STRANGER

STRANGER

P L AY B O O K :
An unusual soul blessed with strange talents
Different. Moon-blessed. Stranger. Darkling. Even in Doskvol, your personality
and your nature make you an oddity. Still, there are those who are drawn to
you, to the glimmer in your eyes and the rhythm of your steps. To the subtle
music of a drum only you can hear.
When you play a Stranger, you earn XP when you address a
tough challenge with radical perspectives or bizarre methods.
Others will look down on you. Surprise them with your monstrous intellect and
unnatural charisma.
What made you this way? Were you raised by witches, or by honest, hard-working
folk? Did Doskvol birth you, or do you hale from regions stranger still?

STARTING ACTIONS ODD FRIENDS, RIVALS

���� ATTUNE � Barker, a disembodied voice.

Are they an unwelcome distraction,
���� TINKER
or an old friend?

STARTING BUILDS � Cassidy, an eccentric inventor.

If you want some guidance when you
assign your four starting action dots and
special ability, use one of these
templates.
Arbiter Elegantarium. Consort +2,
Sway +2. Audacity.
Busker. Finesse +2, Sway +2.
Desperate Bargain.
Gutter Witch. Prowl +2, Study +1,
Hunt +1. Raven’s Voice.
Toy Maker. Tinker +1, Study +1,
Consort +1. Chatterkin.
The two of you share many interests.
What is her specialty?
� Guillermo, an artist. In you he
claims to have found his muse. Do
you return his obsession?
� Poe, a deathseeker crow.
Wherever you go Poe is always
watching from the eaves. What
could he be waiting for?
� Theda, a master of ceremonies.
You worked for her once, in her
carnival of sacred delights. Why did
you part ways?

2
 STrAngEr SPECial aBilitiES

AUDACITY
In addition to any other effects you can push yourself to do one of the
following: immediately gain the attention of all who see or hear you—behave
strangely such that others ignore you or are otherwise repelled.
This ability helps you to manage the attention you are certain to receive.

CREEP
You may appear at an ally’s side at any time without the need to engage a
flashback or otherwise justify your arrival.
Generally speaking, it’s good etiquette to ask the player or GM before “tagging along.”

CHATTERKIN
Given adequate time and resources you may collect the bones of dead things
and assemble them into familiars of cloth and cotton wool. Consider this
creature an expert with a single trait and flaw. Also choose one ghostly ability:
pale imitation—terrifying transformation—animate dolls. What is its name?
With the proper expertise it is possible to upgrade your familiar with a long term
project or ritual. Note that crafting and assembling a Chatterkin requires time but
you needn’t spend a downtime activity to do so.

DESPERATE BARGAIN
After an action roll, you may engage the GM in a devil’s bargain to upgrade
it by one tier. Know that the penalty will be unusually harsh or stifling. On
whom do you call?
You may perform this special devil’s bargain even if you made one prior to the roll.
Use this to upgrade a failure to a mixed success, or a success to a critical result but
beware: the cost will exceed whatever consequences were promised.

GHASTLY
Alas, you have no soul. On the upside, your sorry state renders you
completely invisible to most supernatural entities, spells, and wards.
Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be a downside.
Vampires, demons, and other supernatural creatures possessing material
bodies may be less affected. To spirits, spells, and arcane constructs it is as if you
didn’t exist at all.

3
 STRANGER
GHOST SPINNER
You’ve mastered the techniques necessary to weave ghosts into cloth. When
you invent or craft a creation with ghostly features, take +1 result level to
your roll. You begin with one ethereal design already known.
You may employ these techniques to create mundane clothes or to craft garments

P L AY B O O K :
with supernatural properties (so long as you have a willing or captured spirit to
use). Work with the GM to determine how long it will take and what it will require.
Example curios: A burial shroud that causes the wearer to enter a death-like state
— a hat or cap capable of containing a single ghost as securely as any spirit bottle—
a neck scarf or kerchief capable of rendering a small object utterly invisible.

OBLIVIOUS
You may expend your special armor to resist a social consequence
(persuasion, shame, authority, etc.) or to push yourself in an odd display.
If you would resist a consequence of the appropriate type, tick the special armor box
on your playbook sheet and avoid it completely. Note that odd displays have a
tendency to draw attention, so be prepared to receive it.

RAVEN’S VOICE
You may repeat a short sound, sentence, or phrase you’ve heard with flawless
tone and pitch. What’s more, your voice retains the mystical, emotional,
and authoritative power of the sounds you copy. After expressing this power
you will become mute for a time, so choose your words carefully.
You might use this ability to mimic the voice of a Bluecoat captain, to cast a
spell you’ve heard, or to order guards to leave a room. Unless otherwise
established, your voice will return at the end of the current scene.

STrAngEr itEmS
� Fine scissors: Gleaming silver steel sharpened to a razors edge. As useful
for crafting as they are for stabbing. [ 1 load ]
� Fine nightmares: Do they belong to you or someone else? A source of terror
as well as inspiration. [ 0 load ]
� Avant garb: As
welcome on the streets of Crow’s Foot as it is in the halls of
Whitecrown. Certain to draw the eye. [ 1 load ]
� Bottomless bag of trinkets: There’s nothing of particular value in there, but
there is a lot of it. [ 2 load ]
� Creepy doll: Not particularly colorful or well made, but it will certainly
impress the children. [ 0 load ]
� Hobbyist’s tools: Paint, chisels, clay, cloth or anything else you might need
to craft a simple work of art. [ 1 load ]

4
 CREDITS

The Stranger is a fan project and not officially

sanctioned by John Harper or Evil Hat
Productions.

Designed in consultation with the Blades in

the Dark Discord channel.

Writing, art, and design by Justin Ford.

Editing by Al Lukehart.

Unsplash Art by Gabriel Matula.

Original layout by John Harper.

Blades in the Dark is property of John Harper

and One Seven Design.

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@MothLands.

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