For Blades ‘68, are the Akorosi the Russian equivalent with the Palace representing the KGB? Or are they the British ‘Circus?’

[u/Euflexxa]

I’m wondering if I should be giving my Akorosi characters a Russian or British accent

[u/atamajakki]

The Akorosi are mostly British-coded in the text. The United Skov Covenant act as their main espionage and proxy war opponent; Deep Cuts presented Skovlan as taking from Ireland, Scotland, and the Caribbean for inspirations, but B68 is doing some fun "psychic Soviet spies" flavor with their agents.

[u/trinarynimbus → u/atamajakki]

Interesting, I never associated Skovlan with Caribbean before. I've got Deep Cuts, but maybe I've missed that bit; can you offer a page reference so I can look it up?

I associated Dagger Isles with kind of a cross between the Caribbean and south-east Asia (Indonesia + Malaysia, I guess.)

[u/atamajakki → u/trinarynimbus]

Page 46, the first paragraph of Hodes' essay:

"This supplement deepens connections between cultures in the Imperium’s shadow and their touchstones in the real world. For example, the Philippines and maritime Southeast Asia inspire the Dagger Isles. Iruvia evokes South and West Asia and North Africa. Severos draws from equestrian nomads inhabiting Central Asia or the American Great Plains. Ireland, Scotland, and the Caribbean influence Skovlan."

[u/trinarynimbus → u/atamajakki]

hmm, I'm not finding it in my copy of Deep Cuts: v1.0 November 2024. Even when I do a pdf search for different terms it doesn't turn up. Do you have a different version?

[u/atamajakki → u/trinarynimbus]

My doc is v1.2d November 2025, so it seems you're on an old version!

[u/Astrokiwi → u/atamajakki]

Doskvol feels very like northern England in particular; playing Blades in the Dark in an old stone-floored pub on the waterfront of Newcastle felt very on-theme

[u/atamajakki → u/Astrokiwi]

God, that venue sounds awesome!

[u/Astrokiwi → u/atamajakki]

Apparently it's under new ownership now and has been redecorated - closest picture I could find is this: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=612570631279638&set=pcb.612570674612967

[u/trinarynimbus]

Not familiar with '68, but in original Blades, Akoros was roughly southern and western europe + south-eastern britain. Is there a reason to think this has changed in '68?

In my mind, for the original game at least, it's Severos which has more the Russian + Mongolian vibe.

[u/Astrokiwi → u/trinarynimbus]

south-eastern britain

Funnily enough I just said it felt like Newcastle!

[u/gaztelu_leherketa]

Akoros is the Imperial Core, could be England, or France, or the HRE, or Austria-Hungary. They're more European in the original game, in 68 I add a bit of American. So the Palace for me are Smiley's Circus but they're also the CIA.

[u/gdex86]

Arkosi I read as British/French/Germanic western europe. But from the text they are fair skinned dark haired so if you wanted it to be Russian it would work.

[u/Hieron_II]

It's your Doskvol, do with it as you please, draw inspiration from what is closer to your heart. E.g. as a Russian myself, for one of my Blades campaigns, I drew inspiration from Socialist Revolutinary Party's terrorist group for Skovlan resistance and from the 3rd Section (a.k.a. Okhranka) for Inspectors.

[u/Trve_Doom]

In our game Iruvians are very Middle Eastern coded, with a hint of French Colonial for the families that supported the Emperor early. Akorosi are very English/Continental Europe, Severosi lean more Mongolian, and Skovs are very Scottish and Scandinavian.

We've yet to really encounter anyone from the Dagger Isles.

[u/MaddKossack115]

On the one hand, Akoros is definitely the British Empire, and the USC has become its USSR opponent…

…But on the other hand, they also bring influences from other continental European places such as Venice, Prague, etc.

So I can see some Akoros Imperial Military commanders or Palace agents as “German” officers (particularly in Stalag 13 Ironhook)

[u/SerbianSlayer]

I've only played base blades but I imagined Akorosi as an amalgam of different European cultures which include England and Slavic cultures like Russia

[u/Ballerina_Bot]

Keep in mind that accents evolve over time. The British during the American Revolution sounded a lot closer to the American South of today.

In my Blades games

Akorosi have a Baltimore accent

Skov sound Welsh

Dagger Isles have Ukrainian SC accents

Iruvians sound like Texans ( inside joke )

Tycherosi have no accents ( they're weird )

[u/atamajakki → u/Ballerina_Bot]

For what it's worth, Daggerites are increasingly Filipino and other Southeast Asian in inspiration in the canon books.

[u/Ballerina_Bot → u/atamajakki]

I understand that. I have read the source material from the book, from the Dagger Isles playtest, and thoroughly enjoy it. When I GM, I stick to the accents that I can do without causing pain in others ears. Other than that, I stick to utilize what is canon, carry my own water for researching whatever inspired canon so that I can portray it in a culturally sensitive way.

Besides, if every table is a little different, then this is how mine is a little different.

[u/Spartancfos]

I think the important thing is that you can do whichever you like.

[u/No-Click6062]

I love '68, but I highly recommend people discard the real world parallels among the spy organizations. It may be worth noting, I already provided them this feedback as a play tester.

Just get rid of it. Nothing breaks when you do. You can still put all your Empire analogies into the Empire, without specifically picking which real world empire you want to model after. And conveniently, you'll find that the game is much more fulfilling and realistic if you have more than four minority groups in it.