MOTHER

Someone has to knock some sense into these idiots

Of course you’re not literally their mother. Maybe you’re not anyone’s actual mother. But you do
things that scoundrels think of as mothering. You make sure they put on their rain gear when it’s
raining. You patch them up when they come home hurt. You give them a slap on the head to re-
mind them not to do anything too stupid. They might not tell you all their secrets, but they come
to you because you know best—whether they like it or not.
When you play a Mother, you gain xp when you address a problem with indignation or by put-
ting others’ needs ahead of your own. Note that Mother is a role, not biology. This playsheet works
fine regardless of the character’s gender.
What makes you feel protective of this crew and their hangers on? What kinds of needs do you provide for
them? Do they listen to you naturally or do you have to give them a good smack to make them understand
what’s good for them?

Starting Actions Friends & Rivals

Command
‹ Chasten, a prostitute. Chasten needs someone
Consort to talk to sometimes.
‹ Deegen, a gossip. Perhaps you’ve been a friend
STARTING BUILDS and a rival to Deegen, over and over again.
If you want some guidance when you assign your ‹ Gorley, an orphan. Gorley knows the streets,
four action dots and special ability, use one of these rooftops, back alleys, and all the places no one
templates. no usually goes.
‹ Cool Mother: +2 Finesse, +1 Skirmish, ‹ Glug, a drunk. You’d be surprised at the places
+1 Sway. Unfazeable. a harmless drunk can go and the things a passed
‹ Den Mother: +1 Consort, +1 Study, out drunk can overhear.
+1 Sway, +1 Tinker. Special Soup. ‹ Tetcher, a dog. Tetcher is no ordinary dog
‹ Dread Mother: +1 Prowl, +2 Skirmish,
+1 Wreck. Not to Be Screwed With.
‹ Head Mother: +2 Skirmish, +2 Survey.
Mother Knows Best.
MOTHER SPECIAL ABILITIES
Knock Some Sense
When you Command someone to do what’s in their best interest or refrain from foolishness, gain
+1d to your roll.
This ability works only if what you are telling someone to do is actually in their best interest as they
understand it.

Mother Knows Best

On a failed (1–3) engagement roll, you can spend 1 stress for a flashback in which you tell the rest
of the crew that’s the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard. Switch to a different plan with a different
detail (even if it changes established fiction). Upgrade the roll to 4/5 so the starting position is
risky instead of desperate.

Mama Bear
When you protect another member of the crew, you get +1d to your resistance roll. If the source of
the consequence you are protecting a crew member from has a clock, you can also choose to tick
one segment.

Not That Bad

When you take a few minutes to minister to someone’s injuries, they can ignore penalties from
level 1 or 2 harm as long as you are nearby. This effect can apply to only one person at a time.

Not To Be Screwed With

You can push yourself to cause someone to be intimidated. They might hesitate, pick a different
target, lose their cool, etc.
This is in addition to the regular effects of pushing yourself (+1d, +1 effect level, etc.).

Righteous Indignation
You can expend your special armor to resist a social consequence, to command a small gang as if
they did not outnumber you, or to push yourself to convince someone to do the right thing even
if they don’t want to.

Special Soup
When you prepare your special soup, anyone consuming it recovers 1 stress or ticks 1 segment
of their healing clock (either, not both) at the end of downtime, after all other actions have been
completed. Neither making nor consuming the soup uses a downtime action.

Word on the Street

You know everyone in the lower strata of society. When you gather information via gossip or ru-
mor from people of low status, you get +1 effect level.

Unfazeable
You can spend 1 stress to overcome the effects of terror (including supernatural terror). Once you
do, you can break anyone else out of being terrified if you can give them a good whack on the head.
MOTHER ITEMS
‹ A letter from someone important. You have a letter from someone of recognizable renown,
attesting to your good character and service to the community. [0 load]
‹ Fine cooking supplies: A cookpot, spices, ladle, bowls, utensils, dried ingredients. This is a
portable version of your kitchen, enough to prepare a meal. [2 load]
‹ Fine sewing kit: Scissors, thread, a tape measure, extra buttons, this and that. You’d be sur-
prised how often this comes in handy. [0 load]
‹ Knitting supplies. Knitting yarn, needles, etc. Among your knitting things is a very long and very
sharp needle. It comes in handy sometimes. [0 load]
‹ Special medicine: You don’t go anywhere without a bottle or two of your special medicine.
What’s in it and where does it come from? That is no one’s damned business but your own. [1 load]

This work is based on Blades in the Dark (found at http://www.bladesinthedark.com/), 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 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/3.0/).
Playbook by Small Cool Games.
Photo by Vamsi Konduri on Unsplash.com.