Doskvol's Lightning Barriers (Blades in the Dark) with Nova

About this episode

The episode discusses the significance of game mechanics and narrative in Blades in the Dark, focusing on the unique setting of Doskvol and its lightning barriers.

Transcripts available at diceexploder.com In Blades in the Dark, you play as criminals in Doskvol a haunted city where the ghosts are such a problem that they built giant lightning barriers around the whole city to keep them out. That sentence alone already makes me want to get the game to the table, and we haven’t even gotten to the rules of Blades in the Dark yet. That’s the conversation I wanted to take a crack at today: rules are important, they can radically shape play, but the fiction a game brings is just as important. Doskvol’s lightning barriers mean you can’t just run away into the wilderness after you’ve committed some crimes, and that’s just as important for ratcheting up the tension and consequences of your campaign as the mechanic of devil’s bargains... Further Reading Blades in the Dark by John Harper Mythic Bastionland by Chris McDowall Apocalypse World 3e/Burned Over by Meguey & Vincent Baker Wanderhome by Jay Dragon Vincent Baker on How Apocalypse World Is Structured (like an onion) In Praise of Legwork by Sam Sorensen 1d20 Diegetic Rules, 1d20 Hypo-Diegetic Rules by Sam Sorensen The Rule Book: The Building Blocks of Games by Jaakko Stenros and Markus…

People in this episode

Host: Sam Dunnewold

Guest: Nova

Topics covered

• Blades in the Dark
• game mechanics
• Doskvol
• tension in gameplay
• ghosts
• lightning barriers

Keywords

• Blades in the Dark
• Doskvol
• game mechanics
• lightning barriers
• ghosts
• tension
• role-playing games

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dice Exploder, Bluesky, itch

Books & works: Blades in the Dark, Mythic Bastionland, Apocalypse World 3e/Burned Over, Wanderhome

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