# Bay of Villains tags: #game/rpg/bay-of-villains *Bay of Villains* is a tabletop roleplaying game that asks the brave question: "What if *[[Blades in the Dark]]* stopped moping about ghosts and started throwing cars at T-Rexes?" Set in the "near-future year of 2007," Bay Megacity is a fractured, genre-blending metropolis where cyberpunk corporations, literal wizards, and alien refugees all struggle for dominance in a soup of chaotic nonsense. You play as the villains—not the world-conquering megalomaniacs (yet), but the street-level scumbags trying to claw their way up the food chain. It’s loud, it’s violent, and it assumes you have the moral backbone of a chocolate éclair. **Core Resolution Mechanics** The game runs on the Forged in the Dark engine, which means we are spared the indignity of calculating THAC0. The core mechanic is a Action Roll using a pool of six-sided dice (d6). - **The Pool:** You build a pool of d6s by adding your **Action Rating** (like _Wreck_ or _Command_) + any **Assistance** from allies + **Pushing Yourself** (taking Stress) or a **Devil's Bargain** (accepting a consequence). - **The Roll:** You roll the pool and read the single highest die: - **6:** Full Success. You do the thing. Good for you. - **4/5:** Partial Success. You do the thing, but there is a consequence (harm, heat, reduced effect, etc.). - **1-3:** Failure. Things go poorly. Prepare to suffer. - **Multiple 6s:** Critical Success. You do the thing with increased effect. **Crucial Mechanical Twists:** - **Position & Effect:** Before rolling, the GM tells you how bad it will be if you fail (Controlled, Risky, Desperate) and how much you'll accomplish if you succeed (Limited, Standard, Great). - **Power Sources:** This is where it diverges from its gloomy cousin. Your character is defined by a **Power Source** (Alien, Magic, Tech, Shift, or Training). These aren't just flavor; they dictate the collateral damage and "Heat" you generate. Using _Alien_ powers openly? That's +2 Heat because the government hates space lasers. - **Scale:** Unlike the subtle knife-work of _Blades_, _Bay of Villains_ cares deeply about **Scale**. If you are one person fighting a Kaiju (Scale 4), your Effect is going to be zero unless you bring heavy weaponry, magic, or a very large truck. - **Traumatic Surge:** Instead of curling into a ball when you max out your Stress, you enter a **Traumatic Surge**. You can't resist consequences anymore, but you succeed harder and push yourself for free until the scene ends. Then you gain a Trauma. It’s a mechanic that encourages you to go out in a blaze of glory rather than a whimper. **Editions and Changes** The version history of this game is… non-Euclidean. - **v1.0 - v1.4 (The Old World):** The game previously existed with higher version numbers (up to v1.4 around 2023). - **v0.6 (The Reboot):** After a year-long hiatus, the author (Dyehardbard) released **v0.6** in late 2024/2025. This is a significant refactor. - **Key Changes in v0.6:** This version integrates compatibility with _Deep Cuts_ (a _Blades_ update by John Harper), refines the loadout system (Heavy Armor is now 2 load and makes you "Bulletproof"), and introduces the "Traumatic Surge" mechanic to replace standard trauma-out rules. It effectively restarted the development cycle to polish the "bombastic" nature of the game. ## References - [Bay of Villains on Itch.io - The current build (v0.6) and devlogs](https://dyehardbard.itch.io/bay-of-villains "null") - [Reddit Devlog: "Bay of Villains is back in Version 0.6" - Confirmation of the reboot](https://www.reddit.com/r/bladesinthedark/comments/1oqe7ko/new_update_for_my_streetlevel_supercrime_game_bay/ "null") - [Reddit Devlog: Character Creation and Items - Insight into design philosophy](https://www.reddit.com/r/bladesinthedark/comments/1ahbjbp/bay_of_villains_character_creation_and_items/ "null")