Captain (IB)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark space hack

Alea iacta est. — The die is cast.

— Julius Caesar, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC

Captain Playbook

As a captain, you boldly take charge of situations, leading from the front and empowering your crew. Captains can be found across all levels of society, from humble village elders to great nobles and monarchs. You might be called an officer, commander, or sergeant.

While other social playbooks focus on specific strengths — Masterminds plan and Sophists persuade — you balance a bit of each. Your true strength lies in inspiring and coordinating your crew, both on and between scores. Your abilities foster teamwork and cohesion, helping you lead through inspiration rather than forceful commands.

This playbook works best with buy-in from the rest of the group; some players resent being led by another player.

Touchstones: Ellen Ripley (Aliens, 1986), Captain Sisko (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1993–99), Commander Adama (Battlestar Galactica, 2004–09), Nathan Bateman (Ex Machina, 2014).

Special Abilities

1. Coordination: When you lead a group Command action, you suffer only 1 stress for every two crew who failed their rolls, rounding down, as long as they can understand your orders.
2. Devil’s Dare: When you or a crewmate who can hear you fails to gain full success on an Action roll during a score, you can spend 2 stress to allow a re-roll with the same number of dice. The position of this second roll is always Desperate.
3. Focus: Three times per score, you can assist a teammate who can hear you without paying stress. You can take this ability several times to gain three additional uses of free assistance each time.
4. Liberty: When you or your crew roll 2d or more to indulge in vice, you may pick which dice result to use to reduce stress. For example, if you rolled 3d and got 2, 3, and 5, you could choose to reduce your stress by either 2, 3, or 5.
5. Make it so: When a cohort acts within their field of competence and under your immediate orders, they gain increased Effect.
6. Morale: You and crew members who can hear you gain +1d when resisting Prowess and Resolve consequences.
7. Steady: As long as a cohort can hear you, reduce Harm against them by one level. They ignore penalties from Harm until incapacitated and automatically retreat safely when you order them to.
8. Team Spirit: You may expend your Special Armor to allow yourself or a teammate to resist anything, or to negate the entire stress cost of a group Command action you lead. Teammates must be able to hear you to benefit.

Shrewd Friends

˄ ˅ Bram, a merchant.

˄ ˅ Finley, a judge.

˄ ˅ Quin, a tax man.

˄ ˅ Remy, a traveler.

˄ ˅ Sho, a barkeep.

Inventory

To be determined.

XP

• Every time you roll a Desperate Action, mark XP in that Action’s attribute.

At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 XP (in your playbook or an attribute), or 2 XP if that item occurred multiple times.

• You addressed a challenge using cooperation or charisma.
• You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
• You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.
• You pointed out an established NPC whom the GM then brought into the action.

Starting Actions

Command 2

Mark 1

4 points by choice, no higher than 2 in any one.