Indie RPG: Blades in the Dark

“1,000 years ago, Doskvol was a land of beauty and magic. Then came the cataclysm that blotted out the sun and ripped open the gates to the land of the dead. The city of Doskval is a metropolis of tenements and factories protected by lighting towers fueled by marvelous electroplasm. Outside the walls is a wasteland full of vengeful spirits. Inside the walls is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, intrigue and corruption. Life is cheap in a city ruled by death. The sun is gone: the only thing that shines in Doskvol are the blades in the dark.”

 – Jared Logan, The Glass Cannon Network.

In a nondescript game shop, down the stairs, and way off to the back, knock on the sliding door every-other Sunday to be admitted into a world of scoundrels, heists, and ne’er-do-well-by-others for Blades in the Dark at Pandemonium!

Blades in the Dark is a roleplaying game in which you, the other players at the table, and the GM, create the story of a crew of individuals trying to make ends meet in a haunted Victorian-era city trapped inside a wall of lightning powered by demon blood (to paraphrase the game’s description of itself). Because Doskvol itself is ruled by criminals and the wealthy elite, you can only rise in station by taking someone else down. Life is not easy in this city.

To survive, your crew will run operations of questionable legality that will both harm and hurt other criminal enterprises in Doskvol. In terms of play, each session will see you and other players choose a criminal score, run the operation, and then deal with the rewards (and consequences) that naturally arise in order to grow your crew from expendable nobodies to one of the greatest collections of criminal power brokers in the city.

If you’ve never played a roleplaying game before, that’s great! All you need to have is a love of story. And if you have played ttRPGs before, note that Blades in the Dark uses Forged in the Dark (FitD) as a ruleset. Although you’re still rolling dice (bring your d6s!), FitD does things very differently from other systems. The game is at its best when players take control of the direction of the story and “play their characters like driving a stolen vehicle” (to quote the community); the GM is simply there to make things interesting. As such, don’t worry about missing sessions or coming in new. This is an open table, telling an ongoing story, and the fiction will always allow new players to join.

For ongoing updates, resources, and notes on the emergent story, head to this Google Doc (here)!

RULES FOR ATTENDING: 

• Proof of COVID vaccination is required at EVERY EVENT. Either the presentation of the physical card or a clear picture will suffice. Pandemonium does not keep any records, written or otherwise, of vaccination status.
• Advance online registration is required.
• Anyone not registered in an ongoing event will not be allowed in the event space to maintain capacity limits.
• Masks are required and must be kept on unless drinking. No food will be allowed in our event space for the time being.