Clocks: Forged in the Dark’s Underappreciated Killer App

Apocalypse World introduced the word “clocks” to storygaming. Ye olde AW clocks were checklists of escalating narrative events. The MC could tick a slice of that clock and the event associated with that tick would happen. Or if the listed event happened, the MC could advance the clock to that point. AW clocks are prescriptive… Continue reading Clocks: Forged in the Dark’s Underappreciated Killer App

Band of Blades and What Even is Forged in the Dark?

Today I offer you three short posts for the price of one. Had an interesting conversation with a prominent indie game publisher/designer recently. It came on the heels of our second "full" session of Band of Blades, which has been on my mind a lot lately. The core of the discussion was, basically, what is… Continue reading Band of Blades and What Even is Forged in the Dark?

Band of Blades: Room to Breathe

We had our first full session of Band of Blades last night. It turns out war really is hell. First up was our Commander deciding which mission to take on. I had generated three missions in response to the Commander player’s request for recon missions (recon generates a currency called Intel, super useful). The result… Continue reading Band of Blades: Room to Breathe

Band of Blades: Position/Effect Cheat Sheet

After starting our Band of Blades game last week, I realized I needed to get a better explanation of the game's core transaction into my players' hands. So I did up a cheat sheet, which is available here. Position-Effect Cheat Sheet v4Download (Updated to version 0.4 on 8/27/19, 1222 AZ time -- just a couple… Continue reading Band of Blades: Position/Effect Cheat Sheet

Band of Blades and Recompiling Code

My current favorite metaphor for learning game rules: it’s compiling code in my brain. We started a Band of Blades campaign this week, right? It’s a Forged in the Dark game, so it’s based on the same set of ideas as ­Blades in the Dark and Scum and Villainy. Since it’s my third FitD game… Continue reading Band of Blades and Recompiling Code