History TabletopGame / BladesInTheDark

''Blades in the Dark'' is a GenreBlending [[UsefulNotes/RolePlayingGameTerms fiction-first]] TabletopRPG designed by Creator/JohnHarper and published by [[Creator/TheForge one.seven design]] in early 2017, following a successful Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign back in 2015. In ''Blades'', you play a gang of scoundrels eking out a living in the ViceCity of Duskwall and trying to rise to the top of the criminal food chain by any means necessary.

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Averted. Taking enough level 1 harm reduces the effects of your rolls, level 2 ''additionally'' reduces the size of your UsefulNotes/{{dice}} pools, and at level 3, you cannot act normally at all without help or taking Stress. [[FourIsDeath Level 4 is fatal.]]

* EasyExp: Player characters receive end-of-session XP for having activated one of three "XP triggers" listed in their respective playbooks. Two of them usually require memorable role-playing moments, but the very first one basically says "Have you done the one thing that is your playbook's main shtick, anyway, today? Good, then mark one XP. Did you do it more than once? Great, mark two."

''Blades'' is simultaneously a {{Prequel}} and a SpiritualSuccessor to Harper's own free UsefulNotes/PoweredByTheApocalypse mini-RPG ''[[http://www.onesevendesign.com/ghostlines/ Ghost Lines]]'' (2013), which was set in the same world, but a few decades later[[note]]in the year 891 of the Imperial Era, as opposed to ''Blades''[='=] 847[[/note]], and put its players in the magnetic shoes of "line bulls" (Rail Jacks in ''Blades'') protecting the electro-rail lines holding together the Imperium (Akorosi Empire) from ghosts and other rogue spirits.

The game has won the [[https://rpggeek.com/rpghonor/34790/2015-golden-geek-rpg-year-winner 2015 Golden Geek RPG of the Year]] and the [[http://www.indie-rpg-awards.com/2016/game_of_year.shtml 2016 Indie RPG Awards' Game of the Year]] titles. It was also nominated for the [[http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2018-nominations/ Best Game and Product of the Year]] at the Ennies 2018, but lost out to ''TabletopGame/{{Zweihander}}'' and only took [[http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/2018-ennie-winners/ Best Website]]. Said [[https://bladesinthedark.com/ website]] contains, among other things, an SRD for implementing original ''Blades'' hacks in other settings under the UsefulNotes/ForgedInTheDark license.

* SkillScoresAndPerks: Played with. The "perks" are the special abilities and crew upgrades, which are much more similar to the "moves" found in games UsefulNotes/PoweredByTheApocalypse than to traditional perks, while the skill scores are replaced by Action Ratings. The key difference between traditional skills and Action Ratings is that in traditional [=RPGs=], the GameMaster decides which skill score to roll for in a given situation, while in ''Blades'', it's players who choose the Action Rating they roll for, and the GM merely arbitrates the level of the chosen approach's risk ("position") and reward ("effect level").

* EasyExp: Player characters receive end-of-session XP for having activated one of three "XP triggers" listed in their respective playbooks. Two of them usually require memorable role-playing moments, but the very first one basically says "Have you done the one thing that is your playbook's main shtick, anyway, today? Good, then mark two XP."

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: "Duskwall" and "Doskvol" are used interchangeably in-universe, based on preference and background. The former is more colloquial -- a corruption of the older name, said to date back to the original Skovic: ''do'skov'ol'', literally "the Skov's coal mine". The rulebook itself varies, with chapters covering gameplay rules generally preferring the former spelling, while setting description mainly uses the latter. The Languages passage notes that it's common for any sufficiently old city to [[IHaveManyNames collect many names]] down the ages.

* WrongSideOfTheTracks: Or rather, "of the canals", since [[CityOfCanals most districts in Doskvol are separated by waterways]]. Specifically, the central canal that separates the obscenely wealthy and secure district of Brightstone and the relatively-wealthy Charterhall from the gang-controlled Crow's Foot, rough sailor town of the Docks, perpetually poverty-stricken Charhollow, and the proletarian Coalridge. All four of these districts (plus the penal colony of Dunslough) are definitely viewed as the wrong side of the tracks by the more fashionable citizens. Barrowcleft, on the other hand, manages to keep a very good reputation, despite being just as poor a neighborhood.

* CityOfCanals: Duskwall stands on the delta of Dosk River and so is crisscrossed by canals both natural and artificial, to the point where you can reach more places by boat than by carriage. The Gondolier Guild is a major power player in the city, and the Whitecrown island creates a natural haven for ships in the North Hook Channel, making Duskwall a perfect sea port, much like Venice's famous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_Lagoon Lagoon]]. WordOfGod is that the city is basically a hybrid of UsefulNotes/{{Venice}}, VictorianLondon, and Prague.