The sceneries are a vital part in any noir story. Sometimes they’re characters themselves. As game master, you bring the scenery to life, describe it and make it real in the players’ minds. This is something so important for the story as building a case worthy to be investigated.
Blacksad stories include many specific sceneries that you can also use in your games. These are some of them:
La Iguana
- Volume: Somewhere Within the Shadows.
- Concept: “Pool hall frequented by reptiles”.
- Descriptors: “Illuminated by fluorescent lights”, “It has a back door to an alley”, “The patrons are always smoking”.
As its name suggest, La Iguana is a meeting point for New Yorker saurians and lizards. To enter in the hall you have to climb a little stairs where always there are some young lizards sunbathing. The counter is close to the door, so there is space enough for the pool tables illuminated by fluorescent lights and a couple of tables for drinking. Behind the counter there is a back door to an alley parallel to the main street. The understanding between Poli, the fat-bellied iguana barman always with a cigar in his mouth, and the patrons is excellent, to the point they defend them each other against the undesirable “customers”.
The Line
- Volume: Artic Nation.
- Concept: “Deprived neighborhood on the outskirts of a big city”.
- Descriptors: “It’s griped by a crisis”, “The dichotomy between rich white people and poor black people is obvious”, “it was a thriving neighborhood years ago”.
At the end of World War II, many of the big American cities’ suburbs were helpless as the industrial expansion they were result of wasn’t necessary anymore. That’s what happened with The Line. After the plane factory’s closing, the unemployment, graffitis and socioeconomic differences between citizens have taken the place of what used to be a hope’s nest. The African American people faces the biggest challenge as they have to face a corrupt police, stores that forbid their access and the fear of been beaten down by some racist band when they are in the streets.
