hecticelectron

[hecticelectron]

Let me tell you about the Horizons Fellowship

Hey all! If you publish your own tabletop games, or run your own game store—or you want to do either—and you identify with a marginalized community broadly defined ... don't sleep on the Horizons Fellowship.

Accepted applicants get:

an honorarium ($$$)

a booth at Origins

a table at GAMA Expo

a pro mentor for nine months

tons of networking opportunities.

But you have to apply by the end of July. That's just three days from when I'm posting this!

I was a Fellow this past season, and it was amazing. Helped me enormously. The validation alone, my god. And that's before we even get into the money or the constant access to seasoned advice.

Plus, alumni like me (and lots of more established folks) are actively involved in nurturing the program and each new crop of Fellows. A big, establishment game organization may be sponsoring this program, but it's driven by other minority creators and retailers who've been right where you are. And they're not about to pull the ladder up behind them.

Go do it! Show GAMA we need this program. You are enough.

https://gama.org/horizons

[hecticelectron]

This game is gonna be so great.

Hi, this is a big post about my new TTRPG, Defy the Gods, which recently had a hugely successful Kickstarter! It’s a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. It’s inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans (1981!) and Princess Mononoke.

Art by Thalie Shelen! @thalieshelen

(Btw hi I'm Chrys, a queer, trans game designer in Columbus, Ohio. This will be my second published game. The first was a furry pack of nonsense called Raccoon Sky Pirates.)

Defy the Gods is sword & sorcery as a story game. My favorite PbtA games emulate specific stories and lead you to resonant emotional moments like you find in those stories. Here, I used PbtA to emulate sword & sorcery, with an emphasis on the romantic moments—but also plenty of metal 🤘. You use the flirtation mechanics (taken from Thirsty Sword Lesbians) to tempt, support, or thwart others. But then, you can roll too high (taken from Apocalypse Keys), where you get more than you bargained for. Like Conan running out of the Tower of the Elephant while it crumbles around him.

Also like Conan, you have a glorious destiny, but in this case it ain’t good. Rising to your most powerful self makes you monstrous, heralding your character’s end as a hero and their beginning as an NPC antagonist.

It’s a queer game. You can fall in love with anyone, or make them fall in love with you. But because the game is also about power, the gods and tyrants wait to stomp on you if your enticement falls flat. Like if you flirt with someone in the wrong neighborhood. Every character has their own arc, and one of the things I had the most fun with was making those feel like queer problems as well as ancient-world sword & sorcery problems.

Play a fierce Sword, chaos-loving Sorcerer, fugitive Revenant, mischievous Sailor, immortal-sworn Vessel, or wild-raised Wolfling. (All character portraits by Thalie Shelen @thalieshelen)

The Sword is big-hearted and violent. You have a move that lets you kill any human-sized mortal NPC within arm’s reach, without rolling, if you’re not already in combat. This always causes more problems than it solves.

While most players roll just 2d6 & add their stat, the Sorcerer casts spells by rolling a lot of dice & looking for patterns in them. If you can’t find any patterns, your sorcery runs amok. This chaos is kind of lovely. For instance, you're always changing your body—sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. But always gorgeous.

The Revenant is like Inanna, or if Eurydice made it out. They escaped the land of the dead. They aren’t who they were in their past life, nor who they were as a shade. They're still figuring out who they are now. Demons pursue them to claw them back to the Underworld.

The Sailor can call on a cast of past friends and lovers for help. They always have a plan, and an eye for the exit. One of their moves lets you fill in the map of the otherwise unknown world.

The Vessel is in love with a minor god. They channel their patron’s power by wounding themself, but their patron can also soothe their pain.

The Wolfling was raised by animals in the Wilds and is curious about the humans, but they belong in neither world. They're definitely the part most directly inspired by Princess Mononoke.

The World Forces are the antagonist. You build them at the table, in quick rounds of pick lists. They are:

The Pantheon: gods, goddesses, and demons. They make the rules, but maybe you can break them.

The City: tyrants, the wealthy, and others with the gods' blessing. They push you to the margins, but you can fight to be seen.

The Wilds: gigantic creatures and their trackless wilderness home. It's place of danger and new rules, but you'll probably break them.

The Shadow of Atlantis: long-gone elders. They dared to scorn the gods, and the Pantheon destroyed them for it, but through you they may live again.

Death: a hungry, totalitarian force. Its underground domain is the end for all mortals and the mockery of hope. But maybe you can return.

Art by Shan Bennion! @anonbeadraws

This was an intensely personal project, but it was too big for me to do by myself. Here are all the people who helped make it a reality:

Avery Alder: Design advisor

Basheer Ghouse: @basheerghouse Cultural consultant

Cat Tobin: Horizons Mentor https://www.pelgranepress.com

Cris Viana: Graphic designer & layout artist

Ezra Rose: Interior art

Kanesha Bryant: Interior art

Katrin Dirim: Interior art

Jaqueline Florencio: Cover art

Lyla Fujiwara: Developmental editor https://www.jarofeyes.com

Mary Verhoeven: Interior art

Omar Ramadan-Santiago: Cultural consultant

Rae Nedjadi: Developmental editor https://temporalhiccup.itch.io

Rue Dickey: @ilananight Copy editor

Sean D’souza: World-builder & writer https://linktr.ee/seandsouzax

Shan Bennion: Interior art

Thalie Shelen: Interior art

(art by Shan again! @anonbeadraws)

Thanks for reading! Preorder the book here!

[hecticelectron]

I hate having to post political posts like this nut he we are again. Anybody from the UK wanna sign this. Folks from outside the UK maybe share it?

[hecticelectron]

That was amazing. I'm so glad it's over

We did it! Oh my god, that Kickstarter is over.

I'm so grateful for everyone who saw my long blog post here on Tumblr and thought the game looked good. Thanks for taking a chance on it. I'm gonna work my tail off to give you the queerest, boldest, most adventurous game about sword & sorcery in ancient Mesopotamia ever.

I'm stepping down from the hype box—really looking forward to not posting on socials every day like a carnival barker—but I'll just say that, if you missed it, you can still late-pledge for the PDF or the book until the 19th.

Thanks again.

[hecticelectron]

Please be aware that i am now spiritually, mentally and emotionally invested in The Vessel. Theyre so... so cutie patootie.. so tragic.. so me coded i fear. /pos!!

Hooray! I made them just for you.

[hecticelectron]

Silver mirrors

I'm thinking about role-playing games as mirrors. Maybe every TTRPG or book or other work of art is a mirror.

Board games show you your engagement with systems, how you interact with other people.

Tabletop RPGs reflect something more abstract, closer to a novel. I don't know about you, but for me, tabletop RPGs reflect things I couldn't see otherwise.

Games like Monsterhearts, Apocalypse Keys, Night Witches, Thirsty Sword Lesbians. D&D not least. They showed me a side to myself I never even dared to hope for.

So I'm hoping Defy the Gods holds up a mirror too. That you can see yourself differently. Even if that's not what you need. Especially if it is.

[hecticelectron]

You 100% don't gotta be queer or trans to play this game. No matter who you are, playing it will dip your mind into how it feels to me to be queer—all its wonders, terrors & invitations, thoroughly infused with sword & sorcery.

Writing the Revenant, my last playbook, finally cracked my egg and helped me realize I was trans. That's how personal Defy the Gods is.

I had to make this game for me, but now it's yours. I hope you all play the hell out of it. I hope a few of you play it out of hell.

Hi, this is a big post about my new TTRPG, Defy the Gods, which I’m Kickstarting right now! It’s a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. I was inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans (1981!) and Princess Mononoke. (I've also got a BlueSky megathread going about it.)

Back the Kickstarter here!

Art by Thalie Shelen! @thalieshelen

(Btw hi I'm Chrys, a queer, trans game designer in Columbus, Ohio. This will be my second published game. The first was a furry pack of nonsense called Raccoon Sky Pirates.)

Defy the Gods is sword & sorcery as a story game. My favorite PbtA games emulate specific stories and lead you to resonant emotional moments like you find in those stories. Here, I used PbtA to emulate sword & sorcery, with an emphasis on the romantic moments—but also plenty of metal 🤘. You use the flirtation mechanics (taken from Thirsty Sword Lesbians) to tempt, support, or thwart others. But then, you can roll too high (taken from Apocalypse Keys), where you get more than you bargained for. Like Conan running out of the Tower of the Elephant while it crumbles around him.

Also like Conan, you have a glorious destiny, but in this case it ain’t good. Rising to your most powerful self makes you monstrous, heralding your character’s end as a hero and their beginning as an NPC antagonist.

It’s a queer game. You can fall in love with anyone, or make them fall in love with you. But because the game is also about power, the gods and tyrants wait to stomp on you if your enticement falls flat. Like if you flirt with someone in the wrong neighborhood. Every character has their own arc, and one of the things I had the most fun with was making those feel like queer problems as well as ancient-world sword & sorcery problems.

Play a fierce Sword, chaos-loving Sorcerer, fugitive Revenant, mischievous Sailor, immortal-sworn Vessel, or wild-raised Wolfling. (All character portraits by Thalie Shelen @thalieshelen)

The Sword is big-hearted and violent. You have a move that lets you kill any human-sized mortal NPC within arm’s reach, without rolling, if you’re not already in combat. This always causes more problems than it solves.

While most players roll just 2d6 & add their stat, the Sorcerer casts spells by rolling a lot of dice & looking for patterns in them. If you can’t find any patterns, your sorcery runs amok. This chaos is kind of lovely. For instance, you're always changing your body—sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. But always gorgeous.

The Revenant is like Inanna, or if Eurydice made it out. They escaped the land of the dead. They aren’t who they were in their past life, nor who they were as a shade. They're still figuring out who they are now. Demons pursue them to claw them back to the Underworld.

The Sailor can call on a cast of past friends and lovers for help. They always have a plan, and an eye for the exit. One of their moves lets you fill in the map of the otherwise unknown world.

The Vessel is in love with a minor god. They channel their patron’s power by wounding themself, but their patron can also soothe their pain.

The Wolfling was raised by animals in the Wilds and is curious about the humans, but they belong in neither world. They're definitely the part most directly inspired by Princess Mononoke.

The World Forces are the antagonist. You build them at the table, in quick rounds of pick lists. They are:

The Pantheon: gods, goddesses, and demons. They make the rules, but maybe you can break them.

The City: tyrants, the wealthy, and others with the gods' blessing. They push you to the margins, but you can fight to be seen.

The Wilds: gigantic creatures and their trackless wilderness home. It's place of danger and new rules, but you'll probably break them.

The Shadow of Atlantis: long-gone elders. They dared to scorn the gods, and the Pantheon destroyed them for it, but through you they may live again.

Death: a hungry, totalitarian force. Its underground domain is the end for all mortals and the mockery of hope. But maybe you can return.

Art by Shan Bennion! @anonbeadraws

This was an intensely personal project, but it was too big for me to do by myself. Here are all the people who helped make it a reality:

Avery Alder: Design advisor

Basheer Ghouse: @basheerghouse Cultural consultant

Cat Tobin: Horizons Mentor https://www.pelgranepress.com

Cris Viana: Graphic designer & layout artist

Ezra Rose: Interior art

Kanesha Bryant: Interior art

Katrin Dirim: Interior art

Jaqueline Florencio: Cover art

Lyla Fujiwara: Developmental editor https://www.jarofeyes.com

Mary Verhoeven: Interior art

Omar Ramadan-Santiago: Cultural consultant

Rae Nedjadi: Developmental editor https://temporalhiccup.itch.io

Rue Dickey: @ilananight Copy editor

Sean D’souza: World-builder & writer https://linktr.ee/seandsouzax

Shan Bennion: Interior art

Thalie Shelen: Interior art

(art by Shan again! @anonbeadraws)

Thanks for reading! See the Kickstarter here!

[hecticelectron]

As it was becoming clear the US was headed into trade war territory, I got really interested in farming and the logistics of keeping people fed. I turned that interest into "your cool city needs a food supply," available now!

it's a hack of "i'm sorry did you say street magic" and "Microscope," two gold-standard worldbuilding games. It was polished by Nico MacDougall, who gave me some great advice on how to make this game really align with the themes and ideas I had in the draft.

I've always been a sicko about logistics and agriculture (growing up in the US midwest will do that to you), and I hope this game helps people think about how great a privilege it is to eat.

[hecticelectron]

This is Kickstarting now! We just unlocked our third stretch goal. Come be a part of it!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hecticelectron/defy-the-gods-rpg

One Unique City

Something I love about Pelgrane Press's TTRPG 13th Age is the "one unique thing" for every character. Lots of things make Defy the Gods' adventurers unique—raised by animals, in love with an exiled god—but the city you live in has something unique about it too.

Is it always night? Is it built on an ancient maze? Does fire refuse to light? Is it ruled by a council of animals who hate the wilderness?

I started out thinking about the Odyssey. In it, Odysseus travels to bizarre places, and the way you know they're bizarre is that they do things differently, or you encounter strange creatures there. The voyages of Sindbad (by way of Burton) do the same. So I made pick lists for describing a foreign city in a far-off land, with fantastical things about them.

But my first cultural consultant, Omar Ramadan-Santiago, showed me how exoticizing this is, how it abets Orientalism for a western audience. I didn't want to make the world less interesting, so I let you make every city, including your home, singular in its own way.

It feels very sword & sorcery. But from the jump, it also separates you from traditional sword & sorcery—also sometimes called "weird fantasy"—where weirdness, queerness, and the exotic are often just there to reinforce the normal. In this game, "weird" is you. It's who you are and where you live. It was one step toward reënvisioning the game, and its take on sword & sorcery, through a queer lens.

Detail of an illustration by @sheydgarden !

[hecticelectron]

Oh my god, Defy the Gods funded. Three days in.

Getting here required running one Kickstarter, canceling it, resetting my expectations, and launching a new one with more modest goals. But I really want to make this book, you all.

You can get so wrapped up in your own creative project, you think everyone in the world will want it. Then you hit reality and find out its audience is actually really, really niche.

And I'm okay with that! The book stays true to itself. I want to make a sword & sorcery adventure that mirrors and echoes queer life. And most of all, I want to make it. It's a big project, with so many people lending their talents. I want it to be real.

And now—thanks to many of you!—I get to do it. And put it in your hands, with all my love, and hope you enjoy reading and playing it.

26 days and change left to go in the Kickstarter—lots of stretch goals I want to hit. Thanks for coming on the ride with me.

⚔️❤️‍🔥

[hecticelectron]

Hi, this is a big post about my new TTRPG, Defy the Gods, which I’m Kickstarting soon. It’s a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. I was inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans (1981!) and Princess Mononoke. (I've also got a BlueSky megathread going about it.)

Sign up for the Kickstarter here!

Art by Thalie Shelen! @thalieshelen

(Btw hi I'm Chrys, a queer, trans game designer in Columbus, Ohio. This will be my second published game. The first was a furry pack of nonsense called Raccoon Sky Pirates.)

Defy the Gods is sword & sorcery as a story game. My favorite PbtA games emulate specific stories and lead you to resonant emotional moments like you find in those stories. Here, I used PbtA to emulate sword & sorcery, with an emphasis on the romantic moments—but also plenty of metal 🤘. You use the flirtation mechanics (taken from Thirsty Sword Lesbians) to tempt, support, or thwart others. But then, you can roll too high (taken from Apocalypse Keys), where you get more than you bargained for. Like Conan running out of the Tower of the Elephant while it crumbles around him.

Also like Conan, you have a glorious destiny, but in this case it ain’t good. Rising to your most powerful self makes you monstrous, heralding your character’s end as a hero and their beginning as an NPC antagonist.

It’s a queer game. You can fall in love with anyone, or make them fall in love with you. But because the game is also about power, the gods and tyrants wait to stomp on you if your enticement falls flat. Like if you flirt with someone in the wrong neighborhood. Every character has their own arc, and one of the things I had the most fun with was making those feel like queer problems as well as ancient-world sword & sorcery problems.

Play a fierce Sword, chaos-loving Sorcerer, fugitive Revenant, mischievous Sailor, immortal-sworn Vessel, or wild-raised Wolfling. (All character portraits by Thalie Shelen @thalieshelen)

The Sword is big-hearted and violent. You have a move that lets you kill any human-sized mortal NPC within arm’s reach, without rolling, if you’re not already in combat. This always causes more problems than it solves.

While most players roll just 2d6 & add their stat, the Sorcerer casts spells by rolling a lot of dice & looking for patterns in them. If you can’t find any patterns, your sorcery runs amok. This chaos is kind of lovely. For instance, you're always changing your body—sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. But always gorgeous.

The Revenant is like Inanna, or if Eurydice made it out. They escaped the land of the dead. They aren’t who they were in their past life, nor who they were as a shade. They're still figuring out who they are now. Demons pursue them to claw them back to the Underworld.

The Sailor can call on a cast of past friends and lovers for help. They always have a plan, and an eye for the exit. One of their moves lets you fill in the map of the otherwise unknown world.

The Vessel is in love with a minor god. They channel their patron’s power by wounding themself, but their patron can also soothe their pain.

The Wolfling was raised by animals in the Wilds and is curious about the humans, but they belong in neither world. They're definitely the part most directly inspired by Princess Mononoke.

The World Forces are the antagonist. You build them at the table, in quick rounds of pick lists. They are:

The Pantheon: gods, goddesses, and demons. They make the rules, but maybe you can break them.

The City: tyrants, the wealthy, and others with the gods' blessing. They push you to the margins, but you can fight to be seen.

The Wilds: gigantic creatures and their trackless wilderness home. It's place of danger and new rules, but you'll probably break them.

The Shadow of Atlantis: long-gone elders. They dared to scorn the gods, and the Pantheon destroyed them for it, but through you they may live again.

Death: a hungry, totalitarian force. Its underground domain is the end for all mortals and the mockery of hope. But maybe you can return.

Art by Shan Bennion! @anonbeadraws

This was an intensely personal project, but it was too big for me to do by myself. Here are all the people who helped make it a reality:

Avery Alder: Design advisor

Basheer Ghouse: @basheerghouse Cultural consultant

Cat Tobin: Horizons Mentor https://www.pelgranepress.com

Cris Viana: Graphic designer & layout artist

Ezra Rose: Interior art

Kanesha Bryant: Interior art

Katrin Dirim: Interior art

Jaqueline Florencio: Cover art

Lyla Fujiwara: Developmental editor https://www.jarofeyes.com

Mary Verhoeven: Interior art

Omar Ramadan-Santiago: Cultural consultant

Rae Nedjadi: Developmental editor https://temporalhiccup.itch.io

Rue Dickey: @ilananight Copy editor

Sean D’souza: World-builder & writer https://linktr.ee/seandsouzax

Shan Bennion: Interior art

Thalie Shelen: Interior art

(art by Shan again! @anonbeadraws)

Thanks for reading! See the Kickstarter here!

[hecticelectron]

Galactic & Going Rogue | Star Wars & Andor-inspired TTRPGs | Kickstarter live NOW!

There is a beating heart at the center of the galaxy. You are the brave who hear it. As members of The Liberation, you have dedicated your lives to the war against The Mandate, on the dream that one day the stars might shine free of its fascist rule. You are rebels, soldiers, spies, and criminals, or perhaps someone who simply picked up and blaster and said "enough is enough." Whoever you are, The Liberation has a place for you—and so do we.

In Galactic & Going Rogue, two beloved TTPRGs of rebellion in space are finally coming to print in a new third edition, with both games now bound together in one fully illustrated, full-color 5.5"x8.5" hardcover with all new art and layout. Whether you're the charming heroes of Galactic, inspired by the classic Star Wars trilogies, or the tragic martyrs of the Rogue One and Andor-inspired Going Rogue, these games have everything you need to tell your story of resistance, relationship, and galaxy-spanning adventure. Best of all? No GM required. 

Just gather your party of 2-6 players, and let the Pillars in Riley Rethal's Galactic shape your story of rebellion. Is The Liberation of your campaign more interested in retaliatory violence and ideological discourse, or imagination of a better world and working together? Does The Space Between—that mystical energy which binds the galaxy together—pull you towards intense bonds and uncontainable emotions, or unity with those who came before? Will any of that be enough to save you when The Mandate opts to put someone in immediate danger, or a player has The Scum & Villainy invite a betrayal? You'll have to play to find out.

Does your party want to explore the darker, more difficult moments of revolution? Then flip to Jess Levine's Going Rogue, winner of CRIT Awards 2023 Best GMless Game of the Year. In your galaxy, do Liberation spies in The Intelligence want reduced oversight and leverage over Liberation members, or are they content to bear the heaviest burdens so others don’t have to as they hunt for the heads of Mandate officials? What do they do when The Parliament governing The Liberation desires lengthy deliberation and safety from retribution for the innocent? Decide quickly, because fate is calling. The gravity of The Sacrifice pulls every game of Going Rogue towards one inevitable end. You know from beginning that your characters will give their lives in a selfless act that moves the galaxy closer to freedom, but why would your band of cynics, loners, and misfits grow into people who would sacrifice everything in pursuit of a dream? That's a question only you can answer.

Also featuring actual plays with:

Dimension 20's Ify Nwadiwe

Friends at the Table's Austin Walker

A More Civilized Age's Natalie Watson

And more! Click the images above for trailers & where to find the episodes!

[hecticelectron]

I’m so excited for Galactic and Going Rogue! They’re burning up through their Kickstarter’s last days.

Andor taught me that everyone has their own rebellion. Back this book so you can realize yours!

In honor of Pride Month: Every ex in Galactic & Going Rogue 🏳️‍🌈

To celebrate this auspicious twelfth of the year, I've listed every Galactic & Going Rogue TTRPG playbook that has an ex as an option for their NPC relationships, and compiled them all into a single list of exes.

"Revolution" this, "scifi" that, this is what Galactic & Going Rogue are truly about.

If you want to form your very own messy web of exes at your TTRPG table, check it out on Kickstarter before it ends! There's less than one week left! (That's right. Coterminous with Pride Month. Just who do you think Riley & I are?)

[hecticelectron]

today's warm up: when you leave such a fine and blessed sword hanging around, you can't expect someone not to try their hand Also im reallly proud of the atmostpheric vibes here!

[hecticelectron]

I'm putting this here because I know you'll understand. It's the epigram for the beginning of Defy the Gods:

Kuliana to the sorcerer: Make me a woman. Give her eyes like stars. Cheeks like glowing apples, lips like figs, breasts like two dancing gazelles, hips like a bowl full of wine. Give her a voice like a songbird. Place wings on her feet that she may dance with gladness.  Replied the sorcerer—not without sympathy: I will make you a woman. But my art has no neat channels. It floods. Here is what I foresee: You will have eyes like a branch lit at both ends. Cheeks like heated bronze, lips like an open wound, breasts like two halves of an onion, and hips like a chariot full of salt. You will have a voice like a thunderclap. And after, I will place a sword in your hands, that you may know no peace nor captivity. —from The Epic of Kuliana (fragment 1)

Defy the Gods is Kickstarting now! Check it out!

[hecticelectron]

Shan contributed such amazing art to this book, filled with assiduous research and gorgeous color. They were also a joy to work with. I’m so lucky their commissions were open.

Defy the Gods is back!! Booted back up and waiting for you! 'Defy the Gods is a tabletop role-playing game of daring adventure, passionate romance and cursed power, set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. Inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans and Princess Mononoke, it brings queer love and resistance to sword & sorcery role-play.' @hecticelectron is an amazing creator and it's wonderful to have been part of the process, illustrating this world was so fun!

✨Check it out here!✨

[hecticelectron]

Oh my god, Defy the Gods funded. Three days in.

Getting here required running one Kickstarter, canceling it, resetting my expectations, and launching a new one with more modest goals. But I really want to make this book, you all.

You can get so wrapped up in your own creative project, you think everyone in the world will want it. Then you hit reality and find out its audience is actually really, really niche.

And I'm okay with that! The book stays true to itself. I want to make a sword & sorcery adventure that mirrors and echoes queer life. And most of all, I want to make it. It's a big project, with so many people lending their talents. I want it to be real.

And now—thanks to many of you!—I get to do it. And put it in your hands, with all my love, and hope you enjoy reading and playing it.

26 days and change left to go in the Kickstarter—lots of stretch goals I want to hit. Thanks for coming on the ride with me.

⚔️❤️‍🔥