Just finished a kick ass Band of Blades campaign! A big shout should go out to the authors for making such an innovative game and my players for meeting up each week with such a nice energy. It truly was wonderful to GM the campaign and I think it was the best campaign I have collaborated in, in my entire 15 year RPG “career”.
Our Lorekeeper keept meticulous notes and I wanted to share them for the authors benefit and also for inspiration for any thinking about running BoB or with a campaign underway. In the Campaign Summary he even made stats for the Legionnaires who performed spectacular deeds.
I can not attach the files here but I have made Dropbox links:
Warning: It can be pretty grim reading
Lorekeepers notes: https://www.dropbox.com/s/u2bvss17yk3rwt7/Lorekeeper%20Lasya.docx?dl=0
Campaign Summary: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nxswdzv8oa6w3kh/Band%20of%20Blades%20-%20Campaign%20Summary.docx?dl=0
If they do not work, throw me a DM and I can send the files to your email.
I made a lot of special game mechanics for some of the awesome missions such as the Siege of Kevala, which I have been sharing screen shots of on this forum. If you want my game play mechanic notes on the missions for inspiration I can translate essential notes and send screenshots from our Roll20 campaign so you can see how the clocks work. My players commented that I got addicted to clocks but they really can do a lot of stuff.
My players opted for a Zora vs Blighter and Render playthrough taking the Northern route and they had a really great start but starting loosing a lot of Legionnaires after the middle of the campaign due secondary missions and encounters with Infamous and Lieutenants. They finished strong at Skydagger Keep but not without a greal deal of sacrifice.
The themes we explored was that war is hell and how soldies cope with it. My players opted for playing sort of dark and quirky antiheroes that were pragmatic about leaving Aldermark to die but would put everything on the line to save humanity as a whole at Skydagger Keep. I think they liked playing in the renaissance/WW1 era so they invested heavily into alchemy, drugs and bombs/grenades, which was refreshing in a fantasy RPG.
To any one out there thinking about starting a Band of Blades campaign, I can heartily recommend it. The mission play style along with players taking some of the GM responsibilities makes for an incredible game.
10/10 would GM it again
