Interns In The Dark - A Modern-Day Forged in the Dark Game
A downloadable game
Interns in the Dark is a satirical, modern-day table-top-role-playing game based on Blades in the Dark.
You play as Interns who have been accepted into a tech company in the Bay and are specifically assigned to a special internship program in a struggling company to do the most innovative thing for the company: steal valuable Intellectual Property (IP) from competitors.
This game is designed to be a 10-week-long internship so it's a quick breather of a campaign before you get back into playing elves and dwarves and stuff. The rules document is fully playable, but most of the rules that it shares with Blades in the Dark are generalized. It's helpful to have played Blades before, but you can also familiarize yourself with the core rules on the Blades SRD.
Please consider supporting this game by either donating, buying the online version, or buying the full-on printed book (limited supply)
In the coming weeks, we'll be posting Slide Decks, One-Shots based on modern news and problems. Feedback is appreciated!
Character and Company Sheets are located here:
Character Sheets for Online Play
Company Sheets for Online Play
Changes from 0.5 to 1.0
We've published a book and a website! Check it out at https://internsinthedark.com
To align with brand, we've also changed some of the terminology and mechanics to be more consistent. You'll see mechanics in bold or capital letters in the Quickstart now. The changes are very minor but are consistent with the terminology of the 280-paged book.
We've also changed the Character Sheets and Company Sheets with a new paint job and some user-friendly fonts.
If you have any questions or want to start running a game, please check out our discord. it's still new but we hope to fill it up with cool stuff very soon
Join our Discord Server!
Changes from 0.3 to 0.5
A new Quickstart with layout design (made by me) and character art made by my friend Matthew Ha @Ha.Sketch (don't worry I paid him money)
This Quickplay guide is designed for short games, or conventions and combines the previous quickplay with the assignment generator. It's an all-in-one package to get games going fast. If there are any design errors or suggestions, let me know as I am not a professional layout designer.
Next step: After playtesting with 2 groups and several cons, I've written up an ashcan that is currently going through layout design, character art, and editing. Fun!
Thank you all who've been looking at this game and supporting it!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Onward! Version 0.5Jul 26, 2024
- Version 0.2 to 0.3!Nov 18, 2023
- Interns in the Dark Update to v0.2!Jun 23, 2023
Comments
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I played this at BigBadCOn with Adam running the game. It is such a clever take on Silicon Valley culture and allows for some really fun emergent storytelling. Highly recommend and am planning to run with my group soon.
Played this at GoBCon and had such a great time! The flavoring is so creative and entertaining. The world is really well thought-out. It was also easy to learn so it's ideal for a one-shot. But I also am curious about the 10 week long campaign since the mechanics would help you build an even more interesting character.
Can't wait to play it again!
Played this at Questival in Redwood city few days ago, really enjoyed it. Balanced and well thought out adventure and combat mechanics.
Overall experience was really really good! 5/5
Played at KublaCon and the archetypes are *chef's kiss*. Lots of thought was put into flavoring the characters and making it work mechanically. I never laughed so hard in a game.
had a phenomenal time playing this with the creator of the game earlier this week and it was a BLAST! so fun and funny and so streamlined and easy to jump into, especially for a first time Forged In The Dark player. the playbooks are really clever and exceptionally fun. I got a chance to embody the Empath and I had so much fun insisting everyone talk about their feelings ALL THE TIME. Even played out a ridiculous scene where my charter led a sound bath as I diversion while my team was sneaking past some baddies. Just a riot - I highly recommend Interns In The Dark for your table!!
Played with Adam and others and it was great! I was the Mascot wearing a suit and tie underneath and sweating profusely while subduing lions, tigers, bears, and faux-elvish, vegan, eco-terrorists!
I hate tabletop games and never play them, but when I do, I play Interns
If you can judge a TTRPG by the amount of laughter shared at the table (and I certainly do!), Interns in the Dark is, pound-for-pound, the best TTRPG I've played.
I am currently playtesting this game, and my housemate describes this as "The game where you laugh a lot." It is outrageous, it is fun, and as a person who has worked for decades in Silicon Valley, darkly true to life.
Currently, play testing this game and I love it!!!!!! So many opportunities to be creative and partake in wild (and hilarious) situations. Get a feel for what it's like working in the tech industry. :)