Band of Blades

I'm not going to repeat what's already in the description, just a few additional details: First, I have played through the full campaign for Band of Blades three times with different groups; as well as single sessions on-line and at conventions, and a few partial campaigns that ended partway through due to outside commitments/disruptive life events for various players. It has been a lot of fun every time. Note that it is a campaign-length, troupe-style game that uses the Forged in the Dark system created by John Harper for Blades in the Dark. The game runs differently than many RPGs you may be familiar with, but works well and provides a memorable experience if you embrace the differences. Second, if you like Glen Cook's "The Black Company" series of novels or the "Myth: the Fallen Lords" computer games, this is a tabletop RPG in the same vein: an outmatched mercenary company led by a powerful being fighting against overwhelming forces of darkness led by more powerful beings. The setting is not high fantasy, and does not include elves, dwarves, dragons, wizards, etc. It is set in an early Renaissance period, but avatars of the gods walk the land, alchemy is a science, and clockwork and steam technology (though rare) exist. The campaign runs on rails in terms of advancing across the campaign map, but there are choices of which direction to take in a few spots, creating mutually inaccessible pathways across the map. Despite this, the missions in each location are never the same, and are based on the fiction you as a group create at the table. The enemies faced can vary each campaign also; each have different tactics and themes. The full campaign takes from 12 to 20 sessions of about 4 hours each and, unlike many other RPGs, has a very specific end-point the characters are working towards. Also unlike many other RPGs, you can "lose" this game by failing to reach the end-point in time or having too many characters die or desert during your journey, adding a real feeling of tension and pressure, and meaningful (light) resource management. Each player is assigned a specific command role character they play every session, but outside of this, anyone can play any mission character -- a style known as troupe play. When missions come up, you pick from a number of different characters to play. You will play multiple characters over the course of the game and are unlikely to play the same character in every session: individual characters need time to rest, heal, and recover after missions, and some characters are better suited to specific kinds of missions than others. Also unlike traditional RPGs, no player "owns" a specific charter (but you develop favorites). This might seem discomforting to players used to playing one specific character during a campaign and having complete ownership of that character, but most players find that the switch is not as difficult as they imagined, and find it very enjoyable to participate in developing an entire cast of characters with their group and seeing what happens to them. Band of Blades is a fiction first game, and has similar rules to its mechanical ancestor, though a few things are handled differently, so if you are familiar with the former make sure to read the text carefully to pick up on the differences (for example, the Campaign phase takes the place of the Downtime phase, and Stress doesn't trigger Trauma until you go over). The book is chock-full of setting information and guidance, but also gives you plenty of room to be creative. However, a few of the rules are scattershot in where they are located, which leads to a bit of a learning curve and can cause confusion in play your first time out. Luckily, there is a Discord server with active players who are available to answer questions and clarify rules, as well as a web forum and a Reddit channel. tldr; I highly recommend picking up Band of Blades if the Black Company or dark military fantasy is your jam, and the community around the game is friendly and helpful.

A great roleplaying game that allows a lot of player input. The different phases of play is great and the fact that players play different roles and different character... very fun. In the modern day, it's not unusual that some players can't make it one week and then different next week. Yet this game handles that all very well. Give it a try!

What I loved about game is that you play using soldiers from a platoon. You play each soldier separately. Define them. Build relationships. Level them up. You rotate whos playing who, and take new soldiers out on new missions. What this does is that is allows the GM to kill off characters without causing issues found in just about every RPG (e.g. how do you introduce a new character for the 3rd time within a single dungeon). I liked the fresh new take as playing as a interchangeable squad. Additionally, each player takes on the role of a leader that dictates how supply is spent, develop lore, what to build, where to spy, and other tasks that affects the army outside of combat. The lore is interesting as heck too. Your army fights alongside one of several "Chosen". Basically a god within a human body. Some are corrupted and some are "good". The GM plays as the Chosen, so they wont always be around to help out. Plus from a lore standpoint, each Chosen has barely any humanity left in them, so their emotions and guidance are strange enough that you cant tell if they are fighting for humanity or not.

I am not fond of Evil Hat Productions as a company, we have idealistic disagreements. I can't argue, however, that they put out some quality content. If you like the 'Blades in the Dark' system (I encourage gamers to try new systems and this one is worth your time) then there isn't much bad that you can say about this product. Not only is the writing very good, but the covers, binding, and paper, are all high quality; better quality than you get from a lot of triple-A products. The fairly linear nature of the built-in campaign is an interesting concept and will serve as a great stand-alone campaign or the perfect launching-off point for an expanded world of your making. Very cool, and definitely worth having in your ttrpg library.

This is a well written book about a campaign that switches from planning, to zoom in into the action which affects the bigger picture. Read the book, its a good buy. I did find it annoying that the playbooks are in the book constructed tightly that it makes it hard to copy into a machine. BUT, those said playbooks are available online.

High quality and production values help you embrace the high tension dark fantasy concept.

This is an awesome game and I can't wait for supplements!

Evil hats story first blades system has become my favorite RPG system to date! Don't miss out