Why you should play Blades in the Dark 

I don't see why we have to play Blades in the dark. Couldn't we just turn the lights on?

I would 100% watch a series of this game.

One thing that many players and GMs get wrong about Traumas is that it takes you out of the current encounter, not the whole mission. After the encounter ends the character snaps out of their daze and can be played with their new quirk, which gives them XP. Also, certain crews can gain additional maximum Traumas, which can result in retired characters becoming playable again.

Luke: *sees this video* "Ahh yes."

What makes BitD really special to me is that not only the player/character has a charactersheet, but also the group has a Charactersheet. In the TV Series Firefly the ship itself feels like a character itself, because all the crewmembers make it into something bigger than its part. Giving the Group its own charactersheet was a genius idea by John Harper and I wish more Games would incorporate.

I cant get over how genius that flashback mechanic is. Its fleshes together so well into the game!

Scum & Villainy also uses the Blades in the Dark system but in a Sci-fi setting. Just started reading through it, and it looks fun!

You've convinced me to find the game/buy it. the only downside is, i no longer have a regular group to play with and im tired of DMing i want to learn the game as a player to recapture that experience of being new at something. So if anyone here is planning to host an online game, and wouldnt mind inviting a stranger, I would totally be down.

It's that scene in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure where they need to get the key, and so flash forward a plan to go... back and leave it there. Excellent!

Took your advice on Villagers (having never really played tabletop games above Scrabble and Monopoly at Christmas). It’s excellent. Thank you.

Well now I need to find people I can force to play this with me

As such, I came here since the Oxventure spinoff starring our own Johnny!

Thank you, Johnny. Thanks to this video, and the 10 best RPG video, I’m getting a group together to dive into this game all for the first time. It sounds like an absolute blast. Appreciate you covering this game and the others you have so far - love this channel!

So glad you devoted a video to this, I've been curious since you mentioned it. This sounds incredibly fun.

Dicebreaker is such an awesome channel! I know a lot of people are asking for it but a let's play of Blades in the Dark would doubtlessly be fun.

So, I watched this video 3 months ago, and I wrapped up my first campaign a few weeks ago. Thanks for the recommend, this has become an exciting and stylish RPG that has helped make a story that brought us all to tears.

Thank you for inspiring our GM to learn this game and tech/ GM for us. We just had a session 0 to make our crew, Shadows. The Unusual Drowned (our base is a semi-sunken ship) with a Whisper, Lurk and myself a Hound. So hyped! He shared this to get an overview of BitD

I’ve been getting the conversational ball rolling with a friend about possibly trying out some table top sessions. (For me, this will be the first time I’ve ever properly played one) A lot of it has been thanks to this channel being a great conversation starter. Keep up the good work, Dicebreaker!

I'm so happy you are covering indie RPGs.

The Locke Lamora series has been one of my top 5 set of books so far, an rpg that lets me run/play in a similar world sounds like crazy fun! :) Consider me sold Johnny!

Really glad you posted this one! I am actually going to start a Blades campaign next week and I'm kind of nervous, so I hope I don't screw it up too much. Wonderful video, as always.

Would like to see you play this with Outside Xbox/Xtra to see what they'd come up with for flashbacks.

Bought it after seeing Johnny recommend it aaaaages ago and didn't regret it for a second. One of the best RPGs I've played for sure

Stoked to run this next week :)

I run a campaign of Blades for my friends where they play a group of assassins. On one memorable job they where tasked with taking out a cruel foreman who was working in a factory guarded by members from an enemy gang. The plan was simple: the Lurk was supposed to sneak in and kill the guy, while the rest of the group distracted the enemy gang by throwing in some Molotov cocktails through the windows. Due to some misfortunate rolls they were discovered. The Lurk ended up killing the foreman, but was then trapped on the roof of the building with enemies approaching, while the others were surrounded on the ground. The Lurk called for a flashback to the night before when she - of course! - had prepared by attaching a rope to the roof. She bungee jumped from the building, and managed to escape. The others managed to fight off the enemy gang with a combination of brute force from the Cutter and the Leech, and the help of some working class ghosts whom the Whisper convinced to ”rise up against the oppressors”. The Leech used a flashback to get a smoke bomb, which helped them to escape, just before the Bluecoats and Spirit Wardens arrived at the scene. It was amazing.

This is great, I'm always shopping for new and interesting mechanics as well as better ways to play, but I 'm not made of money, so videos like this will really help narrow the field.

I've been playing since beta and it's been an absolute delight to GM this game.

Just the lore alone makes this game looks insanely interesting, plus some really cool mechanics to mess with. Looking forward to GMing a game soon.

I’ve been reading through the book ever since one of my players saw your video about systems other than dnd, they were really interested in it and the premise of the system fit much better with the type of game we wanted to play. Funnily enough we were going to use DnD for the adventure, but decided to switch over and I’m so excited to start with this system

Purchased on you advice! Can’t wait to get a game going!

Loving the gang who sell courses in their "secret sign language". I assume they weren't the sharpest gang in the drawer.

I have watched this video about 5 times now, despite knowing the system and having already played it. It's just a great overview on a great system. Absolutely love the new blades campaign y'all have started, Kasimir is a fantastic character

You sold me on this in the last vid you mentioned it in 😍

Currently writing a blades in the dark campaign specifically because of you guys

Blades in the dark sounded like a party I went to,after the power went out.....when the lights came back on though,we had fresh fruit punch and people were holding knifes!,ready to cut the sub sandwich!.how nice of them!😀

Wonderful video. Just introducing some friends to BITD and this video basically covers the gist! Cheers

So, is this basically "Thief: the RPG"? :-)

Awesome. You had me at Lies of Locke Lamora and Vlad Taltos. I already ordered Blades and Symbaroum based on the 10 Great RPG's video. I'd love to see a "Why you should play Symbaroum."

I bought Blades in the Dark because of this and I never regreted it! Thx. :)

Bought it, read it, SO ready to play it.

So...who else is here because youtube recommended this after watching the new Oxventure Blades in the dark series? 😄

I love the visuals and music for this one, definitely something that would look great on some let's plays as well. ;)

Thank you for this, great review and this looks an excellent rpg.

Just got this game, it's amazing. I'm in love with it. My one irk, no character sheet in my copy.

You could litterally talk about whatever and make it interesting for the short and the long term. The GMing shows, you are a great story teller/narrator. Apart from that, this system sounds really interesting, because it seems like it doesn't have such a vast rule system like i.e. DnD that you have to understand to be able to play it effectively.

Thank you. TTRPGs are only beginning to bud in my region of the world. I hope this video excites my board game group. It has to. It must. I want to run/play blades more than anything.

This video definitely sold me on this game

I liked it when Johnny called me "you scoundrel."

Lies of Locke Lamora is awesome. We named our son Locke after the book. I saw your 10 RPGs that aren’t DND and immediately ordered a copy of Blades in the Dark. Can’t wait to run it!

Right now a forged in the dark game I'm super excited about is Wicked Ones. Basically playing as high-fantasy monsters instead of scoundrels. It's early on in development but very promising.

I play this and it’s one of my favorite systems. Join us scoundrels within the dark.

Inspiration drawn from The Lies of Locke Lamora? Sold. I've been wanting to play a system like this since I read that book.

Thank you so much for this video Johnny. Blades will most likely be the gateway rpg for my friends and I. I would love to hear your thoughts on Band of Blades. It seems to be in the same universe, but because it's so new there isn't much info. Get major Black Company vines from it, and it has me intrigued.

Good review piece.

Dicebreakers promising start, the golden years

I finally realized what the Flashback system reminds me of - the ending fight in Bill & Ted 1. “I need the keys!” “I put the keys here yesterday.” I’m itching to play this in a time travel story with flashforwards and paradoxes in the flashbacks. Can’t do a flashsideways, as that’s only when everyone is dead already. #spoilers

Will you be doing videos like this one for the other RPGs you recommended? I loved this more in-depth look at the system and setting, and I would really like to know more about those games as well

Band of blades sounds perfect for me. I'm practically already a legion with undead nipping at my heels. This series and rule sets sound awesom

The Friends at the Table Blades in the Dark campaign is an easy jump on, if you want to listen to a dozen or so hours of "I had a plan for this! I uh..." adventure with some great characters.

I Would love to see a lets play of this (i know it would be some long hard work but it would be cool as a series like the way oxventure is done, non live stuff). maybe then we could see how johhny plays rather than how he dms

Would love to see a one shot let's play of this. Maybe have wheels play multiple characters while Johnny plays the gm

I actually ordered it after you made the video on RPG’s.

I really wish this video was 5-15 minutes longer. Mainly I would have liked a brief overview of character creation and what a “round” looks like. Overall I’m sold though.

I went and bought this after your recommendation in a previous video.

Johnny, as an avid book reader, I want to thank you for the name drop / suggestion of *"The Lies of Locke Lamora".* I am always looking for new victims to devour! These are almost as long as the GOT books and there are already 3 in the series! I am excited to play "Blades in the Dark" as well, but at least for now I have more media to enjoy! Thanks again! 😍🖤💀🖤💀🖤😍

Please do a one-shot of this Johnny!! I'd love to DM a session of this but I'd like to see it in action first!

YOU EVEN SHOUTED OUT BAND OF BLADES YOU HERO

I’m a beginner gm who picked this game up and now all I need is a group to play it with, I have so many ideas

I like how simple it is compared to other RPG systems

Duskfall sounds like Darkfall....and only two letters off.... If JackDarkfall is the mayor,I'm gonna scream!.

Honestly this may be my favourite system ever. Now whenever I play almost anything else (Dungeons and Dragons especially has kind of been ruined for me as as system) I want to implement the position/effect mechanic. It's just SO good. Plus the flashback mechanic saves a ton of time where the players tend to sit around discussing plans that ultimately never get fully implemented anyways. Drop right into the action, and when you need that "prior planning" you know what you want and why so it's not wasted time. Phenomenal game. 157% would recommend.

This game would be perfect for those fans of Mission Impossible type of spy missions, where most situations arent about violence but of cunning, guile, stealth and subterfuge. Most of the TV episodes of the old series had contacts and recon already set up and done for the agents to be briefed upon...hence flashbacks

I admit i am easy to exite with a cool RPG, but doesn't matter, I AM HYPED TO TRY THIS.

Yes! Lies of Locke Lamora is so good!

IDK what that music was at the beginning but I like it....

Slide, Spider and Whisper sound the most interesting, but no idea which one i would choose to play. Lurk and Leech are also cool.

I adore Blades in the Dark - and its focus on GM and PC improvisation is something I'd heavily encourage all GM's try out (if not players as well), as it's improved my GM and RP game considerably regardless of which rule system I'm using. Blades was also my gateway game to PbtA-influenced systems, which are now something I really like apparently? All the new kickstarters for systems I'm interested in are PbtA games!

Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.

This game is rad! Great breakdown! Band of Blades is also stellar! EDIT: Lies of Locke Lamora is rad! I hear book 4 is done and due out next year!

Don't think I have been more convinced to play a roleplay game more. Always wanted more reason to plan heists with my fellow players and with the game being compared to Lies of Locke Lamora... Well!! I need it. After years away from roleplay games, it's a shame that I decided to immigrate to a country where I barely speak the language...

Is it just me or does the city sound like it's based on Victorian Whitechapel?

This would make an amazing anime in the same line as Castlevania.

Is there a Twilight Zone/Black Mirror anthology style RPG system? I'm aware of Dread but that exclusive horror themed, is there a system that could be used in a variety of settings for a series of one shot sessions?

its doubtlessly not doubtless. huge, if not a massive difference in words...

I think you missed a key detail. As I understand it, you don't just take stress to resist injuries, but you can take stress to resist *any* consequence. This kind of narrative concession to the players is very important. For instance, it lets them make plans work if they really want to force it, and are willing to bear the stress. I love it, but I can easily see how many players would think it is silly to dilute the GMs power in this way. Regardless of anyone one person's opinion, it is important that they know this fact about the game, as it would strongly inform whether it appeals to them.

What's the music in the beginning? It's beautiful

This seems fairly reminiscent of a lot of more modern games, such as the latest version of Star Wars, where you can spend advantage to have planned ahead. It seems a bit of a cop out to have players spending points to say they planned ahead, rather than them actually planning ahead.

A group of friends and I started a game of BitD about 6 weeks ago. It's really fun. Our party is made up of three PCs so far. Peter the conman, a master of disguise and charisma. Lad the mercenary, an ex-military sniper and tank. Jack the Ripper, a young assassin who lives in shadows and eats souls.

This video made me buy it. It's gonna be my first Pen and Paper. =) I love tabletop dungeon crawlers and co-op RPGs. I am really curious about that! Is everything you need in this one book? Because other P&Ps I've looked up always needed a bunch of books to play.. from core books to palyer- and DM books etc....

Can you do a video on how to find a table top game group? My friends are... disinclined, and other than pen and paper rpgs, it’s kinda hard to do any of them unless you are in meatspace.

This one wins upon the comparison to Lies of Locke Lamora

The stress system seems to be inspired by the Darkest Dungeon game. I'm really interested in this one.

I vote for a game with the oxventure crew and Wheels. Should make for an awesome adventure, maybe even as a live steam?

Please do a campaign or series on this.

I'm looking for my first TTRPG and this looks right up my street. I love stealth games (especially Dishonored and Hitman). Can you Homebrew though?

... you scoundrel 😍 I want that as a meme !

Trauma mechanic is really interesting. Reminds me somewhat of CoC and Darkest Dungeon.

I’m not going to lie.... I am scoundrel. And I 100% whole heartedly recommend everyone plays this game. It’s incredible.

what is the music being used in the video?

Johnny got me into this game through his article on it from euro gamer. On that note, any tips for running this game?