Children of Midnight playtest materials release

Forged in the Dark The Workshop
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The public playtest materials for our FitD game are dropping on itch.io in 26 hours. I wanted to thank everyone here for their insight over the last few months as this all came together. Making a FitD game is a lot more work than I expected, but also extremely rewarding.

There is still a lot for my writing partner and I to do, detailing out 20 more factions and finishing up 5 more Grimoires while working with artists, models and a graphic designer. It’s all been a ton of fun.

Preliminary playtesting is going great. People like the way Fae Bargains interact with the flow of the game and enjoy the tense moment before making a Wyld Magic roll!

There’s a fun poll over on reddit about the first five grimoires and a link to where the playtest files will be available (free): https://www.reddit.com/r/bladesinthedark/comments/nbjcje/children_of_midnight_public_playtest_starts/

Anyway, thanks to @monkeyEcho for showing me how it was done with your excellent hack, A Fistful of Darkness. Thanks @stras for showing me how to GM FitD games in the excellent Stardancer actual play. Thank you @Sean for your continued guidance with EvilHat. Most of all, thank you @John_Harper for this wonderful narrative system that keeps on giving (and thanks for introducing me to The Doubleclicks, they rock)!

If anyone from this community ends up playing the playtest please contact me here or gavin@balsamicmoongames.com with your feedback. I greatly value your opinions and want to make sure that this is the best game it can be with your help.

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The release is now live: balsamicmoongames.itch.io/children-of-midnight

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I meant to make a list of changes from the base SRD in here for you all but it slipped my mind before now:

Devil’s Bargains are fae-powered and come with fae entanglements attached.

All witches have a familiar animal that they can switch to and from during play at will.

All witches have a special sense and a couple of innate powers based on their playbook (Grimoire).

All PC witches can use Wyld Magic is similar to rituals in Blades, but can be designed and used in a pinch anytime. Works like killing in BitD, summoning a powerful faction to come to investigate immediately.

There is no Coin, but a coven can leverage their Reputation to try to get a bit more when you Acquire an Asset.

New downtime actions for dealing with the fae and the Fates (Heat system reimagined).

XP Triggers for self reporting harm conditions.

The game uses standard D6 rules and also makes use of a tarot deck.

There is an Attribute and three new Actions that are tailored for use in the Underworld, where you can do special missions. 2 or 3 additional worlds are still in development.

Three new item types are available for crafting: Charms, Talismans and Artifacts. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Characters can suffer from (in addition to Trauma) becoming disconnected from their magic powers.

Covens use a bevy of new optional rules including a patron, gift and ban.

Covens have rituals they can access and use once per downtime in addition to normal downtime actions.

Assets are generally shared among all members of a coven.

Teamwork on spellcasting.

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Congrats Gavin, that is exciting to hear!

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Awesome, you did it! :slight_smile: congratulations!

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