# Band of Blades tags: #game/rpg/band-of-blades #game/rpg/forged-in-the-dark ![[Band of Blades (cover).jpg|600]] **Band of Blades** is a Forged in the Dark military-fantasy game from Off Guard Games, and it's the rare FitD hack that makes the *campaign* itself the horror. The Legion is in full retreat after a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Cinder King's undead armies, and you're the desperate soldiers marching across a cursed map toward the last stronghold at Skydagger Keep — losing ground, losing people, and losing hope with every step. It's X-Com and FTL and *The Black Company* funneled through the **[[Blades in the Dark]]** engine, and it's bleak in the best way. The core is the same Forged in the Dark action roll: roll a d6 pool equal to your action rating and take the highest die — a **6** is a full success, **4/5** a partial success with a consequence, **1–3** a failure — with position and effect set by the Marshal, stress fueling "push yourself," and resistance soaking consequences. The twist is the rotating roster: you don't play one character so much as a stable of Legion specialists, each with a role and a clock, who rotate through missions as the Legion retreats. Between missions the Legion itself advances across the map, and the dead and wounded accumulate. It's a one-edition game, because it doesn't need another — the doom is baked in. ## References - [Band of Blades - Evil Hat Productions](https://evilhat.com/product/band-of-blades/) - [Band of Blades - Off Guard Games](https://offguardgames.com/band-of-blades/) - [Band of Blades - itch.io](https://offguardgames.itch.io/band-of-blades/) - [Band of Blades Review - Gnome Stew](https://gnomestew.com/band-of-blades-review/)