Blades in the Dark post session thoughts: Boss Fights?
Warning: I am fully using Blades in the Dark terminology for this post, so you will likely need to be familiar with the rules to get the most out of this post.
The Situation
The crew is in a shadow war with The Wraiths for control of Nightmarket. After an illuminating gathering information score, the crew felt they had enough intel to go after a lieutenant to disrupt The Wraithsâ operations. I had warned that she would be a tough customer and that it would be the equivalent to a Blades in the Dark âboss monsterâ. They did some canvassing during free-play with the hooks they were given and starting plotting against her.
The Score
The crew generally leans on subterfuge and avoids making direct contact as their initial plan. For this score, they tipped the Blue Coats off to her presence and planned to plant evidence of recent crimes to ensure she disappears for a while. There were some successes and set backs but in the end it came down to the lieutenant and her guards trying to escape past the Blue Coat trap. I set up the roll as the Blue Coats (Tier III) taking on a Tier II gang but with a specialty in avoiding capture so essentially Tier III for this roll. So straight roll off and the cops rolled a 6. A success with a complication would have allowed the lieutenant to escape alone but it wasnât her lucky day.
The crew hadnât managed to plant evidence yet so had to use the confusion and chaos to try and pin it to her. In the end, the Leech came through with a gadget from last session to literally pin it next to her with a grappling hook and bring it to the attention of the authorities. We had established earlier that the Blue Coats were looking for someone but didnât know their identity and this would be enough to tie her to many crimes. I had planned to use a 4 clock to represent âdefeatingâ her but I couldnât really argue for drawing it out and making them fill it up when the plan had ultimately worked and fit with the pre-established fiction.
Aftermath and Takeaways
As for a boss fight, she didnât put up much of a fight but thatâs the dice for ya. I worked through it in my head, and she wouldnât have resisted based on her knowledge at the time that she was likely to get off on a minor charge. She didnât account for the scoundrels of the Midnight Hand planting evidence on her and taking her out of the equation for the foreseeable future. So while I was (very mildly) disappointed there wasnât a more epic showdown, I canât argue with the playerâs ingenuity and their faith in the dice. One thing I have to remember to do is emphasize to the players that they got lucky and if they go after the leader of The Wraiths, they shouldnât expect to breeze through it.
General thoughts on the game so-far
We donât really play with harm. Itâs on the table as a consequence, it just doesnât seem to come into play often. I threaten them with knives and guns often enough but that seems to be when the players roll their 6s. I think two scoundrels have lingering level 1 harm from their first scores that we often forget. There has been no attempt to heal them with downtime activities because they impact play.
But Iâm not sure weâre playing it the wrong way. I have heard the new rules expansion changes how healing works to better integrate it into the game but I think Iâm realizing that isnât the type of story we want to tell. This crew has been conniving and sneaking and generally avoid confrontation so it makes sense that minor injuries arenât really a concern. They do burn through stress and are feeling the rising tension so thatâs why Iâm not sure if weâre missing out on a critical part of the game. If we play another season, Iâll look into buying the new rules but also bring up the harm rules during session 0.
For good measure, I think a new clock will appear labelled âLieutenant ReleasedâŚâ , just to add a bit more pressure to the city.