It’s that time of year when TTRPG groups put their campaigns on hiatus. The holidays make scheduling even a one-shot adventure a frustrating chore. Here’s how you can bring cheer to your table no matter who shows up. Run Honey Heist by Grant Howitt set in your campaign world. Do it; it’s a good idea. And when you have, tell me about your great time over on Mastodon: @[email protected]
Jump to Bears in the Dark
Where did this idea come from?
A group that I play with and sometimes GM for was joking around between sessions. We were pitching Blades in the Dark heist ideas to each other and yes-anding them into absurdity. One heist pitch imagined stealing neurotoxin-laced honey from cult that worships demon bears out in the deathlands, distilling that honey into liquor, and selling it to Doskvol’s nobles, all to engineer a meeting with Lord Strangford. I.E. the classic heist to get the next heist.
We had a good laugh and moved on. However, for the rest of the day all I could think of was Bears, Honey, and Doskvol.
I quickly put together an adaptation of Honey Heist themed to Blades and wrote a scenario. Since our regular campaign was on holiday hiatus, I offered to run Bears in the Dark for anyone who could make it.
Goals of Bears in the Dark
I love playing Blades in the Dark by John Harper. I think my secret mission in any TTRPG group I join is to get a Blades game started. So, for my Honey Heist scenario I wanted to dive back into Doskvol and cram as much as I could into the scenario. That way, anyone who plays Bears in the Dark will hopefully get an itch to return to the Dark Jewel of Akoros and take up the scoundrel life.
A secondary goal was to, you know, have fun. The tone of the scenario had to play into the inherent absurdity of criminal bears attempting a heist. I think I succeeded based on how my players reacted.
So, what happened?
In the scenario, explorers recently discovered honey which everyone had thought was lost in the Cataclysm. To show off the discovery, a honey exhibition is being held at an opera house in Doskvol. A giant tank of honey sits on stage, covered by a silk drape. A professor is scheduled to deliver a lecture about honey, during which the drape will lift and awe the crowd.
Only two players were able to make it. Fortunately, two bears with criminal intent can cause quite a bit of chaos at a honey exposition in a Victorian opera house.
To inject an initial complication, I asked each player to describe how their bear arrived. I then added a detail to their stories that showed they were being pursued.
One bear, a black bear Whisper named Grumbles, failed every single roll, flipped out bear-style, and was caught by Duskwall Animal Control in the foyer of the opera house. Luckly, I had already introduced a crew of rival bears, and the player jumped over to Mattie, a polar bear Lurk.
Meanwhile the other bear, a honey bear Slide named Pablo Escobear, charmed his way through the crowds and made it backstage. Pablo was just too successful in crime and wound up betraying the mission. Pablo formed a crew out of disaffected stagehands to produce and peddle honeysnuff.
Back to Mattie. She snuck on stage through a trapdoor during the honey unveiling. However, her clever plans failed her right next to her prize. Mattie mauled the presenter but was eventually brought down by Red Sash guards.
The honey remained.
My players said they had fun. One of my players compared the game to a Terry Pratchett story set in Doskvol. Bears in the Dark let us take the Blades setting and play everyone and everything very broadly. Which is where you come in, dear reader.
Try it!
If you’re like me, your campaign in on hiatus until sometime in January. Why not poke some fun at your setting? If you can get two players for an hour-long session, you can make Honey Heist work.
Whatever your setting is, drop in a giant vat of honey and a group of bears who want to steal it.
You probably don’t need to prep much, either. I found that Honey Heist’s mechanics generate plenty of complications without having to make up loads of obstacles. Just put the honey in a tricky spot and let your players bumble their way towards it.
Bears in the Dark
Want to run Bears in the Dark specifically? I’ll save you some time and pass along what I made.
Here is the player handout with the rules:
Here is the scenario:
Finally, here is an audio teaser I made for my players to hype them up:
I love TTRPG mashups. Some systems can really sing when put in a new context–especially if the system is simple and the context is familiar.
Mashups are also an engine for our creativity. Ross Sutherland, an author who I respect immensely, once described his creative process as an accident followed by an autopsy. That is, we can draw elements from our environment or random data and then set our minds to work producing meaning from them. TTRPG mashups give us tons of loose ends to tie together as we find ways to express the themes of a setting through the mechanics of a new system.
Send me your Honey Heist or other TTRPG mashup reports on Mastodon, or just come chat with me about creativity: @[email protected]