I’ve used the occasional detailed map, but usually I take the “there’s just a couple of small storage rooms back there” approach. One ability roll can cover checking a whole floor as easily as a single room. you just need to get them used to that, and the key is trust. Don’t punish them for not checking every door individually, and if necessary tell them that. I really try to be collaborative and open about the process.
Prep for Blades in the Dark
1 Like
For me it’s generally been less of “punishing people for not checking every door” and more “Here is what I am describing as you reach the next defense.” They don’t even need to move through the floor plan “manually” but I need something to talk about for where the guards are, and where the traps are, and where the loot is.
1 Like
Another thing to consider is that Blades is entirely urban, and set in a city where real estate is extremely valuable because expansion is limited by the lightning barriers, which are themselves limited by the whaling trade. Unless you’re hitting someone as rich as Scurlock, your target’s house and/or workplace isn’t going to be huge.
When I started, I sketched 3-4 Victorian apartment floor plans and made a list of rooms every place had and rooms only the wealthy would have. That’s carried me through pretty much every job where there weren’t additional setpieces for me to riff on (eg bank vault, ancient temple, etc.)
2 Likes
I need to start listing possible complications for various scores.
1 Like
That sounds a lot like what I was originally endorsing with "Do some research/prep around different types of buildings and locations. "-- though I’d go beyond living spaces and look at possible businesses as well. A counting house or a jeweler is likely to be a very different place than an apartment, after all.
1 Like