Blades in the Dark: Deep Cuts
Blades in the Dark: Deep Cuts is a 118-page expansion for the Blades in the Dark roleplaying game — containing a treasure trove of lore, setting material, and alternative mechanics I've developed over the years for use in Blades campaigns.
The first part expands on the setting of the game, including:
- 27 factions, providing new lore and crew opportunities
- Over 100 heritage and background packages to flesh out the characters and the setting even more
- 13 new innovations in technology to reflect ongoing industrial-age advances, including new rare and restricted technology for nefarious Scoundrels to get their hands on
Also included is a new concept I'm calling a "catalyst" — which is a world-shaking event that expands and alters the setting of the game, providing new avenues for intrigue and adventure, as well as opportunities and scores for every crew type.
The second part contains 6 modular rules systems, including:
- More flexible and impactful Harm & Trauma rules
- A modified Advancement system to customize the rate at which characters progress
- Diceless Downtime, with modified Vice, Healing, Crew Development, and other systems, as well as a system for Debt
- A modified Load system that's more tied to the fiction while remaining simple and easy to use
- A new Action system, which overhauls and streamlines the action resolution mechanics to empower players even more and speed up the process of play.
The whole book is packed with tons of lore, gameable details, plug-and-play systems, GM tools, crew opportunities, and new artwork to take your Blades in the Dark games to the next level.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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Hi John! Any plans to make a blank pj sheet with the new design?
Christmas comes early this year ;)
Cool things in here, but this is going to make a community that already argues about the correct way to play even more insufferable.
Bluecoat will not knock on your door because of the way you play games.
Hopefully this will make it clearer that Blades is a Toolkit of modules to be hacked, added, removed, remixed, and every GM is invited to run it differently.
The Catalyst concept is deeply amusing to me, given what I pulled between the two connected campaigns I ran years ago basically aligns with it.
Great to see new Blades stuff John!
THANK YOU for releasing this update. I'm enjoying going through this. My local copy shops won't print something that doesn't give permission. Any chance we can get this blurb from original Blades added please?
"That said, if you're doing it for personal use, go right ahead. For those working at a copy [print] shop, this means the person standing at your counter can [print copy(s)] of this thing. This is "express permission." Carry on."
Yes, I'll put that in the next PDF update.
Thank you, Mr. Harper! It is a really amazing expansion!
I have a question about desperate rolls. How many dice does the player while desperate roll? Does the player roll 1d for each dot in the Action as usual? It seems like only one die.
Dots in the Action, as usual.
I didn't think the last few weeks could get better in terms of TTRPGs and video games but you just proved me VERY wrong with this and I could not be happier. This is incredible and I've barely scanned through it. I've been using the City of Red Waters module recently but this may drive me and my players back to Doskvol for a while!
Thank you, absolutely amazing supplement.
If I hadn't already voted, I'd vote for you for president.
Thank you! I'm glad you like it.
Hi John, very excited to dive into this (but also sad about my previous system mastery!).
Wanted to let you know the Smugglers crew sheet has the same subheading as the Shadows ("Thieves, Spies, and Saboteurs") instead of "Suppliers of Illicit Goods."
Cheers!
Thanks!
This is awesome! I immediately picked it up. In the harm section, I noticed you used the players' names from the Glass Cannon Podcast, which I thought was super cool too!
Sorry if I missed this but where/when can I get a physical copy??
In another comment he noted that there are currently no plans for a physical book.
Oh thanks! Hopefully that changes soon
Instabuy đź‘Ť congratulations on releasing such a major expansion.
I'll have no problems buying this again in some Blades in the Dark 2nd Edition.
As someone who’s been running Blades for nearly 10 years, I gotta say, John.
You nailed it. Beautifully done.
Thank you!
I really love the new rules... but I think there are enough changes to justify a BitD 2.0 full fledged edition. Navigating both the main manual and the supplement in game will be challenging, to say the least.
Yeah, second that...
Thank you, Mr. Harper. This is the expansion I didn’t know I wanted, but now that they are here, they are exciting as hell. The rules changes are all great and the new sheets look excellent.
I’m currently involved in three Blades campaigns, one as a GM, one as a player, and one is a two-player GM-less game. I can’t wait to start implementing the new stuff.
Hey John, just wanted to check something. If a player is rolling against multiple threats with a 0d action, how does that resolve?
My thought would be that you'd get +1d from the extra threat and assign it as normal and then you'd automatically fail against the other threat?
You get the +1d, sitting next to "roll 2d, keep the best" then you assign a result to each threat.
Any chance this will go on DTRPG? I own all the other BitD/FitD stuff there so would like to have it all in one place.
I believe he did simultaneously publish to both sites: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/500978/blades-in-the-dark-deep-cuts
Oh, thanks. I couldn't find it with a search.
Genuinely reignited this game for me in such an immediate way. And I am excited to see how everything will look in play
This is an unexpected, but deeply appreciated refresh (even for other FitD games, with some of those rules modules); Excited to try this out next time I get to run or play Blades again!
Two issues with the PDF though:
- The entries in the table of contents have no page numbers, so they don't actually work
- The link to updated playbooks on page 108 is a blank placeholder
Thanks! I'll fix those.
Bravo, John! Insta buy
So exciting to see this! Love all the lore/setting expansions. I've been in love with Blades since the playtest days. PS. I'm the weirdo who sent you an irl copy of the dagger from the cover art years ago. Hope you liked it!
Amazing! I love that blade you made! Thanks so much. đź’™
Huzzah!
This is literally me
Bought on sight.
Love the Module for Gathering Information
Yes please yes please. Instabuy. I've always adored the setting, how all the packed little details and intentionally abstracted world fused together. So so curious to see novel official content. :o
Hot damn! *throws money at you*
I ran a two season game of Blades for my game crew - it was my first big foray into GMing after a very long time of not doing so. We had an amazing time. Thanks so much for making this game.
My pleasure. Glad you like it.
Blades brought me full force into TTRPGs and I'll always be thankful for your work and ability to draw out the creative relationship among players and storyteller/GM. I've met amazing people through it, so thank you John. I cannot wait to dive back into this really special setting.
Thank you!
I'm STOKED for more Blades content. Are you planning to release a physical book for this?
No plans for that at the moment.
Understood. If there ever is a physical copy available I'll buy that too. Blades has been my favorite game since its release and I'm excited to see it growing and evolving. Thanks for making such rad stuff!
Thanks!
Sold!
I would totally go for even a POD from DriveThruRPG.
But I realize it's extra work to prep for publishing.
An expansion for my favorite game ever? Istant buy.