The Last Wake: A Forged in the Dark Setting Guide Collection

The Last Wake: A Forged in the Dark Setting Collection

Explore a shattered world of dream-wrought chaos in this collection of settings for Blades in the Dark.

The world of The Last Wake exists in a state of perpetual dusk, its sky a bruised canvas of deep purples and oranges, the true sun long forgotten. Life everywhere is dictated by the unpredictable tides of a collective, psychic ocean known as The Maelstrom. What was once a connected world is now a shattered archipelago of isolated cities, each a tiny island of reality in a sea of dream-wrought chaos. This collection brings together several unique city-states and societies within The Last Wake, each offering distinct challenges, factions, and opportunities for scoundrels.

This collection includes:

• Aethelburg, the Clockwork City: A colossal engine of brass and iron, a fortress of logic dedicated to taming the Maelstrom by filtering raw dream-stuff into clean, stable energy. Play as scoundrels in a city of perfect order, where the only true sin is an uncontrolled dream. Discover new playbooks like the Automaton and the Saboteur.
• Hush, the Silent City: Carved into the heart of a permanent, reality-warping anomaly known as the Silent Bleed, Hush is an oasis of profound quiet where all sound is swallowed. It's a city of flickering lanterns, graceful sign-dancers, and shadowed assassins, where secrets are the only true currency. Introduce new playbooks like the Sign-Dancer and the Lamp-Jack.
• Port Equinox: Built on a vast salt flat that perfectly mirrors the roiling sky, this city is pathologically obsessed with aesthetics and identity. By law, every citizen must wear a mask in public, giving rise to a thriving and dangerous trade in stolen faces and manufactured personalities. Explore new playbooks such as the Artisan and the Echo.
• Remnant: Not built, but carved from the petrified corpse of a god-sized Chimera. Its towers are bleached bone, its bridges woven from titan sinew, and its tunnels bored through fossilized flesh. The city's lifeblood is ichor, the psychoactive, volatile dream-stuff still seeping from the creature's titanic heart. Uncover new playbooks like the Graftsoul and the Somnambulist.
• The Invert: A vertical nation carved into a seemingly bottomless chasm. The highest levels are a lawless frontier, while descending through the city means moving through increasingly rigid and oppressive social strata, culminating in the crushing, silent order of the Nadir. Engage with new playbooks such as the Riveter and the Auditor.
• The Nomad Flotilla: Not a city, but a nomadic fleet of gargantuan, living, organic ships that sail the endless, unnerving expanse of the Sea of Lost Faces. Civilization here is sustained by Dream-Pearls harvested from the psychic depths—a resource as precious and perilous as ichor. Navigate this unique society with new playbooks like the Coral-Binder and the Mnemonic Diver.
• The Silent Bastion of Stillness: Carved into the peak of a colossal, isolated mountain, this fortress-monastery practices a radical discipline of absolute mental silence to create a "reality anchor" that the chaos of the Maelstrom cannot penetrate. Discover new playbooks such as the Anchorite and the Resonator.
• The Sudden City: A massive, mobile Relic of impossible power and unknown origin that traverses the surreal wilderness of the Wake, teleporting to new locations at random, unpredictable intervals. Its citizens are hardened masters of adaptation, their culture built around survival, salvage, and constant displacement. Adapt to its unique challenges with new playbooks like the Mender and the Wayfinder.
• The Twilight Market: Civilization is powered by the very essence of the nightmare that surrounds it. The city's lights and technologies are fueled by raw Ichor harvested from manifested dreams—a resource as vital and dangerous as any. Explore this chaotic setting with new playbooks like the Binder and the Sandman.

Each setting guide requires a copy of the Blades in the Dark rulebook to play. To take full advantage of all optional rules, a copy of the Deep Cuts expansion is also recommended.