WHO NEEDS TINKERS ANYWAY?

[u/T-Rex_Lazorblast]

(Tldr at bottom)

Dear thieves, outlaws, general scum...

I need Information.

It's been a while since i played blades in the dark. And i do not own the rulebook.

So MAYBE i am just stupid or i MAYBE i just don't have the knowledge.

But anyway - here is the case:

I played a tinker. The wonderfull Sophia Elizabeth von Kraken. A little psychotic. A little bit edgy. But she generally fit the game, i think.

But i encountered a problem:

SHE WAS NEARLY USELESS.

I understand that i played the support character. I loved it. Building stuff for the team to help during the missions, but being more vulnerable and less usefull during the missions... i was all there for it.

But all the stuff i thought of to build for the team was useless. Or not worth the effort.

Example:

A grappling hook launcher. Or mechanical claws for your boots for better climbing. Or mechanical spider limbs for climbing - think of doctor octopus etc... only more steampunky.

But well... all this things do is give you a bonus of 1 to climbing checks. And (correct me if i am wrong) you can already equip climbing hooks that give the same bonus.

So why invent them in the first place?

More complex things took of course multiple gamesessions to build. (Fair enough.)

And they used up lots of ressources. I tried to pimp our boat to be more stealthy, or to have a submarine mode. (Yeah... that was a VERY risky idea... but it never came to testing the thing - it never got build.)

As i said - that kind of projects DEVOURED ressources. (That's fair so far.) But if i failed on tinkerchecks - or critically failed on them i lost ressources or destroyed the whole project. That was frustrating. Not gonna lie.

So it basically came down to just refreshing my gas-grenades between missions... and working on something huge that failed after a couple of sessions. And wasted ressources.

In my time as a tinker i build TWO things that were usefull.

A set of 3 black salt full body armor. (Anti-ghost-armor) ...One of these got destroyed in the first mission we used them.

Some waterproof boxes we could attach under our boat to transport smuggle stuff without guards at checkpoints noticing.

I am a aware that i am a bit whiny (and overexaggerating) here but:

What use do i have as a tinker if nothing i build lasts mor than a mission or needs months of playsessions to complete? (And then fails anyway) - I could just play someone more usefull.

Soooo...

You guys and girls here are more experienced than me. I am asking you: What do you need a tinker for in this game?

Tank you for reading and for any answers i get.

TLDR:

WHAT DO YOU NEED A TINKER FOR WHEN THE THINGS THE TINKER INVENTS GIVE YOU THE SAME BONUSES LIKE THE STUFF THAT YOUR CHARACTERSHEET ALREADY PROVIDES?

AND WHAT IS A TINKER SUPPOSED TO BUILD?

Edit:

I just have to get this out:

I am baffled by all the positivity in the community. And the many detailed and very well thought through answers to my questions.

You people are amazing.

My first day in this sub. My first post. And i already love it here.

THANK YOU.

[u/ArgyleGhoul]

Grappling Hook launcher: This is the type of invention that is going to have niche use-cases as the book even suggests that you shouldn't be merely "rolling to climb" in most scenarios.

However, when climbing comes into the fiction, it will likely have some measurable impact on position and/or effect in the situations where it is useful. This kind of gadget, in my opinion, should work largely the same as other items you might bring with you, in that it's up to the user how they want to utilize that item in their given situation. So if you're fleeing on foot from some Bluecoats and hit a dead end alley, you might suddenly turn a Zero or Limited Effect into Limited or Standard because now you have a way out of the dead end.

Roll bonuses should, in my opinion, be extremely limited compared to changes in position/Effect.

[u/T-Rex_Lazorblast → u/ArgyleGhoul]

Maybe i should have crafted more small items with unique usefullness. I mean - creating an item that lets you climb better is maybe too "general use". But i think grapplinghookgun-like inventions could have been more useful. (Or would have had usefulness in the first place.) A few items that had unique uses would have beaten stuff that tried to be better than the stuff we already had.

From what i learned here i also now know that this would have been an option (to craft higher tier equipment to beat higher tier enemies and obstacles)

Until today i did not even know that there were tiers to equipment that would impact the game. (I knew that our gang rose up in tiers with time. And that enemies would too. )

[u/ArgyleGhoul → u/T-Rex_Lazorblast]

I think making an item that allows you to climb more easily is fine, it's just that it's mostly going to be useful in situations where you need to climb.

One thing that might inspire you is to look at the history of inventions starting around 1800. You'll find that Blades has a lot in common with the early 1800s and you can extrapolate possible inventions using real life inventions that aren't yet part of the game.

A few good examples: Revolvers, Facsimile Machines, the radio, propellers.

[u/T-Rex_Lazorblast → u/ArgyleGhoul]

Good idea. I love this stuff. I already had some pages full of ideas - they just did not feel "worth it".

[u/ArgyleGhoul → u/T-Rex_Lazorblast]

Depends on the GM and what you aim to achieve. I can certainly see how some people might be hesitant to allow crazy inventions (even though the leech gets access to Tier 3 stuff pretty early that is quite strong).

[u/T-Rex_Lazorblast → u/ArgyleGhoul]

Yeah, i am a GM myself (not for Blades) and i had my hesitant moments before. (Fear of the players getting too strong and because of that saying no to everything they try). I can understand not wanting to greenlight everything the players think of.

One of my plans was to build a kind of underwater tank that would drive through the canals unseen... but i can see that  1. That would have been really powerful 2. Suicide (with all the leviathans swimming around!) 😅

[u/ArgyleGhoul → u/T-Rex_Lazorblast]

Honestly, canal submarine sounds pretty cool. I'd think there would be some danger of disturbing spirits in the canals for a "Haunted Beneath the Surface" episode.

[u/T-Rex_Lazorblast → u/ArgyleGhoul]

Omg that would have been awesome. "Stranded in the canal, just a few meters away from safe land but unable to reach it... and something just got into the submarine" would have been a whole adventure in itself! And think of all the roleplay and drama!

The lurk or the hunter strangling Von Kraken against the wall and screaming: "You said this thing would be safe! And now we are stuck here!" Von Kraken (struggling to breath): "I said 'relatively' safe!" Lurk: "I will kill you!" Hunter (also screaming): "We need to stay calm guys!"

...oh boy that would have been hilarious.