So I recently made some kind of big changes to Bump in the Dark and I've playtested them a bit and I'm excited to get them out into the world, but I thought maybe I could talk about them a little bit here. I'll break this up into two posts for readability and also because I don't have a lot of time this morning, so part two will have to come later.
First, let's talk about conditions and harm.
Listen, I overall am not the biggest fan of the FitD harm system; I think it's a fairly good fit for the tone of Blades but I've attempted to hack it to some extent in every other FitD game I've ran. In Bump, it's undergone several forms -- starting out as "scars," which was fairly similar to the stock harm system, particularly the version in Neon Black, later moving to a conditions system similar to the one in DISASTER/PEACE (a great little game btw) where you have a list of different conditions for each attribute and the amount of conditions you had marked would affect action rolls in that attribute only, until/unless you had four marked in any one attribute at which point you became incapacitated.
This approach was fine but felt like it lacked much narrative oomph* -- it felt too mechanical. So I tried to shift to a more narrative-forward approach, heavily inspired by Asphalt & Trouble's condition system. This felt a lot better, but it was sometimes difficult to manage in play, remembering to always factor in conditions when setting position, etc. (This is one of my problems with the original harm system, fwiw -- it was just hard to remember lol.) I also liked the addition of fleeting harm that would clear when narratively appropriate -- often when the scene changed. I also took out the recovery action and gave direction to use long-term projects to recover from persistent conditions.
It was a step in the right direction, but still felt a bit off in play. Then Ema Acosta shared a draft of conditions from her forthcoming expansion to Crescent Moon called EXILES and reading it was like 🤩🤩🤩. The way conditions work in EXILES is very similar to conditions in Masks and particularly Thirsty Sword Lesbians, with a mechanical penalty (Ema uses disadvantage, which cuts the highest die from your roll -- a lot more fun than -1D) and a narrative trigger to clear. I had a good conversation with her and she talked a lot about how much the way to clear a condition points play towards very specific kinds of scenes, and that's something that's really pretty cool.
I'd say that I immediately started putting something together, but really I kinda just stole what Ema was doing outright and got it to the table as fast as I could. I really liked it in play, and I look forward to pushing it even more. One common piece of FitD advice I see is "don't deal out harm as often as other consequences" and I think this is a really great way to make harm/conditions feel more relevant and a consequence that you can use a little more freely without it feeling overly punishing or boring. Also, Ema's wounded condition means physical harm still has a lot of weight, and can still fuck you up pretty bad.
Here's my most recent iteration:
Conditions
Conditions reflect debilities with narrative effects and will be factored in when the keeper sets your position and may cause you to make certain rolls with disadvantage. To clear a condition, you must meet its narrative trigger. Unless otherwise specified, you may do this either on a hunt or in downtime.
When you suffer a condition, mark it on your character sheet.
Afraid
Take disadvantage on all MIND actions. To clear: flee, leaving something important behind.
Angry
You may not lead, participate, or benefit from teamwork. To clear: make a rash action others cannot ignore.
Exhausted
Take disadvantage on all BODY actions. To clear: ignore the demands of a situation to steal a moment of respite.
Void-Touched
Take disadvantage on all HEART actions. To clear: act in the interest of the void.
Wounded (o o o)
Take worse position on all action rolls. Mark a wound (o) every time a consequence dictates. When you've marked your third wound, you are incapacitated and cannot act without pushing your luck or getting some kind of assistance (from another hunter, an ally or other NPC, etc.) To clear: seek appropriate recovery in downtime. This may involving ACQUIRING ASSETS or a LONG-TERM PROJECT.
These hew pretty close to what Ema is doing, with a significant difference being that in Exiles your character dies when they mark their third wound. In Bump, a character can only die because the player has decided it's time, and death would be likely to happen when the hunter marks their final doom.
Anyway, be curious to hear people's thoughts on this approach to conditions.