Blades in the Dark PAX Online Play Report

 A PAX Online one-shot play report for  Blades in the Dark by John Harper.  Available from Evil Hat Productions.

...Here Be Spoilers...

Doskvol, 847 IE

Our crew are Shadows, a nefarious bunch, thieves and spies the lot, executing burgalries, espionage, robberies and sabotage.  They are in the headquarters of the Lampblacks a gang in Crow's Foot, an opportunity has arisen, civil war means a rival gang, the Red Sashes, are fighting on multiple fronts and Bazso Baz, leader of said Lampblacks, feels he can strike a blow against the Red Sashes and move the Lampblacks up the rungs of the criminal underclass in Doskvol.

Doskvol Streets

Bazso's offer is simple, the Red Sashes are rumoured to have something of great value at their headquarters in Crow's Foot, go there, steal it and bring it back and they will split the profits 50/50.

A brief discussion in the group decides to accept this offer, at least on the surface, double-crossing and backstabbing can take place later.

Our plan will focus on Stealth, we shoot across a grappling hook, with a steel wire attached, securing ourselves entry to the first floor level of the Red Sashes' Sword Academy.  One of the group goes across but is spotted in the street, luckily our Spider had arranged a distraction, a cart crashing into a shop front keeps the nosey neighbours busy.

Entering the building we need to find the best location for the "prize", we've secured blueprints and a secret passage from the room we enter is the best bet.  The passage leads us down to the kitchen area, we have timed it well, a big delivery is in progress for tonight's Gala (the 2nd reason for striking quickly).  The group head on past the near-empty kitchens and come to a laboratory along with a steel door, surely behind this door is what we are after.

Unfortunately, the room contains two guards.  At this point the Lurk announces that he's arranged a little disturbance to the building's security, a series of gongs on each floor and within many of the rooms, are magically linked, ringing one, rings them all.  The Lurk has been busy, disguised as catering for the Gala, he has delivered a series of gold-coloured cheese wheels, then secretly replacing the gongs with said cheese - we just need to move fast before the cheese melts or the odour gives the game away.

Lurk

Two of the gang enter and with a poison bomb try to incapacitate the guards, one falls to the floor, the other seems immune or has managed to cover his face, a few quick swipes of the sap renders him unconscious, but not before he throws his weapon at a nearby security gong, whereupon it squelches into a mild, flavoursome Brie.

The room secured, the Leech begins to investigate the door, a judiciously placed explosive should render the lock useless and allow them entry.  Disaster though as the explosive explodes as he tries to manipulate it into the lock, luckily for him, he remembered to wear his steel and demon hide gauntlets, avoiding any serious damage.  The clock though is ticking, it is surely not long before they are discovered.  Another try is made using explosives, this time a vial of silence potion keeps things quiet and the door swings open.

Inside the door can be seen a glowing orb in the shape of a swirling black eye, around the orb, are four pyramids on pedestals, arc lightning jumps between them.  It seems as though the very light and air are being sucked into the room and towards the orb.  The bravest and undoubtedly stupidest member of the team picks up the orb, all goes dark around him, but he can see well within this pitch black maelstrom.  The team follow at a distance, the Lurk donning his night-vision goggles, and others taking potions to negate the effect of the dark on the bravest of souls or hanging further back out of the influence of the sphere.

The Orb

The group make their way out of the academy via the subterranean docks, two more guards are incapacitated on the way until at last, they see a barge awaiting them, time to escape and figure out who's going to pay the prettiest penny for this object and also why the person holding it now has a fierce red glow in his eyes and does his skin seem almost translucent... ..and those people don't look like Lampblacks in the barge.

Notes: My first time playing Blades in the Dark, after running it a couple of times as GM.  All online, we used roll20 and discord, the GM was excellent, filling in the pauses for most of us here were new to Blades.  Many games are very prescriptive in what you can do but blades allow much more, "make shit up" opportunities - the flashbacks were great fun and with guidance from the GM, we built up a fun, high tension heist.  I can see the score being essentially a one pager for the GM, with a series of questions that gives great scope for the GM and players to collaborate on the details.  I've got some great ideas now on how to run this more effectively and interested in finding more opportunities to play it and see if it has life beyond just a one shot, i.e. incorporting an arc/campaign.