History TabletopGame / BladesInTheDark

* SinglePhlebotinumLimit: Everything on the Shattered Isles, from industrial machinery through alchemy to vampires, demons, and ghosts is powered by electroplasm in one form or another.

-->''"You're in a haunted Victorian-era city trapped inside a wall of lightning powered by demon blood."''

* CataclysmBackstory: About a thousand years ago, the old world was shattered by an unspecified cataclysm that made it impossible for spirits of the deceased to pass on to the afterlife, creating a staggering number of ghosts. It had also caused continent-shattering earthquakes across Akoros, turned the ocean water into black ink, released colossal leviathans into the seas, and, most importantly, almost extinguished the sun, plunging the the world into a [[AlwaysNight permanent darkness]].

* GodEmperor: The Akoros Empire is ruled by the Immortal Emperor, who, as far as anyone is concerned, is the same individual who [[BenevolentMageRuler used his sorceries]] after the great cataclysm a thousand years ago to prevent humanity's extinction. It's unclear whether some of his subjects actually worship him as divine, though.
* GreatOffscreenWar: The Unity War, which broke out about 150 years ago when Skovlan rebelled against the Immortal Emperor in a unsuccessful bid for independence. A lot of Skovlander refugees ended up in Duskwall, feeding the social tensions in the city.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Because the deceased spirits in this setting haven't been able to pass on to the afterlife for a thousand years, it is a pretty safe bet that the ghosts outnumber the living by now. Ghosts are basically the electroplasm of a living person that detaches itself from their corpse three days after their death to continue existing as undead (unless the body is destroyed by the Spirit Wardens before that). Some ghosts just mindlessly continue on their daily routines, some yearn for revenge, some begin possessing the living, and there are rumors of a few benevolent ghosts. There is a playbook that allows you to play a ghost, in case your original character croaks.

* OneManArmy: Lord Scurlock is considered a Tier III faction (equivalent of 20 highly-skilled operatives) ''on his own''. There is also the small fact that he has both the Spirit Wardens and ''the Immortal freaking Emperor'' listed as his official enemies.

* UnholyGround: Not so much the ground, as the world itself that keeps the ghosts trapped inside it after their physical bodies perish and slowly going mad. If it weren't for Spirit Wardens, the world would be long overrun by ghosts.

* CastSpeciation: Subverted. Although the game's use of playbooks is reminiscent of games TabletopGame/PoweredByTheApocalypse (which strictly enforce the "only one copy of any playbook per campaign" rule), ''Blades'' explicitly allows two players to play the same playbook, as long as their ''characterizations'' are sufficiently differentiated. The fact that there are only seven playbooks (instead of ''[=PbtA=]'' usual 10-12) may have something to do with it.

* GenreBlending: The game's setting blends Victorian GothicHorror with GaslampFantasy, while the mechanics combine narrative role-playing in the vein of ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' with urban crime sandboxing of ''Franchise/GrandTheftAuto'' and TheCrimeJob thriller plots, inspired by everything from the cerebral ''Film/OceansEleven'' to the gung-ho ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' approach.

* UniqueProtagonistAsset: The ability to take Stress is what sets the scoundrels (including {{player character}}s) apart from NormalPeople living in Duskwall. In gameplay terms, it is the main resource pool which players has to manage in order for their characters to come out on top of overwhelming odds.

* GreenRocks: The electroplasm (sublimated life energy that can somehow be used to produce electricity) power both the technology and the magic o the setting.

* AllianceMeter: Your crew has ratings indicating their relationship with every other noteworthy faction in Duskwall, from fellow petty gangs to the Imperial Military station in the city. Doing scores almost inevitably sours your relationship with one or more of them, but

* UpToEleven: The game's TierSystem for Duskwall factions goes from Tier 0 (basically, three-four thugs in a hideout--which is how your crew starts out) to Tier V (hundreds of agents on all levels of society), with most factions falling neatly on the spectrum. And then there is the Imperial Military, whose official Tier is ''VI''.

* ProceduralGeneration: The book has tables for randomly generating entire city parts, missions, NPCs, and even simple word on the street from a couple dice rolls. The official usage instruction of these tables simply says "Roll some dice and use the results and these tables however you see fit."

''Blades in the Dark'' is a GenreBlending narrative TabletopRPG designed and published in early 2017 by [[Website/TheForge John Harper]] of one.seven design (creator of ''TabletopGame/LadyBlackbird'') after a successful Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign back in 2015. In it, you play as a gang of scoundrels trying to eke out a living in the WretchedHive of Duskwall and to rise to the top of the criminal food chain by any means necessary.

* GenreBlending: The game's setting blends Victorian GothicHorror with GaslampFantasy, while the mechanics combine narrative role-playing in the vein of ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' with crime city sandboxing of ''Franchise/GrandTheftAuto'' and TheCrimeJob thriller plots, inspired by everything from the cerebral ''Film/OceansEleven'' to the gung-ho ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' approach.

* ThreeStatSystem: Insight, Prowess, and Resolve, roughly corresponding to intellectual, physical, and social capacities of a PlayerCharacter. In an interesting twist, these basic stats are never used for active Actions (instead, their subordinate Action ratings are taken), but only for reaction rolls to resist negative effects.

* GenreBlending: The game's setting blends Victorian GothicHorror with GaslampFantasy, while the mechanics combine narrative role-playing in the vein of ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' with crime city sandboxing of ''Franchise/GrandTheftAuto'' and TheCrimeJob thriller plots, inspired by everything from the cerebral ''Film/OceansEleven'' to to the gung-ho ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' approach.

* GenreBlending: The game's setting blends Victorian GothicHorror with GaslampFantasy, while the mechanics combine narrative role-playing in the vein of ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' with crime city sandboxing of ''Franchise/GrandTheftAuto'' and TheCrimeJob thriller plots, inspired by everything from the cerebral ''Film/OceansEleven'' to to the gung-ho ''VideoGame/{{Payday}}'' approach.

''Blades in the Dark'' is a GenreBlending narrative TabletopRPG design and published in early 2017 by [[Website/TheForge John Harper]] of one.seven design (creator of ''TabletopGame/LadyBlackbird'') after a successful Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign back in 2015. In it, you play as a gang of scoundrels trying to eke out a living in the WretchedHive of Duskwall and to rise to the top of the criminal food chain by any means necessary.

''Blades in the Dark'' is a GenreBlending narrative TabletopRPG design and published in early 2017 by [[Website/TheForge John Harper]] of one.seven design (creator of ''TabletopGame/LadyBlackbird'') after a successful Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign back in 2015. In it, you play as a gang of scoundrels trying to eke out a living in the WretchedHive of Duskwall and rise to the top of the criminal food chain by any means possible.

* CataclysmBackstory: About a thousand years ago, the old world was shattered by an unspecified cataclysm that made it impossible for spirits of the deceased to pass on to the afterlife, causing a staggering number of ghosts to be created. It also caused continent-shattering earthquakes across Akoros, turned the ocean water into black ink, released colossal leviathans into it, and, most importantly, almost extinguished the sun, plunging the the world into a [[TheNightThatNeverEnds permanent darkness]].
* {{Flashback}}: A cornerstone of the Score gameplay: at any time, but particularly when the party faces insurmountable odds, one of the players can take Stress to "reveal" how their character had [[CrazyPrepared prepared for just such an occasion]], retroactively introducing a way to overcome the current obstacle.
* GodEmperor: The Akoros Empire is ruled by the Immortal Emperor, who, as far as anyone is concerned, is the same individual who used his sorceries after the great cataclysm a thousand years ago to prevent humanity's extinction.

* InMediasRes: The Cut To The Action technique is used to get the PlayerParty directly into the thick of TheCaper or some other score, bypassing most of the contingency planning that precedes such events in traditional [=RPGs=].
* KrakenAndLeviathan: The otherworldly leviathans roam the oceans to the north of Duskwall and are being hunted by entire Imperial fleets for their blood, rich in the electroplasm that powers the entire setting.

* UnholyGround: Not so much the ground, as the world itself that keeps the ghosts trapped inside after their physical bodies perish and slowly going mad. If it weren't for Spirit Wardens, the world would be long overrun by ghosts.

* AWizardDidIt: To quote the last page of the book: "This was once a storybook fantasy world of magic and wonders, which was
destroyed and an industrial civilization was built on top of the ruins. Don't expect scientific realism here."