This is starting to feel routine, which is exactly what I was hoping for. It’s been very easy to chip away at small and manageable chunks of my game projects with the soft pressure of producing a weekly newsletter (so much so that I made this one early!). Thanks to everyone reading this — you are helping me stay on track.
This week I added some more bits to my two most advanced projects.
Check below for the developments.
Steam Thieves
(Steampunk x Forged in the Dark, Ashcan here [link])
I worked on the Judgment Call section this week.
This is the first time I have had to seriously consider what my attributes are in this game and commit to them in writing (for now at least).
Here’s what we have in Blades:
Insight
Hunt
Study
Survey
Tinker
Prowess
Finesse
Prowl
Skirmish
Wreck
Resolve
Attune
Command
Consort
Sway
I’m adding a section for attributes that can only be used in flight, since I really want zooming around in steampacks to feel special, unique and something players get to do all the friggin time. I also need to tweak the existing attributes too, to make sure they are applicable for the setting and the kind of thing I want to empower players to do. Steam Thieves are thieves, but not necessarily scoundrels.
Here’s what I’m thinking for this new section:
In-flight (need a better term here)
Swift (speed in motion and decision-making)
Deft (mid-air agility and ability to manipulate objects on the fly)
Nerve (Enduring difficult conditions in the air; whether it’s zero G or a hail of bullets)
Play-testing will really make or break these attributes (thanks in advance Matt, Will and Mari).
I thought about going heavy into aeronautical terms here (things like pitch, yaw, roll), but I think I might lose more people than I gain doing that. Maybe if this were a dog fighting FitD game…
*adds dog fighting FitD game to ideas notebook
When it comes to the original attributes… For now, I think I will simply omit Hunt, Prowl and Attune. In this game, I feel like Hunt and Prowl activities can be covered with Survey, Finesse and Skirmish. And Attune is great in Blades, but not needed here. I’m not planning on there being anything supernatural in this setting. The technology in the setting kind of fills the same role as the supernatural does in Blades. And Tinker will be the gateway for players to take advantage of that.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b4e522a-1452-4a16-b8ab-036173691585_640x494.jpeg)
With all that in mind, here’s my revised attribute list.
Insight
Study
Survey
Tinker
Prowess
Finesse
Skirmish
Wreck
Resolve
Command
Consort
Sway
In-flight
Swift
Deft
Nerve
In this game the ‘in-flight’ abilities can only be used when your character is airborne. However, all the other abilities could also be used while airborne, too.
Here’s the new Judgment Roll section, with some of the original text struck through (the new text being immediately underneath). Re-writing those sections also gives me opportunity to tease my setting.
Note for later: Playbooks defined by gear inventory/steampacks, not stats.
Judgment Calls
When you play, you’ll make several key judgment calls. Everyone contributes, but either the players or the Operator gets final say for each:
Which actions are reasonable as a solution to a problem? Can this person be swayed? Must we get out the tools and tinker with this old rusty lock, or could it also be quietly finessed? The players have final say.
Can this copper be swayed to look the other way? Does this jammed valve need to be tinkered with to quietly let off steam or should it be wrecked, loudly? The players have the final say.
How dangerous and how effective is a given action in this circumstance? How risky is this? Can this person be swayed very little or a whole lot? The GM has final say.
Can the copper be swayed a little or a whole lot? The Operator has the final say.
Which consequences are inflicted to manifest the dangers in a given circumstance? Does this fall from the roof break your leg? Do the constables merely become suspicious or do they already have you trapped? The Operator has final say.
Does smashing through the windows of Parliament sever a vital artery? Does the balloon gondola gunner grow suspicious and take aim or open fire indiscriminately? The Operator has the final say.
Does this situation call for a dice roll, and which one? Is your steam thief in position to make an action roll or must they first make a resistance roll to gain initiative? The Operator has final say.
Which events in the story match the experience triggers for character and crew advancement? Did you express your character’s beliefs, drives, heritage, or background? You tell us. The players have final say.
Goodnight Maus
(Mausritter adventure site inspired by Goodnight Moon)
Let’s stat out Tabitha and Tomasina, our curious kittens.
Here’s how the official rulebook handles cats.
These are kittens, though. And there are two of them. Both being Warband scale wouldn’t make sense. That would lead to a brutal scenario for PCs who want to fight, too. That being said, I do want these kittens to be strong enough of a challenge that outright combat is not a very good idea.
The fiction around cats in these rules are a little outside of my setting for this adventure, too. There are humans in my adventure, so I’m going to have cats be non sentient. I’m imagining more Borrowers than Redwall. Here rodents have acquired a special intelligence under the noses of humans (who are everywhere, but too ignorant to notice them — most of the time).
So our kittens will be formidable, along with being unable to communicate/reason with.
I need to nerf these cat stats, but not be too much.
HP can come down a bunch. I’ll move it from 15 to 8. I’ll match HP to their STR and DEX, but then add some variance. I’ll make Tomasina stronger and Tabitha more dexterous. For will power, I’ll move it down to 4 to reflect their non-sentience and their preference for running away to lick their wounds if seriously challenged. I don’t think they need armour.
Their attacks can remain ‘swipe’ and ‘bite’, but I’ll decrease the die size on each. I see these cats batting their prey rather than clawing them.
Tomasina
8hp, STR 8, DEX 6, WIL 4
Attacks: d4 swipe, d6 bite
Tabitha
8hp, STR 6, DEX 8, WIL 4
Attacks: d4 swipe, d6 bite
Wants: To amuse themselves and investigate anything out of the ordinary.
The want here is a little benign, but I want it to convey that these NPCs aren’t out to kill. And I also want to give the GM license to have these kittens drawn to things the PCs might do around the room. I think this want will also create opportunities for the PCs to distract the kittens. And I think making fun, creative distractions is something I really want to encourage in this room.
Here are the stats for the rats in the Wall Gang, too. It’s mostly the same as what’s in the core book, with the captains beefed up only slightly. I don’t want these rats to be too brutal of an encounter. Though, their sheer numbers should dissuade PCs from all out war against them.
Wall Gang thug
3hp, STR 12, DEX 8, WIL 8
Attacks: d6 club
Wants: To obey their captain (out of fear, mostly).
Wall Gang captain
3hp, STR 13, DEX 8, WIL 9
Attacks: d6 cleaver
Wants: To maximize the earnings of this turf and keep their thugs in line.
I have these rats as marginally tougher than the kittens and I think this is justified. In this world the kittens are like kittens IRL and their threat to the PCs is that they will bat them around recklessly and perhaps bite them. The rats are sentient and if there is a fight, they are fighting to kill.
With the wants on the rats I’ve tried to include some prompts that inspire wider narratives in the mind of the GM. By establishing a hierarchy and a dynamic, I think that makes a lot of room for the GM to create interplay between the thugs and captains and also create opportunities for PCs (to create a wedge between them, perhaps).
That’s all folks. Next up for me is the the Rolling the Dice section for Steam Thieves. For Goodnight Maus, I think I’ll work on the roles of humans in the adventure and devise some sort of clock/doom track.