Blades in the Dark- Action Roll Reference Sheet

Blades in the Dark by John Harper is fantastic! It is quick and seamless on the table after the GM gets a grip on the Action Roll procedures. During my first few sessions however, I struggled to teach the Position and Effect sub-procedures, and I realised I sorely needed a visual aid to teach and run the game better. 

I decided to design a reference sheet that's functional, matches the aesthetic of BiTD, and will solve my subsystem-ic struggles once and for all. I'm sharing this document with anyone who has that same struggle

This document is free, and you can print it for your table, or use the on your VTT.  The hexagons are for you to lay tokens of your choice, and move them up and down as needed! Happy gaming!

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Update as of 7 Dec
Adding a Version 2 for the Action Sheet Reference Sheet

I realised how important it is for the GM to introduce the threat as the step between the player stating their goal, and describing + picking the action.  This is after recently rediscovering John Harper's 2002 video on how to run Obstacles and Action Roll (A great video, I recommend it!). Harper felt that this step of introducing the threat was so important that he added new core play sheets in 2022 on the BiTD website. I agree with Harper that the introduction of the threat is extremely impt, as it creates the leverage needed for a good conversation and negotiation that would happen between players and GM. It also smoothens gameplay, with the players and GM knowing exactly what the threat would be, as opposed to having the GM react and think up the consequences only after action roll. 

We could also even go on to argue that this introduction of the threat becomes so pivotal to the Action Roll, that it becomes the main focus of the new Threat Roll alternative rules in the new BiTD supplement Deep Cuts, released in Sept of 2024. 

I've thus decided to add a V2 of the sheet, adding the introduction of the threat as a step 1.5 , so as to still be true to the BitD core text (2018), while also acknowledging this pivotal new step, that was informally introduced in the 2022 video and coreplay sheets. Purists sticking to the original RAW can still refer to V, but I personally would use V2 when running my games.