Blades in the Dark 2

In December 2023 we present the Blades in the Dark 2 Bundle, a new sequel to our December 2020 offer featuring the rulebook and play aids for Blades in the Dark from One Seven Design Studio, along with many recent Forged in the Dark standalone games based on the Blades System Reference Document. One of the most acclaimed and influential RPGs of the past decade, Blades fine-tunes the Apocalypse Engine system, adding rules for clocks, stress, and Devil’s Bargains that ensure fast play and suspenseful choices.

There were six titles in this new offer’s Blades Collection (retail value $72) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including John Harper’s complete Blades in the Dark core rulebook (previously presented in several past offers); four Blades in the Decks print-and-cut play aids from Evil Hat Productions – Characters, Crews, Deals, and Factions & Locations; and another card deck, Heists in the Dark (Shields Up Publishing). The five card decks are all new to the Bundle of Holding.

Those who paid more than the threshold (average) price also got our entire Forged Collection with six more titles worth an additional $90:

• Court of Blades (A Couple of Drakes): Scandal, schemes, intrigues, duels, and dangerous liaisons in a fantasy-Renaissance city-state. Includes the Companion Zine and Community Zine.
• Mountain Home (Ideagonk): A tabletop take on Dwarf Fortress.
• A Torch in the Dark (Not Writing Games): A single-player RPG that sends you dungeon-delving to twice-kill troublesome undead Lords.
• Diogo Nogueira’s dinosaurs-in-space extravaganza Kosmosaurs.

Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to this Blades in the Dark 2 offer’s designated charity, the Diana Jones Award Emerging Designer Program. Each year, the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, amplifies the voices of up-and-coming game designers by featuring them during an expenses-paid visit to Gen Con. The global Emerging Designer Program focuses on creators from marginalized communities.

Blades/Forged in the Dark resources

• The Blades in the Dark website, its free downloads page, its long list of fan creations, and the Forged in the Dark license
• Blades designer John Harper’s list of Forged in the Dark Games on itch.io
• The itch.io “Unusual Suspects” playbook jam, Sept-Oct 2020 (120 entries)
• Wild Hunt Studios Blades Resources page
• A breezy Forged in the Dark 101 introduction and a sophisticated post-Actual Play analysis, “Band of Blades and Recompiling Code,” both by Paul Beakley at Indie Game Reading Club
• In 2017-18 on his blog The Walking Mind, Rob Donoghue of Evil Hat Productions analyzed Blades to a depth few recent RPGs have enjoyed (or endured). The Walking Mind Blades category lists nearly two dozen lengthy posts, newest-to-oldest; start with his introductory May 2017 post.