Mythic Factions for Blades in the Dark

I've been reading the incredible Mythic Bastionland lately, and I admit - it took me a while to wrap my head around what Myths actually are. 

When you read the book (the quickstart is free) you'll see most of it revolves around Myths, which look like this:

They have a chain of 6 events. You make Wilderness Checks while exploring the world, and whenever you randomly roll a Myth, you do the next event in the sequence. At first, I was baffled. Isn't this just a railroad?

No: I slowly realised that Myths are actually a genius revision of the classic random encounter tables. (Please forgive me Mythic Bastion-heads if you're thinking "Obviously!" right now.)

When you boil it down, Myths are basically a random encounter table with 2 major changes:

1: The encounters are chained together into a story of 6 related encounters that happen in order, instead of a set of unrelated encounters.

2: The encounters emanate from a specific spot on the map. You are more likely to get encounters from the closest Myth. If you go to that spot, you automatically get the next encounter in the chain.

These small revisions make a huge difference. In a classic random encounter table, each event stands alone. A good random encounter can definitely be fun and memorable and interesting - but it's always isolated and separate. It pops up, it's interesting, and then it goes away. It has no meaningful, planned connection to anything before or after. You can only advance your goals by actually getting to your destination - so no matter how well-written those random encounters are, they're always a distraction from the main course.

With the simple change of linking the encounters together into a story, Mythic Bastionland makes random encounters the main course. Now, getting random encounters as you wander the wilderness DOES advance your goal directly. And to make sure the game isn't just passive random wanderings, you always have a way to advance the story directly and get the next encounter: You can find the source and go there.

I think we can take this simple concept and use it for tons of other games. What if we took a city-focused sandbox game, and made each faction work like the Myths in Mythic Bastionland?

As an exploration of that idea, here's my idea for how to use it to improve entanglements in Blades in the Dark.

Mythic Faction Entanglements for Blades in the Dark

Choose 6 major factions. These are the factions that are most interested in the PC's or have the most effect on their lives. Choose a location on the map for each one. This is their headquarters or the centre of their influence. Give each major faction a set of 4-6 linked events that represent them fulfilling their plans.

Whenever you would normally give the players an entanglement, roll d6 instead:

1: Encounter the next event from a random major faction.

2-3: Encounter the next event from the nearest major faction. 

4+: If the roll is less than or equal to their Wanted level, roll a Wanted event. Otherwise, all clear.

If the players enter the faction's location or meet the faction's leader, automatically give them the next relevant event for that faction. 

You'll probably want to roll entanglements more often than base game Blades - say, twice per downtime instead of once per downtime. You can also roll an entanglement as a consequence during a score. Here's an example list of faction events for the classic Lord Scurlock. 

Lord Scurlock

1. Lord Scurlock's palanquin passes you in the street, glittering with gold and carried by seven bejewelled guards. A quiet, grey, wryly amused man nearby tells you there are rumours the Lord is a vampire. You have trouble focusing on him.
2. Scurlock's agents comb local vice-dens and taverns for information. You seem to run into one wherever you go. They are looking for an ancient stone sunken deep in the water. None have ever met Scurlock himself.
3. You see Scurlock's servants throwing the crowd golden invitations to a grand, masked gala. Everyone is invited. A quiet, grey man advises you not to go. Scurlock is known to serve a demon, you know. Although, who can say who is the master and who is the servant? 
4. Scurlock's ball is held. A giant, whirling masquerade. No-one can find Scurlock in all the chaos, but everyone talks of him. They say he'll never die. They say the demon Setarra has him in her thrall. They say he's closer than ever to finding the secret in the harbour. 
5. You catch sight of shrouded figures carrying chains, hooks and wicked instruments. If followed, they take them down to the harbour through secret passages. They search day and night, dredging up the ancient stones. A quiet, grey man watches and warns you: If they find what they seek, a terrible doom will fall on the world.
6. The ancient stone is dragged up from the harbour. Lord Scurlock - the quiet, grey man - stands over it. The demon Setarra will force him to open it. If he does, the sea demons within will be unleashed, and loose their wrath on the world of mankind.

Remember the Primacy of Action: Player choices override these generated prompts. If the players step in, they can stop the situation before these events occur. If the players pay informants or gather information on the major factions, they can get foreshadowing about the next events in the chain and how to stop them.

When the Faction's situation is resolved (either because they've reached event 6 or because the players have resolved it), wait a suitable period of time and then choose a new Major Faction to replace them. If you want, you can choose the same Major Faction but with new events that reflect their new situation.

Wanted Events

Roll on the table that matches the Crew's Wanted level. After you use an entry, erase it and write in your own that matches the Crew's situation. You can only set your Wanted level back to 0 if someone is arrested and takes the fall for your crimes, if you are officially pardoned by a magistrate, or if you are believed dead.

Wanted Level 0: Surveillance. The Bluecoats slowly gain awareness and close in on you.

1. Locals chatter about the latest score the PC's have pulled off. They have wild, impossible ideas about what happened and who did it.
2. You notice a small poster. The Bluecoats have offered a minor reward for information about one of your crimes. NPC's that hate you might provide information.
3. You come across a checkpoint. They're being set up in areas of the city near your recent crimes. The officers will ask you for identity documents - but corruption is common.
4. You realise you're being tailed. A Bluecoat officer is covertly observing you.
5. The cops grab someone in the periphery of your crew. A friend, vice purveyor, or minor NPC member of the crew. They're taken in for questioning.
6. A couple of officers arrive to take you in for questioning. They don't have any concrete information linking you to a crime, but they'll rattle you around to see what happens

Level 1: The Squeeze. The Bluecoats cut off your resources and move in for the arrest

1. The streetlights in this district get brighter as the city invests more electroplasm in lighting to combat crime. It's harder to sneak undetected.
2. A vice purveyor or one of your major contacts cuts you off and goes into hiding. They say the Bluecoats have been getting too close to them.
3. The news has a small story about your exploits with a credible description of you, saying an Inspector has officially been appointed to your case. It becomes harder and harder to get assets and supplies. Very few people will serve you. You're forced to rely on sketchy, poorly-made materials. 
4. A detail of Bluecoats arrives at your location to arrest you. They have clear evidence of your crimes.
5. Barricades go up around the block, sealing you in. An announcement orders locals to keep calm. A line of Bluecoats begins sweeping the area, looking for you.
6. You receive an official notice that the government has taken over one of your major pieces of turf (Or even your hideout, if it's public). It legally belongs to the city. The Bluecoats move in to make it a base of operations.

Level 2: The Fixer. The people in power have started to think of you as a problem. They've sent an elite agent to quietly take care of the problem.

1. An anonymous source offers a massive reward for your capture. Accurate and detailed wanted posters string the streets. It's hard to show your face in public without risking capture.
2. The Fixer surprises you in a vulnerable moment. They make you a deal: Stop your activities and accept arrest, and you will receive certain concessions. Some of you will be spared. They will not offer again.
3. 3 different teams of bounty hunters set up an ambush to catch you. If you're caught, all 3 will fight each other for the right to bring you in and get the reward.
4. The Fixer secretly manages to convert a member of your crew into a traitor. You get evidence that someone has turned, but not who.
5. One of your major allies suffers a tragic accident. Falling from a high place, drowning in the bathtub, poisoned, etc. They manage to get you a brief message right as it's happening. Unless they are saved in time, they die.
6. Explosives detonate. The entire building you're in begins to crumble in a massive demolition. It will be written off as a tragic industrial accident. That's the price of progress.

Level 3: Spirit Wardens. Your chaotic actions have attracted the attention of the Wardens. They intend to secure and contain you before you can cause any more harm.

1. A flock of Deathseeker Crows flies around you. You find yourself and the crew hunted by them wherever you go. The Wardens are alerted to your every move.
2. The Wardens summon ghosts of any previous victims killed by the PC's, or any that would bear them a grudge. They force them into Spirit Hulls (sparkcraft automatons piloted by ghosts) and send them to hunt down the crew.
3. A demon approaches you. The Spirit Wardens have made it a deal to capture you - but it's willing to bargain...You are ambushed by multiple ghosts, controlled by a small group of expert whispers who have set up ritual circles around your current location. The ritual will also sap your strength piece by piece.
4. Your hideout is hit in a sudden, clinically planned attack from an elite squad of Spirit Wardens, weilding both guns and magic. They move to subdue all targets and cut off the head of the snake.
5. The water supply to your district is poisoned. Anyone who drinks from it is slowly paralysed and sucked into the ghost field. Your crew will be blamed. Once you're all out of commission, the Spirit Wardens will clean up the mess.

Level 4: Imperial Military. Your actions are considered a threat to national security. Military units have been mobilised to ensure the safety of the nobility and the higher echelons of power.

1. Your crew officially becomes public enemy number 1. The Lord Governor demands your arrest. Every loyal citizen must hunt you, on pain of exile. Anyone found granting you shelter or aid will be exiled. Even your closest allies will be unable to help you without putting themselves at risk. 
2. Your district comes under martial law. Ordinary law and due process is suspended until you can be brought to justice. Reinforcements from the Imperial Army are brought in to control the streets and institutes brutal penalties for breaking curfew.
3. A large gang of Sparkcraft constructs stalk the streets, searching for you. Massive machines capable of smashing through walls and firing explosives. Each is crewed by a single imperial soldier.
4. The Imperial Army begins a district-wide manhunt, block by block, using military tactics to contain and eliminate. Every rathole is flushed out, every shadow brought to light. They have no concern for collateral damage.
5. Your entire district is suddenly sealed off with lightning barriers. The barriers protecting that part of the city are deactivated, and the hungry ghosts begin pouring in. It has been deemed an acceptable casualty.
6. Dawn breaks. Impossibly, a sun rises. The city has invested enough electroplasm to create a brief second sun above Whitecrown. Power is drawn from all throughout the city and the lightning barriers grow weak as it rises. Its light shines down, impossibly bright and hot, searching for you like a spotlight. If it finds you, the beam will vaporize you and everything nearby.

Now... if I could, I would actually just rip out the entire system for both Heat and Wanted Levels, and just have this as one big table. You would roll d6 on the chart, +1 for each time you've already rolled. Whenever you want to give the PC's a consequence for letting a witness escape or leaving evidence of their crimes, give them another +1 on this chart. That would require replacing a lot more systems though, which is out of scope for this blog post!

Also, if you use this idea, you might want to add the Deep Cuts rules that reward you for gaining wanted levels. They give you +2 crew XP every time you go up a wanted level, and +1 Rep per wanted level after every score. That would encourage players to live that GTA life of maxing out chaos.

I think this idea honestly has a lot of legs for a city-focused, faction-based game. I can see a ton of potential here for revolutionising the wandering monster table, too. If people like the Lord Scurlock example and would be keen for more in that vein, let me know and I'll see if I can whip some more up.