The Downtime Sandwich – a one-shot structure for Forged in the Dark games

There’s a number of games, we’re often told, that really don’t do one-shots well. Often this is because of complexity, or a detailed (and unnecessary) background setting, all things that a skilled one-shot GM can work around. But with Blades in the Dark and other Forged in the Dark (FITD) games, where there’s a structure of play that involves player-led downtime that’s essential to the system – well, you might have a point.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’ve run plenty of FITD one-shots, usually just ignoring the downtime rules – and they’ve worked perfectly fine. I’ve even hacked downtime to try and do two full-length scores in a single session. It’s tight – and it comes from a time when convention sessions were a little longer. I’ve been left with the nagging feeling that I’m not offering a proper showcase of what the game is about. 

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So, I’ve revisited my structure – and come up with – the Downtime Sandwich! In structural form, this is what it looks like

The Downtime Sandwich

Run 1

• Begin In Medias Res, at or after the Climax of the mission.
• Each PC makes a check for something (cross obstacle? Fight enemies?)
• Disaster check!
• Resolve and end run

This part should take no more than 1 hour

Downtime

• Spend trouble and style on Beats – one scene each

Allow half an hour for this – limit to one Beat per PC

Run 2

• Launch and start
• Multiple obstacles, involving individual checks and group rolls
• Journey somewhere dangerous
• Interact with NPCs (rival crew? salvagers?)
• Fight monsters
• Escape!
• Disaster check
• Resolve and end run

You should have 1.5 hours for this – the obstacles in the journey can be stretched out or collapsed

Keen FITD followers will notice this isn’t parsed for Blades in the Dark – in actual fact it came from Slugblaster. You see, one of Slugblaster’s great features (of many – expect a review soon) is its Downtime beats. During a Run, you accumulate Style and Trouble points – and at Downtime, you spend these on Beats and Arcs. Beats are straightforward character development – you spend time In The Lab to upgrade and mod your signature item, or you (if you’re The Guts) trash talk a rival with your Swagger to get a new Trait. Arcs are followed in order and follow an arc of character development – you could follow the Angst Arc, where your “issues” get worse and worse until you reach catharsis and improve.

Lots of reviewers (most notably Quinns, in a segment that was either wilfully misinterpreted by sensitive D&D players, or deliberate clickbait) have praised this approach, and so it made sense to showcase it in the game. But how? Well, in the past I’ve managed to get two scores in Blades in the Dark, so why not do that again? By shortening the first Score down to a couple of dice rolls, it can also be the ‘training level’ of the game for new players.

In Prep

So, obviously, for Blades it changes a little. Instead of the Disaster Roll (which in Slugblasters is rolled towards the end of the run) I’d ask for an engagement roll. As GM, I’ll tell them what their plan was, what advantages they had, and how they did it. A player can then roll – but we only join the action right at the end of the run. They’ve stolen the painting – with, or without, the guards being alerted to it, depending on their engagement roll – and they need to make their escape. On roll each should do it, with some consequences they can carry through to the next Score.

It’s nice, too, to set up an antagonist or frenemy in the first run – in Slugblasters I’ve made this a rival crew a few times, and in Blades I’d have them be a similar rival faction that can reappear. Let them take the rewards of their prep, and whatever the game, give them a few clear options for downtime slots. In Blades I might have a few projects already started for them, and I’d certainly start everyone with, say, 1d4-1 Stress so they can Indulge Their Vice if they’re stressed.

In Play

I’d limit Downtime to one action (or possible two) each – some players won’t get as much from it, and it keeps stuff moving quickly. I’ve put rough timings above for a 3hr convention slot – if you’re foolish enough to run in a shorter time like me, you’ll need to adjust.

Don’t worry too much about the impermanence of some things – for instance, in Slugblasters, Slams (physical injury) go away at the end of a run anyway – your players won’t mind that a consequence is temporary, and remember it’s the training level anyway.

You can afford the final run a bit more time – this is the proper game for them, and with the first two parts of the one-shot sewn up players should be confident and appreciate the extra space. For FITD games, I usually just have a rough sketch of some enemies and rivals and lists of things that could happen and roll with it – for Blades, follow the instructions in the book. 

So, a rough sketch of a structure – I’ll post a full-length example of it using Slugblasters soon, too – let me know what you think, and if you’ve tried any similar one-shot structures to showcase downtime.