Introducing: Proper Villains

Our first pilot takes us to the haunted streets of Duskwall

Blades in the Dark

For many of you, Blades in the Dark needs no introduction: Published in 2017, Blades helps GMs and players tell the story of a criminal organization struggling to survive and prosper on the dark, haunted streets of Duskwall.

In this campaign, we’ll be following a small family in the notorious Crow’s Foot district of Duskwall, a hotbed of open criminal activity and gang violence. Our heroes have been ill-treated by Duskwall — orphaned, abandoned, and drawn into the churn of criminal life, they only have one another and must hold fast to family to survive, thrive, and perhaps even strike back at the corrupt elites who rule the city with no regard for those beneath them.

Tonally and thematically, Blades in the Dark is a very different game than Stonetop. Its themes are akin to crime epics like The Wire, where refrains like “the game is the game” underscore that the city (whether it’s Duskwall or Baltimore) is trapped in stasis. The players change, but the game remains the same: Violent, amoral, and unmoored from any higher ethic. When pieces are taken from the board, they are replaced by new ones, fulfilling the same role — even the city’s aristocratic lords and ruthless crime bosses are ultimately replaceable by the system they enforce.

For our story, however, we will carry over a few themes from PTFO: Stonetop.

1. Family: Not all of our heroes are blood relations, but they are a family, and they trust and believe in one another, even when things are tough.

2. Loyalty & Honor: This puts the proper in Proper Villains. Our heroes will strive to be better than the other powerful figures of Duskwall, and to hold themselves to a higher standard than ‘the game is the game.’

3. Faith & Sacrifice: Duskwall is haunted not just by ghosts, but the remnants of fallen gods, forgotten and unworshipped. These vestiges will play a critical role in our heroes’ stories, and we’ll explore faith and the sacrifices it can demand.

With all that philosophizing out of the way, let’s get into the setting, the characters, and a bit of the story we might tell if you all choose this pilot as our next PTFO story!

Duskwall, our Home

Our story takes place in the cold, foggy, ghost-haunted port city of Duskwall, home to a half-million souls and tens of thousands of lingering ghosts. It’s an industrial city, choked with black factory smoke and lit by humming electric lights, all powered by the precious blood of demonic leviathans that swim the inky black seas. The city has notes of Venice, London and Prague. It's crowded with stately city manors, row houses, tenements and twisting streets, and criss-crossed with hundreds of little waterways and bridges.

The city of Duskwall is shrouded in perpetual night. Source: Midjourney

Duskwall’s world is fantastical and post-apocalyptic. It is shrouded in near-constant darkness and haunted by restless spirits, thanks to a cataclysm that quenched the sun and sundered the gates of death a thousand years ago. The cities of the empire are ringed by crackling lightning towers to keep out the vengeful spirits and twisted horrors of the blasted deathlands that scar the world.

We will begin our story in the neighborhood of Crow’s Foot¹, home to a crowded hierarchy of criminal gangs rising and falling by their wit and grit. Our heroes are one of those gangs, and our first session will see them seizing territory for themselves for the first time, making enemies and allies among the scoundrels of Duskwall.

Meet the Jesseks: Our Heroes

Duskwall is not kind to its children — even those of well-off families face many difficulties in the city’s pressure cooker. Our heroes emerged from this cauldron — their family name, Jessek, is not that of their parents, but that of the Jessek House of Diligence, an orphanage and school that brutally prepares its students for life in Duskwall’s underclass, either in the factories and sweatshops or as entry-level toughs in the gangs of Crow’s Foot.

Like Stonetop and the PbtA family, characters in Blades in the Dark use “playbooks” that define their abilities and help you flesh out their personalities and histories. Rather than the D&D-inspired stats of Stonetop, Blades in the Dark has Action Ratings that define the criminal skillset that each character has access to. You can learn about the Action Ratings (and the three attributes that are derived from them, Insight, Prowess and Resolve) here, in the Blades in the Dark SRD, which we’ll be referencing frequently.

The core mechanic of BitD is the action roll — a character rolls a dice pool equal to their action rating plus bonus dice from various sources, and the GM sets their position and effect — a measure of how difficult and dangerous an action is and how impactful success will be. Break down a reinforced door with your bare hands? A controlled position with limited effect. Knife-fighting a skilled but unarmored bravo? A risky position with great effect. If the highest die shows a 6, that’s a full success, akin to a Strong Hit in PbtA, with results determined by the action’s effect. A 4-5 gives a partial success, akin to a weak hit, with a consequence determined by the action’s position — it might be risk of exposure, reduced effect, physical or psychic harm, or a complication to the characters’ plan. A 1-3 as the highest die represents failure — the character’s aim is not achieved, and they also face a serious consequence.

This time, we’ll be following four player characters on their journey through the underworld of Duskwall:

The twins, Aldo and Rian Jessek:

Rian is a silver-tongued grifter, able to win confidence with his words and manner. More than anything else, he wants to get rich with his family and place themselves beyond the reach of anyone who would hurt them. He can be acerbic and cynical when he's not flattering someone.

Aldo, by contrast, is a quiet, careful thief, able to break into guarded manors and pick pockets with ease. The discipline of Jessek House instilled in him a rigorous, if tilted, sense of right and wrong, and he sees himself as an honorable thief. He leads the crew and sometimes clashes with Rian over matters of honor, especially where money is concerned.

Aldo and Rian were born to a middle-class family in Duskwall. Their father was a skilled carpenter who worked on the manor houses of the wealthy and the powerful. Aldo spent time on his father’s work sites, climbing scaffolding and watching people come and go from the shadows. Rian was fascinated by the aristocratic clientele his father and mother rubbed elbows with, hanging on their every word and manner, and coveting their fine clothes and luxuries.

The twins came to the House of Diligence when their father and mother were killed in seemingly random street violence when they were 12 years old, and in the six years they spent there, their young proclivities were forged into the toolkit of young, up-and-coming scoundrels — Jessek House became Aldo’s playground, and he found every secret nook and cranny, while Rian wormed his way into the confidences of the upperclassmen and faculty with his easy manner and quick wit (though the latter earned him more than a few beatings, as well).

They are fraternal, not identical twins — Aldo has his mother’s sharper features and black hair, while Rian has a softer, friendlier face, with his father’s blue eyes and brown hair.

Rian’s playbook is the Slide, a silver-tongued confidence trickster, able to worm their ways into the right places with an easy smile and a well-chosen word. His primary Actions will be Sway and Consort, allowing him to persuade those who might be suspicious of him and to move easily through their friends and allies in the criminal underworld. He’s also skilled in the Study action, allowing him to catch crucial details about people and places that others ignore. His first special ability is Subterfuge², which allows him to expend his ‘special³ armor’ to avoid consequences related to suspicion or persuasion, representing his ability to slide his way through sticky situations. His second ability⁴ is Cloak and Dagger, giving him advantages when he employs a disguise — he’s long studied and coveted the fine accoutremants of the wealthy, and he knows how to put together a credible disguise.

Aldo’s playbook is the Lurk, a stealthy and skilled sneakthief, able to infiltrate tightly guarded places and escape undetected. His primary actions will be Finesse and Prowl, allowing him to pick locks and pockets, and even duel a bit, all with skillful dexterity, and to sneak past sharp-eyed sentries. He’ll also have Survey, which allows him to quickly and cooly evaluate the big picture of a place or situation, as distinct from Rian’s eye for hidden detail. Finally, he’ll also have some points in Command — he’s the crew’s leader, at least for now, and he has some charisma to compel the loyalty of thugs and scoundrels. His special abilities are Reflexes, which allow him to always act first whenever there’s a question of who has the initiative, and Expertise: Prowl, which makes him more effective when leading group actions with his crew — not only can he be sneaky, he leaves no scoundrel behind.

Aldo’s story is whether he can hold to his sense of honor while guiding the Jessek family through the dark streets of Duskwall. Rian will provide a foil — the siren call of wealth and luxury, and easy answers to the hard questions the crew will face.

The adopted brother, Carver Jessek:

Carver is a fighter through and through — a big, unbeautiful slab of meat whose stoic exterior masks tremendous potential for violence and a great deal of hurt and trauma.

Like Aldo and Rian, Carver was born into a petty bourgeois family: His father was a clerk in the administrative district of Charterhall, keeping and copying careful records for the city’s elite, precisely tracking the debts that make the wheels of the city turn. Unfortunately for Carver, he was born severely dyslexic, and he struggled to learn to read and write. This disability made him utterly worthless in his cruel father’s eyes, and after years of emotional and physical abuse, he was disowned and disinherited in favor of his younger brothers and sent to the Jessek House of Diligence to be forgotten by his family.

Carver internalized this sense of worthlessness — the teachers and his peers at Jessek House made sure of that. He fights not to win or dominate, but to feel the pain of the fist and the blade, one of the few things that make him feel right with himself. His brutal upbringing has shaped him into something of a psychopath, but his friendship with the Jesseks — particularly Aldo — gives him a north star towards he can follow toward some sort of family and perhaps redemption. He is fiercely protective of his adoptive family and will hurt and even kill without compunction if Aldo gives him the nod.

Carver’s aptonymic playbook is the Cutter, a dangerous and intimidating fighter. He’ll be skilled in Skirmish, the ability to fight in a melee, and Command, like Aldo, but with a very different, more intimidating, mein. He’ll also have a bit of Hunt, which allows him to track down quarries in the big city, and Consort, like Rian, though he’s more comfortable among scoundrels than high society.

His special abilities are Battleborn, which, like Rian, allows him to expend his special armor to reduce harm from an attack, and Tough As Nails⁵, which lets him ignore the penalties of harm. Carver’s not the best fighter in Crow’s Foot, but he’s certainly one of the toughest, aiming to outlast his opponents if he can’t outfight them.

Carver’s story is about loyalty, and about trying to search for a sense of personal worth after being abandoned by those who were supposed to love him.

The lost sister, Emma Jessek:

When Aldo and Rian were sent to Jessek House, they were separated from their younger sister, Emma, who was sent to a different school, with a different secret. The Dalmore School for Young Ladies was less violent than Jessek House but no less strict, and Emma was trained as a seamstress and ladies’ maid. Early in her stay there, she was taken under the wing of Eleanor Dalmore, who initiated her into the secret teachings of the house.

The Cataclysm that broke the world threw down many of its gods, and Madame Dalmore is devoted to one of those forgotten gods: The Burnt King. Appearing as a regal sovereign with a horribly burnt body, seated upon a charred throne, the Burnt King demands the sacrifice of powerful, corrupt people in his honor, in keeping with his mantra: the king must die⁶.

Unbeknownst to the aristos who hire from her school, Madame D. uses her connections to place her ladies in the high households of the kings-who-must-die. The first session of Proper Villains will see Emma return to her brothers and join the family Jessek, having been drawn into the machinations of Crow’s Foot underworld at the behest of the Burnt King.

Emma’s playbook is the Whisper, a practitioner of strange and sometimes dark magic. She’ll be skilled in Attune, which allows her to tap into the ghost field, a supernatural phenomenon bounded by the Lightning Barriers that encircle the city, which creates the medium in which the ghosts of Duskwall manifest their forms. It is a dangerous, unpredictable force that Emma has just begun to master. The ghost field contains echos of recent events — especially those involving strong emotions — and can be used to power magical effects, though it is dangerous and unpredictable.

She’s likewise skilled in Study, though unlike Rian, she prefers to study tomes and the supernatural, rather than people and their weaknesses. Madame D.’s training also gave her a smattering of criminal skills, Prowl, Finesse, and Consort among them.

Her special abilities both represent the blessings of the Burnt King — clearly, he has a plan for her. The first is Warded, representing the King’s protection, and it allows her to expend her special armor to protect herself from supernatural consequences. Her second ability is Tempest — in the core BitD book, Tempest allows the Whisper to summon strokes of lightning or call up a rainstorm. We’ll be re-theming this move to bring it into the Burnt King’s power: Instead of storm and lightning, Emma will be capable of calling forth a torrent of flames, and manifesting the foul black smog of Duskwall to conceal her partners in crime.

Emma’s story is about her powerful but dangerous relationship with Madame D. and the Burnt King’s cult, and her divided loyalties between it and the Jessek Family.

The Family Business

When our story begins, the Jesseks (save Emma, who will rejoin them soon) are small-time thieves — they operate in South Crow’s Foot, identifying petty aristos and bourgeoisie as marks and taking their coin in a variety of ways — picking their pockets, robbing their homes while they’re on the town, or luring them to rigged card games. Like every criminal in Duskwall, they pay their taxes to a more powerful gang, though that is about to change.

Other Notables in Crow’s Foot and beyond

Part of character creation in Blades is envisioning friends and rivals for each character, using them to flesh out the underworld of Duskwall around our up-and-coming crew. Alongside these NPCs, I’ll also detail the major players in Crow’s Foot — some of these will be familiar to those who’ve read the core BitD, but I’ll endevour to make them our own, as we did with characters like Brennan and the Delve Bosses in PTFO:Stonetop.

A few friends of ours

Rothko Kellis, a nobleman: The fourth son of a middling aristo household, Roth struggles to live on his allowance, which would be a kingly sum to anyone in Crow’s Foot. Aldo befriended him at a card game, and he occasionally gives them leads on worthwhile targets to rob and even helps execute the plan as a fixer or a distraction. He is charming, but a liability — a messy drunk, a dabbler in drugs, and a womanizer.

Nyryx, a prostitute: An aloof pleasure-worker in the Silkshore red light district, Nyryx works at a brothel and coffee⁷ house called The Golden Cup. She is another source for marks for the Jesseks, providing them with the indentities and schedules of aristos who visit the Cup and other establishments. Rian patronizes the Cup as well, though it is beyond his means, and is infatuated with Nyryx. She is a Tycherosi, a people from the far south who are rumored to have demon blood, and bear its mark. Rather than locks of hair, her head is covered with a cascade of purple-black feathers, and her eyes are solid black.

Nyryx and Rothko help establish how the Jessek crew operates, and will likely be part of any early scores the crew makes.

Sawtooth, a physiker: Carver is often injured, and Sawtooth is the man who has sewn him up time and time again. Operating out of Crow’s Foot, he treats all manner of scoundrels, and is privy to many of the rumors that abound in the neighborhood. Like Nyryx, he is Tycherosi, with sharp, pointed teeth, like a lion shark.

Flint, a spirit trafficker: One of the players in the sub rosa — the supernatural underworld of Duskwall. He trades in alchemicals, trapped ghosts and spirits, and other arcane paraphernalia. Emma sought him out for training, and he became fond of her, reminding him of a long-passed daughter.

Sawtooth and Flint empower the crew to make certain specific downtime actions — the former allows them to heal up any harm between scores, while the latter will allow them to acquire useful supernatural assets.

Unfriendly Faces

Darmont, a Bluecoat: The Bluecoats are the law enforcement of Duskwall, and in Crow’s Foot, they are little more than another powerful gang. Darmont is an Avenue Sergeant, responsible for the thoroughfare and bridge that connects Crow’s Foot to Silkshore. He knows Aldo is a thief, and occasionally shakes him down for a share of the month’s earnings.

Chael, a vicious thug: The leader of the Crow’s Teeth, a gang of Bravos that runs protection rackets in South Crow’s Foot. The Jesseks operate under his auspices — they pay him a hefty tax to operate in his patch, and he uses Carver as a debt collector — a job he despises.

The first session of Proper Villains will see our heroes get out from under Chael’s thumb, one way or another. Darmont will probably show up the first time the crew hits any major complications with the law.

Harker, a Jailbird: A former partner-in-crime and Jessek graduate, he was snagged by the Bluecoats shortly after graduating from the House of Diligence and spent a two-year stretch in Ironhook prison. He blames Rian for his imprisonment, and wouldn’t mind a bit of revenge.

Mikaela, a cultist of the King: One of Emma’s fellow graduates of the Dalmore School, Mikaela was passed over by Madame D. for an important mission that was entrusted to Emma. She burns with resentment and hopes to replace Emma in both Madame D. and the Burnt King’s esteem.

These two are slow-burns — we’ll use them if and when we need to complicate the crew’s lives further.

The Power Players

Crow’s Foot is home to three powerful criminal organizations, with a dozen or so smaller gangs beneath them. They are:

The Crows, led by Boss Roric: The Crows are a large gang of bravos and hawkers who make their lair in the towering Crow’s Nest, a rickety, abandoned watchtower. Their trade is vice, with gambling dens all over Crow’s Foot and tupenny brothels on the district border with Silkshore.

Roric is the Ward Boss of Crow’s Foot, the top dog in the neighborhood for the last 15 years. He’s lost a step, but he still rules with an iron fist and claims to uphold a code of honor among thieves.

The Red Sashes, led by Mylera Klev: The Red Sashes are an Iruvian⁸ ethnic gang with their HQ in a manor house-turned-sword school. They are relatively few in number, but skilled in violence, and they do a brisk trade in their drug dens — Lotus and poppy tea from their homeland, and soma and daggerlily from the Dagger Isles⁹.

Mylera is ruthless, ambitious, and an easy hand at violence. She wants a bigger slice of the pie than Roric is willing to give her and is growing impatient. She has begun to make overtures to the other ethnic gangs of Duskwall — particularly the Skovlanders¹⁰, an ethnic minority in the Empire who have been particularly poorly treated.

The Lampblacks, led by Baszco Bas: Once the Honorable Union of Lamplighters, the story goes that the Lampblacks turned to protection rackets when the gaslamps of Duskwall were replaced with electric lights, putting them out of work for good. Those old enough to remember know that even when they were the Union, local merchants who didn’t pay their extra fees often found themselves the victims of muggings and beatings in unlit alleyways or would see their homes and shops burnt by stray lamp oil, set alight.

Baszco imagines himself as a man of wealth and taste, and is eager to expand his business interests so that he might place himself among Duskwall’s privileged elite.

Session 1

Session 1 of Proper Villains will see the underworld of Crow’s Foot shaken up by an unexpected death — though not perhaps unexpected to those who have played BitD before. The chaos following in its wake will allow the Jesseks to begin to rise in the gangland order — or become caught up in the churn, like so many who came before them.

If the story of the Jesseks intrigues you, choose this pilot! Voting will be true ranked choice, and we’ll be conducting it during the first week of 2024. Next Tuesday (we’re skipping Christmas Day, for obvious reasons), we’ll see the full reveal of the pilot for That Devil, Sam Crow, our weird-west Monster of the Week game.

As always, thanks for reading! Hold forth in the comments with any feedback or comments on Proper Villains!

1. This is the standard setting for a Blades in the Dark campaign, though like with Stonetop, we are encouraged to make it our own.

2. You can see full descriptions of each of these special abilities in the Blades SRD here.

3. Special Armor is a one-use-per-mission resource that some abilities expend.

4. In standard Blades in the Dark, starting characters get a single special ability, but we’re going to pick two, instead. Why? Because in BitD, more abilities are more fun. We may not level up too many times in the course of our story, and I want to use as much of the Playbooks as possible.

5. Tough as Nails comes from the Hound playbook, which we will not be using. It seemed very appropriate for Carver.

6. Hat tip to Mary Renault, whose ancient Greek coming-of-age story I read half-heartedly in middle school, and then later a bit more wholeheartedly.

7. Coffee in Duskwall is made from mushrooms, and can come in an illegal, mildly hallucinogenic variety known as Blackjack.

8. Think: Persia, Turkey, Egypt.

9. Think: The Caribbean.

10. Think: Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia.