And with that I dive into my first go at running a Forged in the Dark (FitD) based game: Tribes in the Dark. This is a long awated return to the Tribe8 setting, which I loved and ran in the original Dream Pod 9 Silhouette based version. I have many of the books on my shelf and a clutch of the PDFs, which they have slowly been re-issuing in a remastered form.
The setting, is a post apocalypse where, in our near future, the world was overcome by entities, the Z’bri, that ravaged humanity barbarically and almost destroyed us. Where these monsters came from remains a discoverable mystery, but they are now trapped here, with the vestiges of humanity finding heralds of freedom in the Fatimas, made of dream and acreted physicality, creating the seven tribes and forging a home in the ruined city known as Vimary. The players are fallen outcasts from one of the seven tribes, children of prophecy that tell a dfferent story of the future of humanity, one that is not bound to the will of the Fatimas, one that listens to the echoes of Joshua the Ravager, the brave Fatima that was slain by an unseen hand just as he was defeating the Z’bri.
Revelation is coming this weekend, our ‘Powerd by the Apocalypse’ (PbtA) inspired mini convention, allowing also FitD and other PbtA adjacent games. Every year there is a sub-thread about what games we should allow in, to the extent that I wonder if the core premise of the convetion has had its day. One to consider. It is also noteworthy that our numbers have substantially declined this year, as many emerge from the continuing pandemic and consider whether face to face gaming is for them. We are applying full Covid-19 protocols, whatever the government thinks. I will be keeping an eye on our other convention numbers across the year and we can reflect on their viability. Revelation just made the money this year, with enough spare for teas and coffees throughout both days, so even with an attendance in the twenties, we can still get together at the Garrison and afford the main room.
I have surprised and disappointed myself by how much I have struggled with Forged in the Dark. It is everyone’s indie darling is it not? Addressing problems in PbtA that weren’t there? Fiction first gaming I can get behind, with PbtA leading the charge with Moves initiated as the table dialogue determines. Codified result outcomes mean that every roll of the dice is meaningful and worth doing. Fine.
With FitD I’m kind of Ok with the way it is setup. Position and Effect are two dimensions that the GM provides to every meaningful roll, detemining how controlled and effective the character is in undertaking the action. This will influence consequences and outcomes, including Clock ticking, to measure success through to final victory or consequential defeat. Now, it could be that I am just working off a playtest version, without the extra support, but working out a character’s Position and Effect seems all very handwavy. Fictional Positioning my arse! Where’s the Armour Class?!
Well, not really, and I’m not scurrying back to my traditional number games just yet. In FitD you have a number of factors that can influence how to position and judge effectiveness, including Scale (how many of them are there), Tier (which relates to faction power, but dribbles onto individual opponents), Quality of items, and the fiction itself. The fiction determines a common sense take on the relative risk and likely success of the endeavour. I will, of course, give this a go. Tiers are poorly explained in the quickstart, which may be adding to my nervousness. It’s just a conversation, and the ebb and flow of the discourse will derive a posiiton and effect naturally through the shared fiction. Arse. Give me a THAC0 table.
My indie credentials are in tatters. Not only that, if I am to return to Vimary then FitD seems to be the way back. I am also ready for A¦State, which has also gone FitD. Feeling a bit ‘Desperate and Limited’ just now, but maybe it’ll click in play? Maybe.