Blades ’68 is an official supplement for Blades in the Dark, moving the timeline forward 100 years to the swinging 60s.
Across the Shattered Isles, it is the Age of Consensus. Superstition has been replaced by the superior values of science, conformity, and consumerism. It is a world at peace.
Or that’s what they try to tell you.
Progress is here, but only for some. War may be over, but the shadowy game of espionage has never been more heated. Discontent bubbles under the surface and threatens to erupt at any time in any place. They’ve tried to tell you that the future has arrived and everything is fine now, that it’s not the time to make a fuss. But you know better. You’re a scoundrel, a chancer, a troublemaker. You know the streets and you’re not afraid of danger.
The moment is now, everything you’ve dreamed of is within reach.
About Blades ’68
Working in consultation with John Harper, designer Tim Denee advances the timeline and the technology of Doskvol one hundred years into the future with Blades ‘68.
This official supplement uses the same core mechanics from Blades in the Dark (which is required to play) but introduces some notable changes to the system. It tweaks the Gameplay Cycle, dividing the action into crew business, the trouble engine, and personal business. Blades ‘68 expands your character options with keys and deadlocks – personality traits you can lean on for XP or cross off when you’ve succumbed to stress. It adds procedures for Time Skips, claims the crew can pursue, backing factions you can call on for help, and more.
On the worldbuilding side, technology and events have advanced. Blades ‘68 features autopods and airships. Modern life in Doskvol is powered by Electroplasmic Fusion. The game delineates the timeline of events between Blades in the Dark and Blades ‘68 and gives a concise Rolodex-style view into the factions at play in the new Age of Consensus.
The various districts of Doskvol – from Barrowcleft to Whitecrown – are lovingly updated, with enough detail to spawn plot hooks but not such verbose descriptions that the key points are buried.
Finally, the Blades ‘68 playtest document contains three “Cold Opens” – short, punchy scores to kick off a campaign – as well as two “Ticking Timebombs”: big issues that lurk in the background, ready to interrupt or complicate the business of the crew.
Sign up to playtest here: https://evilh.at/68-playtest
Or, download the free Playtest Preview PDF here at DriveThruRPG.