays 1 stress
no matter what. The GM can still call for action
and also takes a separate devil’s bargain.
rolls or fortune rolls to see if the players acquire
⚫ In Sig: City of Blades, a character can spend
additional detail or extra clues.
1 stress to give another character +1d to a resis-
Another point about which standard FitD is a little tance roll.
unclear is when, exactly, players can formally gather ⚫ You could make the cost of assisting be a devil’s
information. The cycle of play puts gathering infor- bargain instead of stress.
mation in free play and suggests that it is mainly for
⚫ A special ability could allow assistance to pro-
finding out about potential scores.
vide +1d or +1 effect. Or spend 2 stress for both.
Is it limited to that usage? Clearly, players can ask Players and GMs sometimes get messed up by
questions during a score and use action rolls to the rule that only one PC can assist another on an
acquire knowledge of their situation (even the act of action roll. The reason for that is to avoid too much
discussing position and effect provides lot of infor- stacking to make important rolls almost impossible
mation about a situation), but do they get to make to fail. However, in the fiction, it can be hard to
formal gather information rolls during a score? rationalize why that is the case. The alternative, of
You might clarify these points. For example, maybe course, is a group action rather than an assist, but
each PC gets one GI roll before each score (or equiv- this places the stress burden on the player making
alent), in order to focus play and avoid dithering. the action roll rather than those helping.
The kinds of info that can be acquired might depend ⚫ You could allow the first assist to cost 1 stress,
on which playbook the player is using. In that case, the second 2 stress, the third 3 stress, etc.
you’d have clear rules for that and, perhaps, special
⚫ A special ability could allow for a second char-
abilities that allow those rules to be broken in spec-
acter to assist.
ified ways. Or you could explicitly say that GI rolls
are not limited to particular phases of play and can Group Action
be used any way the players like.
Lots of FitD games make no change to group

Teamwork
actions. I am not the biggest fan of this mechanic
because, if several PCs participate in a group action
The teamwork maneuvers give the PCs ways to help then the chance of no one getting any kind of suc-
each other and share game resources. cess becomes fairly small. Thus, it can take away the
tension as group rolls become a very likely success.
Assist (However, in that rare circumstance that a failure
does happen, it can be very costly to the leader.)
Assisting, by taking 1 stress, is half as costly as
pushing, which costs 2 stress. This seems to work It can also seem strange that five people sneaking
quite well and encourage player reciprocity. If you past a guard have a much better chance of success
use the standard FitD stress system, assisting is a than one person does.
quick and easy way to drive cooperation.

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 ⚫ Deathwish eliminates group actions. The game The standard rules state that a setup action pro-
runs fine without them. vides either +1 effect level or improved position.
⚫ In Vergence, group actions are limited to those What that means, as the rules are written, is that a
situations in which they make sense, such as setup action roll can basically have only one possible
three people throwing their weight against effect level . For that reason, it’s unclear what would
a door to bash it down. The GM considers happen if the player made a setup roll at any effect
position and effect based on whether having a level other than standard (though, of course, GMs
group do the action is a help or hindrance, then manage to figure this out using rulings at the table).
the lead PC makes a single roll for the group. If you want to encourage more teamwork, you
The participants share any consequences, but could leave this less defined, so that the GM and
there is no special stress cost. player set the stakes for a setup action like they do
for other actions, with higher effect level producing
Protect
greater benefit. For example, perhaps if the PC suc-
This maneuver lets players accept consequences for ceeded on a setup roll at greater effect, that might
others fairly freely (as long as it can be fictionally generate both improved position and effect for a
justified). It encourages cooperation and sharing subsequent roll. Or the benefit might last longer.
of problems. This could be negotiated as part of the stakes of the
If you want to focus the use of protecting, you could setup action roll and how the fiction plays out.
limit it so that you can only protect a character if
you assisted on that roll. Or if you use some kind
Other Kinds of Teamwork
of bond system (page 4), you can only protect a You could establish other teamwork maneuvers.
character with whom you share a bond (or you get For example, if your game is about sailing across a
+1d to resist when you protect a bond-mate). sea of dead souls, you could have a kind of group
action for the PC piloting the ship for the group
If a consequence doesn’t directly affect the PC who
over a portion of the journey. If your game is about
made the roll, can you “protect” them from it? Let’s
harnessing the power of friendship to combine into
say several PCs are involved in an infiltration score.
a super-powered magical robot, there could be a
One gets a consequence, which ticks the “guards
teamwork action for that. Create teamwork actions
alterted” clock. Can another player protect the first
that reflect what the PCs will do together within the
player from it (presumably for the purpose of resist-
scope of the game.
ing)? Does that require some fictional justification?
If this kind of thing is likely to come up in your
game you can address it. PC vs. PC
The basic action roll resolution system treats PCs as
Set Up the center of all activities and NPCs as abstractions
A set up action changes the fiction to improve the that sometimes present obstacles. This means
stakes of later actions. You could technically elim- there is no inherent mechanism within the action
inate this from the rules and it could still happen roll system for players to act against each other.
according to the regular action roll system (because That’s an interesting design choice in a game about
actions, of course, affect what happens later). But it underworld scoundrels.
does make it more clear that you can do it by calling
The game does have a system for PCs to oppose each
it out as a specific thing.
other, however. It wisely requires player buy-in.

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⚫ If your game should not ever be about PCs ⚫ On the other hand, the theme of your game
opposing each other, you can take it out or place requires a more detailed system for PC vs. PC,
constraints on it. you might need to expand on the relatively light
resolution system in standard FitD, such as
duels, individual control of factions, battles, etc.

It’s Your Game

Any experienced FitD designer will find many In writing this I’ve chosen to stay mostly within
points of disagreement with what I’ve written here. the FitD design space. That means I’ve discussed
There is no single way to look at hacking a game as changes that are consistent with what is already in
deep as FitD. You might use this guide mainly to the system. But you don’t have to! Scratch the paint,
help you identify all the ways you think I don’t know take out the windows, yank out the back seat, stick
what I’m talking about and thereby clarify your in a bunch of aftermarket parts, add racing stripes,
own thoughts. and make it completely yours. Your game can have
as much or as little FitD in it as you wish.
Have fun and make a great game.

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 Credits
Text and layout by David Rourke Cover image by Hush Nadoo
◆ Game stuff: smallcoolgames.itch.io Typeface: Alegreya by Juan Pablo del Peral
◆ Twitter: twitter.com/SmallCoolGames1
Software: Adobe Creative Suite
◆ Email: [email protected]
Thanks to all the participants at the Blades in the
Blades in the Dark and Forged in the Dark are by
Dark Discord hack talk channels
John Harper

Resources
Games and Supplements Other Resources
There are so many excellent and innovative ◆ An Amateur's Guide to Hacking Blades in the Dark,
Forged in the Dark games that I cannot begin to by Michael Elliot
present them all. John Harper maintains a list ◆ Austin Ramsay’s FitD Tech for #TechJam by Austin
at itch.io and there is a partial list at the official Ramsay
Blades in the Dark site. ◆ The official Blades in the Dark web site and
Here are the games and game supplements men- community forum: bladesinthedark.com
tioned in this text: ◆ The Blades in the Dark Discord server: discord.gg/
JWJYp7RH
◆ Asphalt & Trouble by Jacob Segal
◆ The Reddit Blades in the Dark channel: reddit.
◆ Bladebreaker by Skelpie Limmer com/r/bladesinthedark
◆ Blades in the Dark, Scum and Villainy, and ◆ Commentary on Blades in the Dark rules by
Band of Blades and are published by Evil Hat Sidney Icarus on the Wax Wings blog.
Productions
◆ Blades Against Darkness by Dylan Green
◆ Brother Bear, Sister Wolf by Small Cool Games
◆ Crash Cart by Galen Pejeau
◆ Deathwish by Ian Hart
◆ Idiot Teenagers With a Death Wish, by D. Lincoln.
◆ Microblades by Vandel Arden
◆ Moth-Light by Justin Ford
◆ Raiders in the Dark by Small Cool Games
◆ Sig: City of Blades by Jason Pitre
◆ Slugblaster by Mikey Hamm
◆ Vergence by Small Cool Games
◆ Wizard playbook by eatyourcereal

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