Extremely excited to see your take on Duskwall and how you're going to handle the season opener!
Proper Villains actually took my fourth priority slot for voting, not because I think it'd be a poor choice, but as someone who has run Blades in the past (and I just happen to be soloing my own campaign over on my page) I can advise that the rulebook puts up one hell of a fight when you need to check something. And there are several house rules in the community that are practically mandatory for good flow, to the point where they exist in most Forged in the Dark games as a matter of standard.
That caveat aside, I think this will make for an extremely exciting and cinematic campaign, best of luck!
Certainly, here are some I've employed or seen employed commonly:
1. Rules-as-written (RAW), when your scoundrel sees a ghost, they must make a Resistance roll with Resolve or flee in terror (p. 14). Most GMs that I know ignore this entirely, either because they missed it or they think it's silly. As the recommended first Whisper ability is to summon a ghost, I tend to agree that it's a bit silly.
2. RAW, when you Recover during downtime you tick up a healing clock and when it fills you lose 1 level from each harm box you have. Most hacks (e.g. Scum and Villainy) refine this by saying Level 1 harm is cleared instantly on trying to Recover since this tends to be things like scrapes, cuts, bruises, and general stress.
3. RAW, you roll for Entanglements after each score which can have some pretty serious effects. I follow the example from the podcast Clever Corvids by only rolling entanglements if there are no open story threads pressuring the crew and if it would be interesting.
4. The inkspot diagram in the rulebook is intended to imply you can switch smoothly between the three stages of play on the fly, rather than it being heavily structured. This is less a houserule and more a design clarification that John Harper mentions in a video somewhere. It basically means if you want to do a flash back where you roll to Acquire an Asset (normally a downtime action), you can absolutely do that.
I'm sure there are others but these stick in my mind the most. If I find any more I'll be sure to post them!
Nice -- yes, I had thought of a few of those things, entanglements and fluidity of play. Question: When you're running it at the table, if someone wants to flashback to a downtime action to acquire a 1-use asset, do you require them to have a downtime action remaining? Or is the downtime action economy primarily pointed at personal projects and advancement more than things that are intended to help the crew succeed at its next score?
Re: Ghosts -- I like the idea that ghosts, if they want to, can assume a fearsome aspect that can make people flee in terror (think: the ghost in the New York Public Library in Ghostbusters), but they can also appear fairly mundane. But I agree that ghosts being terrifying at all times makes it hard for Duskwall to be as haunted as some games want it to be, since people would constantly be fleeing in terror.
The downtime action economy is brutal. After a tricky score you might have everyone close to stressing out so they have to spend all their actions on Vice indulgence. Its also the reason the Recover house rule exists, having to fill the healing clock to clear one Level 1 Harm (and it resets if you take Harm on the next score too) is a huge pain. And then on top of that you have to find time for Long Term Projects.
For your example, I wouldn't require them to spend a downtime action or have one available. It's a fairly big cost in the first place with the stress and potential coin price.
You've got a good point about ghosts, I generally rule that PCs are hardened enough that they won't run in terror from most ghosts since that contradicts the principle to portray them as competent. But if its a lot of ghosts, or a very hungry/powerful one, I might invoke the Resolve-or-flee mechanic.
YES! EXCELLENT 👌🏿
I'm so excited to see what happens!
Me too!
Extremely excited to see your take on Duskwall and how you're going to handle the season opener!
Proper Villains actually took my fourth priority slot for voting, not because I think it'd be a poor choice, but as someone who has run Blades in the past (and I just happen to be soloing my own campaign over on my page) I can advise that the rulebook puts up one hell of a fight when you need to check something. And there are several house rules in the community that are practically mandatory for good flow, to the point where they exist in most Forged in the Dark games as a matter of standard.
That caveat aside, I think this will make for an extremely exciting and cinematic campaign, best of luck!
I'd love you to point me at some of those house rules! I have some thoughts, but if they're being incorporated to FitD broadly, I'd love to see 'em.
Certainly, here are some I've employed or seen employed commonly:
1. Rules-as-written (RAW), when your scoundrel sees a ghost, they must make a Resistance roll with Resolve or flee in terror (p. 14). Most GMs that I know ignore this entirely, either because they missed it or they think it's silly. As the recommended first Whisper ability is to summon a ghost, I tend to agree that it's a bit silly.
2. RAW, when you Recover during downtime you tick up a healing clock and when it fills you lose 1 level from each harm box you have. Most hacks (e.g. Scum and Villainy) refine this by saying Level 1 harm is cleared instantly on trying to Recover since this tends to be things like scrapes, cuts, bruises, and general stress.
3. RAW, you roll for Entanglements after each score which can have some pretty serious effects. I follow the example from the podcast Clever Corvids by only rolling entanglements if there are no open story threads pressuring the crew and if it would be interesting.
4. The inkspot diagram in the rulebook is intended to imply you can switch smoothly between the three stages of play on the fly, rather than it being heavily structured. This is less a houserule and more a design clarification that John Harper mentions in a video somewhere. It basically means if you want to do a flash back where you roll to Acquire an Asset (normally a downtime action), you can absolutely do that.
I'm sure there are others but these stick in my mind the most. If I find any more I'll be sure to post them!
Nice -- yes, I had thought of a few of those things, entanglements and fluidity of play. Question: When you're running it at the table, if someone wants to flashback to a downtime action to acquire a 1-use asset, do you require them to have a downtime action remaining? Or is the downtime action economy primarily pointed at personal projects and advancement more than things that are intended to help the crew succeed at its next score?
Re: Ghosts -- I like the idea that ghosts, if they want to, can assume a fearsome aspect that can make people flee in terror (think: the ghost in the New York Public Library in Ghostbusters), but they can also appear fairly mundane. But I agree that ghosts being terrifying at all times makes it hard for Duskwall to be as haunted as some games want it to be, since people would constantly be fleeing in terror.
The downtime action economy is brutal. After a tricky score you might have everyone close to stressing out so they have to spend all their actions on Vice indulgence. Its also the reason the Recover house rule exists, having to fill the healing clock to clear one Level 1 Harm (and it resets if you take Harm on the next score too) is a huge pain. And then on top of that you have to find time for Long Term Projects.
For your example, I wouldn't require them to spend a downtime action or have one available. It's a fairly big cost in the first place with the stress and potential coin price.
You've got a good point about ghosts, I generally rule that PCs are hardened enough that they won't run in terror from most ghosts since that contradicts the principle to portray them as competent. But if its a lot of ghosts, or a very hungry/powerful one, I might invoke the Resolve-or-flee mechanic.
Likewise, as a reader for my own possible future MC/GMing of these games!