January 2022: Character Creation Challenge. Part Twenty Seven

And for the last time this challenge we return to the sunny streets of Duskvol for out last Blades in the Dark character. Happy, the Spider who is putting together a crew to get back what he feels he is owed.

Continuing the conversations from the last few entries for this game, here’s what Happy has to say.

Mr Philpot, My apologies “Weasel” so glad you could make it. Unsurprising that you found the place so easily. Would you mind if I enquire about a few things?…

So, Mr. Hatchet, it’s said your cleaver has seen so much death it can now kill ghosts? Interesting…

Ms. Geist, Ah yes, you took a little more encouragement to bring here than the others. I admire someone who picks a price and sticks to it. Now…

Now I have the three of you here I’d like to offer you an opportunity. There are certain things that have been denied to me and mine and I require some aid in dressing that. You seem to have the talents that when coupled with my, not insignificant, social reach could be used to accomplish that aim.

Of course, this is not a request for charity and you will all be compensated more than adequately.

If any of you are not interested, please leave now and we will forget about each other’s existence… No, you all wish to stay? Excellent, then let us begin.

Again have to love a system where you can throw such flavourful characters together so easily. Now I just need to get round to running/playing the game.

As well as the characters a big part of BitD is the Crew which has a character sheet of its own. Below is the sheet for The Abandoned. I think I got everything right, but this was my first time putting one of these together.

A little trickier than a single character sheet, but that is probably due to less practice at it. I’m sure with time this would flow quite easily too.

The only thing left to add is Happy’s real name Malcolm Trent was picked because it sounds like Malcontent, which pretty much sums up his character.

January 2022: Character Creation Challenge. Part Twenty

Ok, starting to see the light at the end of this quite fun tunnel. Thursday means Blades in the Dark, which gives us the latest member of The Abandoned gang, their whisper Shade.

As with my BitD characters here’s an excerpt from a conversation that will make more sense next week.

No thank you, I don’t touch alcohol, it impairs my talents. The coin provided will do nicely

Those two gentlemen in the hall? I may have seen them in passing, but no I don’t think we’ve properly met, other than having to endure small talk with them whilst waiting for this interview.

The slaughterhouse? This is just between ourselves, correct? Well, in that case, I had been sensing something big building around that area. Oh no, nothing specific, just a general feeling, like that felt at any spirit incursion, but larger and less specific.

Then there was the noise, it was like a scream from the other side of the veil. Then the building started to crumble, and I made my way back home. Where your letter arrived two days later… how did you get my address?

Not much else to add, another nice straightforward character gen process that still gives a good character with a lot of potential depth.

January 2022: Character Creation Challenge. Part Thirteen

Thursday the 13th, another sunny day in Duskvol. Today we have Barry “the Hatchet” a cutter from Blades in the Dark.

As usual there’s no room for the personality on the sheet, so here’s an excerpt from a conversation about recent events.

Cheers mate, it’s not my usual, but I’ve heard it’s good to branch out.

Yeah, slaughter-man and butcher by trade. Well, until it got shut down the other week that is. ’s leaving a lot of people hungry, from the lack of food and the lack of work. Yeah, I’ve been taking a bit of work wreckin’ stuff now and then. Winnin’ a bit at cards has helped too.

The shut down, yeah I was there, right in the middle of it. I was cuttin’ somethin’, the rat catcher fella was going on about something about rats and people not bein’ too different. I wasn’t really listenin’. So then this dirty great glowing cow-goat-pig thing swells up thought the floor, I get angrier than I have in a while, grab my cleaver it lights up like I’ve never seen and I cut the things down. 

Afterwards? Nah I don’t know what happened afterwards. You think I’m stickin’ around to get collared for anythin’?

Barry mostly sprang from the Ghost Fighter ability. I loved the idea of someone that could just smack a ghost. So I thought about what kind of person and weapon that would be and landed on a very experienced and not too fussy slaughter-man whose blade has seen more death than most.

And yeah, the name’s a play on Bury the Hatchet.

January 2022: Character Creation Challenge. Part Six

Is it Thursday yet? No.. wait wrong game, Thursdays’ here are for Blades in the Dark. A fascinating game than unfortunately I’ve not yet had the chance to play. So here’s my first character for it Weasel a Hound and member of the Abandoned gang of Shadows (coming in a later entry).

Another character sheet that’s nice and minimal, but doesn’t have much room for personality stuff, so again here’s a passage from the character himself.

So yeah, thanks for the drink, ’s good stuff.

Like I was saying I make a living… mainly… as a rat catcher. Track the little buggers to their homes and then do ‘em in. The pistols are for the big ‘guns, as big as a dog, they’ll have ya face off if you let ‘em get close.

People? Nah, tracking’ a man’s not much different from trackin’ a rat. You just gotta find where they eat, sleep and…y’know , then everythin’ else falls into place. Costs more though if that’s what you’re interested in.

The thing the other day? Oh yeah, I was doin’ some pest control round by that slaughterhouse. Butcher fella was chopping away then this bloody great spirit thing came through the floor… He turns to it, his cleaver glows blue and he cuts it in half from top to bottom. Never seen anythin’ like it. ‘Course, the ‘coats and the Wardens got the whole area closed off now so I’m lookin’ for work, butcher fella probably is too.

Really quick and simple character creating, yet with a lot of room for personalisation. Whilst I know gear is picked during a score in the game proper I picked what he saw as weasel’s regular loadout for jobs he’s going on, just to help get more of an idea of who he is.

Weasel isn’t a reference to anything, he’s just a character idea I’ve had running round in my head since I got this game.