LET'S PLAY BLADES IN THE DARK ONLINE
Band of Blades is a dark military fantasy with strong horror themes. This is a fantasy world, but one without dragons, elves, dwarves, or wizards. There are no prophecies, and prayers are not answered, only the Cinder King and his undead army to demonstrate the frailty of human life.
War is Hell. This isn't heroes vanquishing and leading valiant charges. Soldiers sleep in the mud, march all day, and deal with starvation and a relentless enemy in pursuit.
Technology is on par with late European Renaissance era, with black powder, musket rifles, and muzzle-loaded pistols. Animals still perform the bulk of the transport labor. Alchemy is science, though there are no large-scale industrial techniques.
Players will adopt several roles throughout the game campaign, including specific Legionnaires and Legion Generals. There is no promise of character fidelity from mission to mission - the characters you make will be played by other Players depending on the mission. The Players take responsibility as co-authors of the game, stewards of the story, and work together to bring life to the Legion.
Session play switches from mission phase to campaign phase, back and forth, with free roleplay in each phase. One Role you will play is as Specialists and squad members, active in a mission where combat is likely. The other Role you will play is as a Legion General back at the base camp. As Generals you are responsible for strategic planning for the Legion, deciding which missions to go on next, which personnel will go on the mission, and what how resources will be used.
The gods of the world are inscrutable forces, operating on grand scales, and often without humanity's best interests at heart. This doesn't stop humans from believing that the gods are caring beings, crafting religions and prayers and interpretations.
The world is old and full of terrors. When supernatural affairs plague the world the gods Choose a human to carry divine grace, imbuing them with immense powers to handle the problem. Traditionally one Chosen is all that's needed to end a threat, sometimes two for serious problems.
When the Cinder King rose in the West, nine were Chosen to deal with the threat -- an unheard of number leaving some to wonder if this was the end of days. Of the nine Chosen that took the field in the opening battles, more than half were Broken, turned to serve the Cinder King in his march to Skydagger Keep.
The Chosen that survived the battles are the only reason there is a Legion remaining to make it back to Skydagger Keep at all. Without them, the Legion would be overwhelmed by corrupting powers and sheer numbers.
This campaign will take place over the course of approx 12 sessions. The Players will decide when it's time to advance to the next position on your tactical retreat to defend the homeland, knowing that once you advance you are leaving that position to the fate of the Cinder King and his undead hordes.
THINGS TO KNOW
What To Bring: Nothing but the smile on your face. Also a microphone.
How To Prepare: Players must have an account on Roll20 and on Discord. Both are free services!
When To Arrive: If this is your first game on Zero Session, you MUST arrive 15 minutes early to ensure you have time to fix any issues that may arise with your accounts or hardware. This is pretty important.
Player & GM Safety: Sometimes games have content or situations where a player or GM may feel stressed out, unsafe, or be otherwise not having fun. Games on Zero Session are protected by our Quality Standards, but if after reading our Quality standards you find that there is content or situations that you are concerned about coming up during your session, please tell your Game Master. If anything happens during the session that you are not comfortable with, please speak up or direct message your GM or a member of the Zero Session team.
