The cultural rise of tabletop role-playing games has been among pop culture's most impressive boom periods. Dungeons and Dragons was a punchline to mark sitcom characters as unreachable nerds a decade ago. Now, it's the basis of blockbuster films, hugely popular streaming series, dominant live streams, and enough podcasts to fill every hour of every day ten times over. While D&D has been the biggest winner, other systems like Blades in the Dark deserve a chance at the spotlight.
Adapting a tabletop game to the screen can be challenging. Hollywood has taken shots at video games, books, comics, cartoons, other movies, and everything else with mixed results. While TTRPGs can keep infinite actual play series alive, they can't always provide the basis for a compelling on-screen story. It takes a solid game with a stellar setting, tone, and presentation to carry a TV show.
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Blades in the Dark is a unique tabletop RPG
John Harper's Blades in the Dark is a stellar example of focused design. Its goals are clear, and it achieves each with aplomb. Blades is set in Doskvol, a grim industrial city inspired by Gothic fiction and Victorian England. Doskvol is shrouded in endless night, relegating the sun to distant memories. The same event that blotted out daylight weakened the border between life and death, allowing ghosts to haunt the city. Every inch of Doskvol is dedicated to industry and bathed in thick, black smoke. The wealthy owners extract impossible wealth from the poor civilians, creating a nightmarish caste system. The dying city presents opportunities for those willing to take them. The player characters are a gang of skilled thieves who carry out jobs to attain notoriety and treasure.
Blades in the Dark prioritizes speed, improvisation, and lateral thinking more than most tabletop games. Taking risks, failing, and picking up the pieces are integral to the system. It can be jarring for those used to other TTRPGs. The average D&D player won't roll a check without a significant bonus. Blades deals in six-sided dice and treats anything below a six as a failure. The negative consequences can be mild, inconvenient, problematic, or catastrophic, depending on the player's position. The character creation process is better suited to building Varys the Spider than Jon Snow. Each character comes with a nemesis trying to stop them, a vice dragging them away from their goals, and a unique ability that could save their lives. It's a game about being a clever underdog, barely getting by on wit and daring. It's a perfect exploration of its central concept.
Blades in the Dark's structure makes it perfect for TV
In 2021, John Harper signed a development deal with UK-based production company Warp Films. There's been no word since, but the idea of Blades in the Dark as a network TV show is in the air. Warp emerged from Warp Records in 2001. They created cult classics like the stellar English thrillerDead Man's Shoes, Chris Morris's Four Lions, and Richard Ayoade's Submarine. Warp is a solid company with a long track record of fascinating concepts. Their hand on Blades in the Dark inspires some faith in the show.
Blades in the Dark provides an excellent setting and a killer hook for a crime drama series. Heist movies are more common and iconic than small-screen efforts, but imagine an escalating series of scores across a nightmarish Gothic fantasy city. It's a Victorian answer to Andor's Aldhani arc, potentially extended to several seasons. A cast of characters designed to mirror the playbooks in the game and an ever-growing gang to herald their rise to power. There are countless fun directions to take this story. Moral negotiations between criminals, brutal battles against guards, and cathartic escapes from despicable nobles could keep every episode exciting.
Blades in the Dark is a stellar game, but not every fan can find a decent group willing to play. A TV adaptation of the adventures of a gritty gang of Doskvol thieves and assassins would be endlessly compelling. The show would also drive tons of new players to pick up the sourcebook and launch into new games. This concept would work in a live-action style like Leverage or a more dynamic animated presentation like Netflix's Castlevania. Blades in the Dark could ride the TTRPG boom into television success. It's time a game other than Dungeons and Dragons earned some of the attention. Blades in the Dark might be the best candidate to steal the spotlight.
Tabletop Games That Are Even More Fun With Role-Playing
Tabletop games can be a great deal of fun, and even more so when those playing decide to role-play.