With the exception of The Staff Of Kayolith (and don’t hold that one against me), all of my scenarios are based around a particular engine, to give them variance from typical Blades scenarios. While it’s certainly quite possible to design a good or even great scenario without such an engine (see Rubacus or Farmhands Save the Day!! for two of many examples), I find that basing a scenario around an engine often greatly improve the quality and overall cohesiveness of the scenario. I recommend that, as part of your scenario design, you should decide what, if any, engine you will be using.
Perhaps, you are wondering, what exactly is an engine, or at least, what is an engine in this context? I use the term here to mean any non-standard approach to the overall game mechanics contained within Blades of Exile. Any remaining confusion should be dispelled by the following examples of Exile engines:
- Multiple Scenario Scenarios:
To my knowledge, this has been done four times as of this writing, in Tatterdemalion, A Small Rebellion, Kalloskagathos, and Of Good And Evil. This engine, as the name suggests, places multiple variants of the same scenario, of which players can access via a choice somewhere in the scenario — e.g. selecting a group to belong to in Tatterdemalion, or choosing to aid the empire or the resistance in A Small Rebellion. This engine, well done, tends to be very popular. To me, the most appealing aspect is watching the world evolve in different directions based on your actions, which I think gives the player a real sense of importance, something that is sometimes lost in standard linear fair. The major drawback is how quickly you’ll eat up space this way, as you will usually need multiple copies of the same town, especially if the choice is made early.
- The Evolving World:
I perhaps haven’t played enough scenarios, but I only know of several where this occurs — Tatterdemalion, On A Ship To Algiers, Amazonian Saga, Redemption, Falling Stars, Changing Faces, Lamentations, and Of Good And Evil. While most scenarios will have certain characters and responses change based on the party’s actions, this engine changes entire towns, usually via the Variable Town Entry node. The main advantage is creating a world that actually changes with the conditions around it. You can allow people to appear and disappear en masse, and without having to program in massive chains of special nodes. Shops can close or open, you can even introduce inflation. The main disadvantage again involves file space — an evolving world eats up disk space very quickly. The “reset to black” effect is also a minor drawback, clueing the party in whenever a change has taken place. One piece of advice if you use this engine — spellcheck early, and often. There’s nothing more aggravating than having to correct the same spelling error 8 times.
- The Absence of Outdoors:
Once again, I can think of only a few examples, Trouble In Mendor, Castle Perilous, Heirs to Theseus, An Apology, and Kalloskagathos. I’m not totally convinced this engine can be that beneficial to a scenario. Trouble In Mendor is quite good, but I don’t think the absence of outdoors is the reason — if anything I think it takes away from the quality of the scenario. An Apology is probably the most divisive scenario ever made.
- Disruption of the Traditional Skills/Training Cycle:
Tatterdemalion (to an extent) and On A Ship To Algiers both do this as of this writing, although Tatterdemalion allows you to slowly recover your footing. This is a nice change of pace, forcing players to play in non-traditional manners (e.g. without magic.) I give caution on one account, however. The Blades editor cannot alter two stats — Hit Points, or Spell Points. Hit Points isn’t a big deal, those will go up on their own. However, Spell Points are a big deal. If you introduce this engine, you need to find a method of dealing with this problem.
- The Narrative:
Two scenarios have done this — An Apology and Oreh’s Legacy. This engine places the party within the context of a story, robbing the player of all or virtually all free will, as the story must progress (generally) in a certain and consistent manner. As noted above, this mechanism is not loved by all players. An Apology is probably the most hated competent scenario ever made (that or Spy’s Quest). Caution is advised before employing this technique.
- Combat Proof:
Difficult to pull off, but widely successful when it is. The BOE medium is built around combat, which tends to wear down veteran BOE players. It’s generally quite difficult at this point to entertain largely through combat, as it is becoming more and more difficult to come up with truly original combat challenges. Combat Proof scenarios get around this by eliminating, or just about eliminating, combat altogether. Typically the focus becomes puzzle solving (The Election, Zankozzie’s Big Mistake, The Arkenstone), although Johhny Favourite contained no combat and no puzzles to speak of, and was loved by many players.
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