Blades in the Dark: The best heist RPG ever... in about 11 minutes 🗡️ Review & Mechanics

[@JohnHarper]

Thanks for this review! I really like your succinct and visual approach.

[@DaveThaumavore]

John Harper Heck yeah, man. Kick ass game you made here.

[@systemswitch]

I saw this video 2+ years ago and immediately went out and bought the book. Played all through the pandemic and was inspired enough to make my own podcast because of it. Thanks so much Dave. You put me onto something I think I can say changed the course of my life.

[@DaveThaumavore]

Wowsers. That’s amazing.

[@daddystabz]

Any link to the podcast, please?

[@pestyobsrvr4278]

The book suggest using other media sources to help build the world Me: Huh? *Shows Dishonored Gameplay Me: Sheeeiiit that's all you had to say!

[@danielramsey6141]

I know Right :D

[@Frosty-oj6hw]

A good rundown, helpful as a new player learning the rules. However I thought some cons you list were actually deliberately picked for good effect. The limitation to one city I think is a great idea because as the manual says, it creates a pressure cooker. There's no fleeing or escaping to another city or outside the city bounds, it forces you to confront the outcomes of your mistakes which I think is what is at the heart of this RPG. The dice rolls are loaded to present players with mostly "success but with complications" outcomes, which create these causal chains of tension that have to be resolved and can escalate. Being able to run and hide too much is an easy out. It lends weight to the importance of relationship with factions and larger narrative arcs that affect the gang as a whole, what territory you hold and stuff like that.

[@matthewiskra771]

Interesting that you also give your critique about layout. My "master class" in layout that I judge all other games on is the Chaosium's "Elrik!" game. In spite of various marketing and game title issues the thin book is a marvel of concise and easy-to-locate material. Just IMHO.

[@martinmyggestik292]

"It will take many weeks to get through all the books, games and TV-shows". Me: But those are my favourite books, games and TV-shows! ❤

[@jasonandkrishandy-kraus123]

Haha! I watched Dave's review three years to the day while deciding whether or not to buy the Blades bundle from Bundle of Holding. Thanks, Dave!

[@MsGorteck]

While I don't have the game, and lord knows I do LOVE(!!) pictures to go along with what is being talked about, I think you might be missing a couple of things when you talk about the lack of art in the book; also the lack of other places in the world to play. 1- This is a narrative game and so you already have to picture it your head. The Conan books, Gordon, Fire and Ice, and all the rest don't gives us many pictures and that does not seem to be a issue. (Except for me.) 2- I bet he did not fo much of what you listed in con's, because of time and money. If it bombs more money is wasted, if it doesn't I can charge for another book. (That IS how author's pay the bills. 😄🤑) I really liked your review, thank you.

[@chrisfox961]

This game looks like a great way to play as The Crows from the Shadow and Bone series.

[@jcargabr]

Good overview. Shared with friends to try to get them to sign on for a short campaign. You did an excellent job of hitting the highlights of the mechanics and the setting. Thanks.

[@ronalbobadilla1]

Hey Dave I really believe your reviews are very well done and, very important: short. Your style is succint and very objective. As I watched this video, I got how this game is played (I had already read it but not played nor really understood it yet). One thing I believe can really set you apart from other reviewers and something that I always look for is for a mini solo playthrough done by the reviewer with some of the core mechanics. I haven't seen any reviewers doing this. I believe you can do it in this same style that you're using, with graphics, pictures and short examples. I value this because I know there are 3-hour videos of many ttrpgs being played but that is just too long. Your natural style lets it make the review and show the examples in maybe a 15 or 20 minute video. Thanks for your excellent work!

[@DaveThaumavore]

ronibob Thanks for the kind words and the suggestion. I’ve flirted with play examples in some videos but haven’t formally embraced them for every video. I’ll definitely consider doing more on that front.

[@ronalbobadilla1]

@@DaveThaumavore Very well! Thanks for taking a viewer's opinion into account!

[@polokus_]

These RPG reviews put me in the mood.. but i can never find people in real life that would be interested...

[@voland6846]

There's a very active Discord

[@itisALWAYSR.A.]

Best precis of BitD I've found so far, thank you. :)

[@GaaMacgfx]

Awesome review, would love if you could do one about ironsworn!

[@HamiltonWard]

Incredible overview, thank you for such a well thought out video!

[@MarioReischer]

Wow! Best Review video I've found for this game! =D I sent this video to my friends to make the game interessting for them. hehe thx!!

[@steveholmes11]

Excellent review. Brief, relevant and nicely illustrated. I am trying to exist the urge to buy these rules, but stress intensifies...

[@ballelort87]

I wanna visit Dave and just roll around in the thousands of games he must have, like a cat in a field of catnip ❤

[@ChrisKChandler]

Great review as always!

[@WeaselATF]

gona play it next week as a Hound. thanks for the great vid!

[@dinahfromkabalor]

Great summation. Thank you!

[@botondhetyey159]

Okay, you got me, I am buying it today.

[@thedudequebec3274]

Well explained, thx

[@mousebrewz4626]

You've inspired me to give the game system a try! :)

[@godfreemorals]

Flashbacks and Stress. Both excellent mechanics! Will steal them for my PbtA system. Also, both this and Dungeon World (for example) are both class-centric. Any newer narrative style games that are skill-based?? Edit: Also love the campaign 'crew' dynamics.

[@DoomJeste]

FWIW, Forged in the Dark games are less class centric than you might think. You can take skill upgrades from any class after creation and no class has a monopoly on any special abilities.

[@DAEDRICDUKE1]

there are games by onyxpath and whitewolf, but they suck are what they try to do to the point. Check out Atomic Highway or Ninja Crusade 2e

[@godfreemorals]

@@DAEDRICDUKE1 I was well into White Wolf back in the day, but haven't bothered with any of their newer stuff. I've got a free copy of Atomic Highway, looks pretty good. Gives me Dark Future and Car Wars vibes. Thanks for the suggestions.

[@DYMTWrecks]

Here because of the OGL.

[@Ton9XD]

welp, follow some friends suggestion to this video after seeing CR own new Candela Obscura system seems to be inspired by this. thank you for this i might go check out this as well

[@DaveThaumavore]

Support the channel by joining my Patreon! www.patreon.com/thaumavore Newsletter sign-up: bit.ly/ThaumavoreNewsletter

[@visceralvore]

Could you make video about lore and stories ?

[@jackiecooke1851]

Here because I'm two sessions in and playing a Lurk and just needing more.

[@andyrobin7196]

how do you attack? the same d6 system as the skills?

[@henriquelc3]

Yes

[@Keyce0013]

There's a number of skills your character can use to "attack" an opponent, so it's largely up to what your character can and/or wants to do. Does your character like to use magic? Attune would probably be the way to go. Are they melee brawlers? Rolling the Skirmishing skill might be sensible. Is your character a duelist with a rapier? Finesse might make sense, in a 1v1 fight. Does your character prefer to fight at long range with a rifle or a hand gun? Hunt would be the go-to. Does your character prefer to sneak up on enemies to attack them? Skirmishing could work (it's your generic "fight" ability), but Prowl also works, as Prowl is the skill used for sneaking, sneak attacks, as well as your general "athletics" skill.

[@robertkimble8385]

Not the kind of game for me, but good explanation for everything.

[@DaveThaumavore]

Thanks!

[@kurga9790]

Thx for the great review. I fail to understand where the groundbreaking rules are, I honestly do. It rather looks like a great compilation and adaptation of existing game mechanics. Maybe I'm totally wrong here, but the game seems heavy on light game mechanics. It looks more like a narrative boardgame, with very distinct and codified sequences of gameplay, than a rpg where everything is more mixed and free. It might be great for heist / missions / cyberpunk runs though.

[@aarontavolacci2311]

Having ran Blades in the Dark, it's not super board-gamey since everything is maid to facilitate roleplay. It's actually pretty "free", it's just that there are lots of rules that help to facilitate the story in different ways depending on what you're doing when. You can basically do anything within reason and the game has rules to facilitate that story

[@Zarathinius]

The ability for players to use Flashbacks to make a narrative justification for how they prepared for a situation is not something I've seen anywhere else. The phases of play are still very much about RP, but with different frameworks.

[@kurga9790]

@@Zarathinius Shared narration actually existed in other games before. For instance, in Brigandyne the same mechanic was used to describe the effect of divination spells.

[@denexki]

Despite each crew its all just heists and it gets tiring quickly. I love the setting and its playbooks but being locked into one mode of play with various flavors makes it go stale quick.

[@jebarikarim]

Hey Dave, great review. However, I have played this game a few times and I don't share your enthusiasm. I feel that character creation is too shallow and the mechanics are too railroaded, as it tries to shape each session into a classic heist.

[@DaveThaumavore]

Fair enough!

[@alderaancrumbs6260]

I agreed until I started focusing on Downtime as the focus of play. There are a few friction points (such as yours) where it needs some tinkering, but once you lock down those bits, it’s a dream. An example I have is Hunting Grounds for Assassins. It doesn’t make sense. Other Crews can have a section of the city they pull jobs on, as those jobs are self-generated. For Assassins, self-generating jobs turns you into serial killers, not paid killers. So, I created “Preferred Prey” to reflect the type of social strata you’re more proficient in hunting. I base each on the social strata you can choose from, such as “Noble” or “Military”. You gain the benefits of a Hunting Ground to hunt said prey, gaining a new type each time your Hunting Ground would grow. If you pay Coin to hold said Hunting Ground, that’s reflected with Preferred Prey in the narrative by things such as bribes, clean-up crews, etc., all handled off-screen. I also allow any cross-Crew benefits to be purchased with an Advance, such as gaining hidden weapons from the Smugglers Crew type when you’re Assassins. A final thing I changed is you don’t always steal Claims from others, sometimes gaining them by doing Scores for a non-hostile faction. You do gain the enmity of the “gifting” faction’s enemies. As an examples, i if you gain an Arcane Obelisk from Lord Scurlock for a Score, you may lose status with the Dimmer Sisters, citing any number of reasons in the narrative.

[@drugmate9710]

I fail to see how that's an issue. Not every RPG needs to be suitable for every kind of story.

[@RyanDunleavy]

Great overview of the game! If you are looking for some more imagery to expand the settings, check out the maps I make for the game here: www.patreon.com/ryandunleavy

[@Zeonoir]

Good video. Minor criticism: please stop with the icons/emotes in the title, made me skip several of your earlier videos.

[@DaveThaumavore]

T. Ruf I appreciate the feedback.

[@TheddunTOSS]

I like the icons.

[@MrAttentionHorse]

Yes, your video icons and ridicilous clickbaity titles are just terrible and kinda embarassing. You really dont need to do this, your videos are already very, very good. Dont try to make them something they're not.

[@DaveThaumavore]

@@MrAttentionHorse The titles aren't changing. But I've removed the prefix emojis. Thanks for your feedback.

[@jayaguilar2031]

To much stolen from dishonored. Just play that instead.

[@ASmartNameForMe]

Ah yes, my favourite part of dishonoured was getting to hire a crew of arcane madmen to possess a ghost so my friends and I could destroy a crime syndicate and steal all of their goods. The only reason you feel this way is because Dave used its art and gameplay as background info while explaining the game, the only real similarities are the aesthetic and role of the characters, but Dishonoured didnt invent that. Gentlemen Bastards was listed as another influence and that came out years before Dishonoured and has a lot more in common with this then Dishonoured does

[@bobhill-ol7wp]

Do you mean the videogame or awful ttrpg that no one plays?

[@jayaguilar2031]

@@bobhill-ol7wp Both lol