Chapter 9: Changing The Game

After you play Blades for a good while (or maybe even right away if you’re one of those types), you’ll start to think about how you might add stuff to the game, or how elements of the game might be different, or how you might play a different sort of game using the Blades system as the foundation for something new. These impulses are called “game design” and you’re off onto a very rocky and rewarding road. This chapter is a crash course in some design concepts that might help get you started.

The first bit of advice I can give you is: play and iterate. It’s easy to fall into the trap of sitting at your computer, typing away, thinking up all kinds of game stuff, then despairing and tearing it all apart, or starting over, or throwing it away. Fight that tendency by focusing your design process on playing the game, then iterating a few things, then playing again, then iterating, and so on. Elements that seemed simple at the keyboard will reveal themselves as too complicated at the table, and vice versa. A small detail that you didn’t think important will be seized on by the players and expand into something amazing. A roleplaying game is dead on the page—you have to get it into play to really see what it’s like. Keep your design efforts focused on play, not a lonely writing exercise.

Also, you don’t have to do it alone. There’s your game group, of course—they’ll help you a lot. But there’s also a huge, vibrant community of tabletop gamers online that love to try new things, give feedback, and support design efforts—from minor hacks to full blown new creations.

Go to bladesinthedark.com to find a bunch of game-hacks that other people have already done (maybe they’ll inspire you!) and links that will take you to various community hubs online so you can talk to other gamers and designers.