EXPANDED ENTANGLEMENTS
HEAT 0-3 HEAT 4/5
1 The Usual Suspects or 1 Gang Trouble or
Diplomatic Incident Enraged Citizenry
2 Squanderers or 2 Search Warrant or
Unexpected Expenses Accosted by Spirit Guards
3 Gang Trouble or 3 Questioning or Crisis of Faith or
Pushy Friends Haunted Claim
Unquiet Dead or Casual Racism
4 Rivals or Cohort Tension 4 4
or Unfair Competition
5 Unquiet Dead or 5 Reprisals or Civil War or
Crisis of Vice Settling of Scores
6 Cooperation or 6 Show of Force or
Unexpected Complication Arrested Cohort
Underlined entanglements are taken directly from the
Blades in the Dark SRD. The rest are new entanglements.
Accosted by Spirit Guards. If you have an “Accosted by
Spirit Guards” clock active (i.e., the one that fills up whenever you
use Arcane potions, p. 226) you gain heat equal to the number of
ticks on that clocks. Then, mark 2 more ticks on the “Accosted by
Spirit Guards” clock.
Ambitious Lackey. An influential member of a Cohort (or a
friend/contact, patron, or vice purveyor) successfully undermines
your authority: they want to be the one leading the Crew, or at least
one of your Cohorts! You must choose: either permanently lose the
Cohort(s) involved, or harshly punish and re-organize them
(forfeit 2 rep, 2 coin, mark level 2 harm on the Cohort, and tick
1 on a 4-Clock “The Cohort Rebels”).Why did the lackey betray
you? What have you done against them?
Arrest. An Inspector presents a case file of evidence to a
magistrate, to begin prosecution of your crew. They send a detail
to arrest you (a gang at least equal in scale to your wanted
level). Pay them off with coin equal to your wanted level +3,
hand someone over for arrest (this clears your heat), or try to
evade capture.
A truncheon bangs on the shutters of the window. “Alright then! Come
on out and let’s go quietly now!” It sounds like the bald Sergeant. When
you peek out, you see a detail of about twenty constables, all geared up
for a fight. The Sergeant mumbles under his breath, so only you inside
can hear: “Or perhaps I have the wrong address?” He clears his throat
and waits for some coins to appear.
Arrested Cohort. Exactly like “Arrest”, but the cops try to
arrest one of your Cohorts, rather than a PC.
Casual Racism. You lose 1 rep for each PC you have in the crew
who do not belong to the setting’s dominant heritage. Players
whose character is of mixed heritage can choose whether they “pass”
as belonging to the dominant heritage, or not.
Civil War. A member of one of your Cohorts murders another
member, or another one of your Cohorts, or a contact/friend or
vice purveyor. Remove from play the NPC that has been attacked
(or, if they are a member of a Gang, mark level 2 harm on the
Gang) and forfeit 1 rep. You can then choose whether to stand
with the culprit, or with the victim's friends; in both cases, the
“other” party will harbor resentment towards the Crew (mark 3
ticks on a 4-Clock).
Created by Francesco “Lupo” Pregliasco, no rights reserved. This work is based on BLADES IN THE DARK, product of One Seven Design, developed and authored by John Harper, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license
HEAT 6+ Flipped. One of the PCs’ rivals arranges for one of your contacts,
1 Interrogation or Helping the Poor
2 Robbery or Overambitious Lackey
3 Flipped or Tax Evasion Charge
Demonic Notice or Crew Trouble
or Hostile Magistrate
5 Show of Force or War! or
Ambitious Lackey
6 Arrest or Mayhem or
Incarcerated Cohort
Cohort tension. A member of one of your Cohorts has a fight
with another member, or another one of your Cohorts, or a
contact/friend or vice purveyor. You lose 1 rep due to how divided
is your crew, and you mark level 1 harm on the Cohort or NPC
that has been attacked. You can then choose whether to stand with
the culprit or with the victim (i.e., punish the culprit); in both
cases, the “other” party will start to harbor resentment towards the
Crew (mark 1 tick on a 4-Clock).
Cooperation. A +3 status faction asks you for a favor. Agree to
do it, or forfeit 1 rep per Tier of the friendly faction, or lose 1
status with them. If you don’t have a +3 status faction, you avoid
entanglements right now.
Crew Trouble. One of the PCs create trouble due to their
Trauma(s). You can lose face (forfeit rep equal to your Tier +1), make
an example of your fellow PC (mark level 2 harm, you may not resist
it), or face reprisals from the wronged party (and lower your status with
them by 1). If no PC has Trauma, you avoid entanglements right now.
Crisis of Faith. A new Cult (or an old acquaintance) takes hold
among one of your Cohorts. You can either allow the cult to flourish
(pick 1 extra Flaw for your Cohort), or fight it (lose 1 rep, mark
level 1 harm on your Cohort, and mark 2 ticks on a 4-Clock “The
Cohort rebels”). What is the Cult doctrine? Who is leading the Cult?
Crisis of Vice. A new vice purveyor (or an old acquaintance)
takes hold among one of your Cohorts. You can either allow the
vice to flourish (pick 1 extra Flaw for your Cohort), or fight it (lose
1 rep, mark level 1 harm on your Cohort, and mark 2 ticks on a
4-Clock “The Cohort rebels”). Who is the purveyor? What vice are
they selling exactly?
Demonic notice. A demon approaches the crew with a dark
offer. Accept their bargain, hide until it loses interest (forfeit 3
rep), or deal with it another way.
Diplomatic incident. Pick a faction whose status with you is
-1, 0, or +1. Choose: either forfeit 1 rep per Tier of the faction, or
take -1 status with them, due to some offense or some conflicting
interests. What is the nature of the offense or conflict? What did you
do to enrage them?
Enraged Citizenry. Either forfeit 2 rep, or take -1 status with
the Citizenry of a District where you own an “annoying” Claim (or
a District where you recently made a conspicuous Score). Who are
the individual(s) leading the Citizenry's protests? Did you do
something to enrage them personally?
roll a number of dice equal to your wanted level, read the result according to your heat
Reprisals. An enemy faction makes a move against you (or a
patrons, clients, or a group of your customers to switch allegiances
due to the heat on you. They’re loyal to another faction now.
Gang trouble. One of your gangs (or other cohorts) causes
trouble due to their flaw(s). You can lose face (forfeit rep equal to
your Tier +1), make an example of one of the gang members, or
face reprisals from the wronged party.
Haunted Claim. One of your Claims is haunted by ghosts. It
will stop working until you either hire a Whisper (see Unquiet
Dead), or you deal with ghosts yourself.
Helping the poor. Vagrants or other desperates in your
District (where you have your lair, or most of your activities)
expect a show of generosity from you. Either pay them 2 coin, or
reduce your status with your local Citizenry by 1.
Hostile Magistrate. One of the City's Magistrates is obsessed
about your Crew. Either pay them 6 coin; or stage your very next
Score to bribe, intimidate, blackmail or eliminate them (the Score
should not pay any coin); or allow them to finish their
investigation (and get +1 wanted level). Who is the Magistrate?
What did you do to enrage them?
Incarcerated Cohort. One of your Cohorts (or a close
friend, or your patron) gets sent to prison. Choose: you either pay
coin equal to 1 + double your wanted level, or your Cohort is
completely unavailable for a number of Scores equal to 1d +
wanted level. In both cases, you clear just 3 heat (you do not
clear all the heat and reduce your wanted level by 1 as usual)
Interrogation. The officers round up one of the PCs to
question them about the crew’s crimes. How did they manage to
capture you? Either pay them off with 3 coin, or they beat you up
(level 2 harm) and you tell them what they want to know (+3
heat). You can resist each of those consequences separately.
Some players really hate it when their character gets captured! Just
tell them that this is completely normal for a scoundrel of the
underworld. You spend time in and out of jail, getting questioned
and harassed by the law. It’s not the end of the world. But now that
you’re here in the interrogation room, what kind of person are you?
Do you talk? Do you stand up to them? Do you make a deal?
Mayhem. Roll again, twice. You suffer two entanglements.
Overambitious lackey. An influential member of a Cohort
(or a friend/contact, patron, or vice purveyor) tries to undermine
your authority. You manage to control their ambitions, but you
have to choose: either punish them (mark level 2 harm on the
Cohort), or give them a raise (lose 2 coin), or lose face (-2 rep)
Pushy Friends. A +2 or +3 status faction asks you to hide a
“hot” person, gear or merchandise, until things cool down and the
cops stop looking for the thing. Either accept their request (and
take +2 heat), or refuse (and take -1 status with them, or lose
rep equal to their Tier, your choice)
Questioning. The cops grab an NPC member of your crew or
one of the crew’s contacts, to question them about your crimes.
Who do they think is most vulnerable? Make a fortune roll to
see how much they talk (1-3: +2 heat, 4/5: +1 heat), or pay the
constables off with 2 coin.
Roll 2d for a normal person to see how well they keep quiet. If they’re
an experienced underworld type or some kind of tough, give them
3d or 4d instead. If they’re soft or if they have some loyalty to the
law, give them 1d or 0d.
friend, contact, or vice purveyor). Pay them (1 rep and 1 coin) per
Tier of the enemy as an apology, allow them to mess with you or
yours, or fight back and show them who’s boss.
Rivals. A neutral faction throws their weight around. They
threaten you, a friend, a contact, or one of your vice purveyors.
Forfeit (1 rep or 1 coin) per Tier of the rival, or stand up to them
and lose 1 status with them.
Robbery. An enemy or neutral faction robs (or scams) money
from one of the Crew's interests or activities. Choose: you either
get robbed and forfeit 2 Stash for each character, or you violently
resist and lose 1 status with that faction.
Search Warrant. The cops search one of your Claims, or your
Lair, or the establishment of a friend/contact or vice purveyor.
Either pay them off (2 coin), or lose 1 rep and gain +2 heat
Settling of scores. An enemy faction teaches a lesson to one
of the PCs. Who is the most likely to be picked? You either stand
your ground and endure a beating (mark level 3 harm, you may
not resist it), or pay them and lose face (-2 coin, -2 rep)
Show of force. A faction with whom you have a negative status
makes a play against your holdings. Give them 1 claim or go to war
(drop to -3 status). If you have no claims, lose 1 hold instead.
Squanderers. One of your Cohorts (or contacts) accidentally
mismanages your finances, or causes you to lose money or
resources some other way. Either forfeit 1 coin, or force them to
repay the loss (and forfeit 1 rep due to your Cohort's discontent).
Tax Evasion Charge. Sum up the cash coin owned by the
Crew, and by each character (not counting Stash, or Caveau). If
the total exceeds 10 coin, either pay 4 coin as fines and bribes, or
get +2 heat
The Usual Suspects. The cops grab someone in the periphery
of your crew. One player volunteers a friend or vice purveyor as
the person most likely to be taken. Make a fortune roll to find
out if they resist questioning (1-3: +2 heat, 4/5: level 2 harm), or
pay them off with 1 coin.
Unexpected Complication. Roll again, as if your heat level
was 6 or more (i.e., use the 'worst' table to find your result)
Unexpected expenses. A neutral or enemy faction creates you
some trouble, due to competition for product or customers, to a
disagreement about turf, etc. You either lose 1 coin or 1 rep to fix
things. If you have neither, lose 1 hold instead.
Unfair competition. A neutral or enemy faction is selling the
same services you are selling, with a discount. Choose one of your
claims that generate coin. The chosen claim will not work for this
downtime. Moreover, you can either hold your ground and kick
out the competing faction (-1 status with them) or allow them do
to as they please (-2 rep), or deal with the issue some other way
(e.g., play it out in detail, diplomatically or not).
Unquiet dead. A rogue spirit is drawn to you—perhaps it’s a
past victim? Acquire the services of an occultist to attempt to
destroy or banish it, or deal with it yourself.
They can hire an NPC by using the acquire asset downtime
activity. Roll the NPC’s quality level as a fortune roll to see how well
they deal with the spirit.
War! Pick a faction whose status with you is -2. Choose: either forfeit
2 rep per Tier of the faction, or take -1 status with them (and go to
war!), due to some offense or some conflicting interests. What is the
nature of the conflict? What did you do to enrage them?