Doskvol’s Lightning Barriers (Blades in the Dark) with Nova

2026-02-24

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Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIn Blades in the Dark, you play as criminals in Doskvol a haunted city where the ghosts are such a problem that they built giant lightning barriers around the whole city to keep them out. That sentence alone already makes me want to get the game to the table, and we haven’t even gotten to the rules of Blades in the Dark yet.That’s the conversation I wanted to take a crack at today: rules are important, they can radically shape play, but the fiction a game brings is just as important. Dos...

Transcripts available at diceexploder.com

In Blades in the Dark, you play as criminals in Doskvol a haunted city where the ghosts are such a problem that they built giant lightning barriers around the whole city to keep them out. That sentence alone already makes me want to get the game to the table, and we haven’t even gotten to the rules of Blades in the Dark yet.

That’s the conversation I wanted to take a crack at today: rules are important, they can radically shape play, but the fiction a game brings is just as important. Doskvol’s lightning barriers mean you can’t just run away into the wilderness after you’ve committed some crimes, and that’s just as important for ratcheting up the tension and consequences of your campaign as the mechanic of devil’s bargains...

Further Reading

Blades in the Dark by John Harper

Mythic Bastionland by Chris McDowall

Apocalypse World 3e/Burned Over by Meguey & Vincent Baker

Wanderhome by Jay Dragon

Vincent Baker on How Apocalypse World Is Structured (like an onion)

In Praise of Legwork by Sam Sorensen

1d20 Diegetic Rules, 1d20 Hypo-Diegetic Rules by Sam Sorensen

The Rule Book: The Building Blocks of Games by Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola

Socials

Nova on Bluesky. Nova’s blog, Playful Void.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.