hecticelectron.bsky.social
Hi! I’m Chrys (she/her), a trans game designer in Columbus. I made Raccoon Sky Pirates. Now I’m Kickstarting Defy the Gods, a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in Mesopotamia. Back it at https://tinyurl.com/defy-the-gods. Banner by Thalie Shelen
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Can we get to 400 followers for the new Defy the Gods Kickstarter? Tell your friends, tell your enemies—it launches on Tuesday! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hec...
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Something I love about Pelgrane Press's 13th Age is the "one unique thing" for every character. Defy the Gods' adventurers are unique in many ways, but the city you live in has one unique thing about it too. Is it always night? Is it built on an ancient maze? Does fire refuse to light?
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I have such respect for people who do everything a great artwork needs, from anatomy to composition to line. What people have contributed to Defy the Gods is next level. This is the Vessel, being embraced by their otherworldly patron, by Thalie Shelen @thalieshelen.bsky.social
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I'm happy to say my dear friend from way back, @yurilowenthal.bsky.social, is narrating the video for the new Defy the Gods Kickstarter. Sign up at www.kickstarter.com/projects/hec... to hear when it goes live
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Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈 Don't let the gods grind you down
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Here's how Defy the Gods makes flirting queer:
- On a success, you capture their Heart.
- On a burning success, you get in over your head, giving your Heart too or blazing w/ defiant pride.
- On a miss, you just flirted w/ the wrong person or in the wrong place. The gods or laws take notice.
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The great thing about making a PbtA game is it forces you to have opinions. What's the game about? What are its themes, or the players' arcs? I love the OSR's mechanical innovations that lead to emergent stories. But PbtA gets you to dig into what the stories are about. Defy the Gods has opinions.
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In 1922, at 18, Poppy rebelled against her parents, who named their kids after alliums: Onion, Leek, Shallot, Chive. Jerks. She fled for Flanders & took her new name from the flowers filling meadows that once were battle plains. Poppy writes poetry & breaks hearts in Brussels' thriving cafe culture.
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Tomorrow night, 5pm Eastern, I'm super excited to see someone ELSE run Defy the Gods! Ms Bats will be running a one-shot on youtube.com/live/IvX80-0.... See you there!
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I just wrapped up an epic 3-session Defy the Gods adventure on Plus One Exp's Twitch. You can see it all on twitch.tv/tonyplusone, starting w/ great worldbuilding. @0sarahxfrank0.bsky.social, @rrookstudio.bsky.social & @plusoneexp.bsky.social were absolute delights to play. Put bugs back on coins.
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One of the things I loved about Empire of the Petal Throne back in the day is that it had an *entirely different* set of trappings and mores to the traditional 1970s dungeon crawls.
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The Update!
-Canadian Shipping!
-Social Stretch Goals
-Shout outs to @soulmuppet.co.uk @jessfrom.online @rileyrethal.bsky.social @hecticelectron.bsky.social @mossdaggar.bsky.social's games
-Community copies galore!
Yall are amazing!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ton...
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There’s a lot of overlap in that Venn diagram
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Thinking about Defy the Gods & source material. By setting it in a fantasy version of ancient Mesopotamia, I get to shrug off the trappings of 1970s dungeon crawls. I love them, but they're steeped in borrowed, often unexamined cultural touchtones. Let's play w/ different images for a while
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Spotlight on the Wolfling—a human raised by animals & curious about humans, but belonging in neither world. They long to be more animal but are committed to their friends. Inspired by Princess Mononoke, with a touch of Enkidu. Their move "Ugly Thing" lets them destroy a human object or plan.
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Spotlight on the Vessel: devoted to an outcast god, wherever that takes you. To perform a miracle, roll 2d6 + the unwounded worth of a Wounded Epithet. By your stripes will they know you, by your stripes will your patron grant you power. Inspired by Elric, & sub relationships ofc
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Spotlight on the Sword! Big-hearted, stubborn & violent, their default move lets them up & kill anyone within arm's reach. GMs learn real quick to keep important NPCs beyond their grasp! 😅⚔️❤️🔥
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Spotlight on the Sorcerer—a scholar of chaos & the cursed past. To cast a spell, roll dice & see what patterns you can match to the spells you know. When you can't match any, chaotic feedback erupts. Inspired by all the villains from typical sword & sorcery
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Spotlight on the Sailor! A clever schemer with a web of friends & lovers, inspired by Odysseus & Sindbad. Their move “Dazzling Blade” brings elegant, flirtatious swordplay to combat.
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I'm canceling the Kickstarter for Defy the Gods and planning a new one with a more modest funding goal. You can find the preview at www.kickstarter.com/projects/hec.... We'll get this awesome game made! ⚔️🏺❤️🔥
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(Oops forgot the alt text! First image shows pick lists for the Revenant playbook. Second image shows the move “I Can Be Anybody,” which lets you pretend to be someone else.)
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Spotlight on the Revenant! You’ve returned from the Underworld, having shed your old identity. Who are you now? The move “I Can Be Anybody” taps your limitless potential tinyurl.com/defy-the-gods
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I'm about to go live on Twitch.tv/TonyPlusOne to run our second session of Defy the Gods! Please join us!
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But it's got consent built in—& calibration. You can play it w/ innocent flirtation, or just start smooching people left & right. Someone recently asked if you can play it w/ ace characters, & you totally can. Your "Entice" move can appeal to their mind or heart as well as their libido
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Not gonna lie, Defy the Gods is a pretty horny game. That's just where I was in my life when I wrote it. The idea "sword & sorcery in ancient Sumer" let me imagine a world with lots of kissing & heaving thews, and not a lot of clothes
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Yes, for sure. I'm working out the numbers now, but it looks like I can relaunch with a much lower funding goal. Thank you for being ready to back it again! You're awesome ❤️🔥
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The Queen of the Underworld and her courtiers in the sunless lands. Details from a killer illustration by @theveryworstthing.bsky.social. See more at www.kickstarter.com/projects/hec...
⚔️❤️🔥💀
#bodyhorror #swordandsorcery #indiettrpg #underworld
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In Defy the Gods, you play a silver-tongued Sailor, chaos-loving Sorcerer, deadly Sword, fugitive Revenant, immortal-sworn Vessel or wild-raised Wolfling. Each has their own unique talents, flaws & arc of glorious doom. Read more about them here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/hec...
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Ok there's more: Dooms give you powerful Doom Moves. To use them, you mark more Fire. This means you're more likely to get more Dooms & more Doom moves. They presage your adventurer's metamorphosis into a World Force in their own right—an antagonist, an NPC. Defy the Gods is full of metamorphoses.
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Dooms in 1 post: If you roll too high, you mark 🔥. Max out your Fire Track & likely get a Doom. Like Epithets, they describe who you are, but in your most severe aspect. Plus they overwrite your Epithets. When you eclipse all your Epithets w/ Dooms, your PC becomes an NPC. tinyurl.com/defy-the-gods
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More wild creatures drawn by @sheydgarden.bsky.social—a richly decorated lamassu, a lesser sphinx (that little-known, lynx-sized animal w/ a monkey's face & dangerous wit) & a mushussu. Inspired by the zoological/ethnographic reports by @seandapon.bsky.social. See more at tinyurl.com/defy-the-gods!
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Great article on Defy the Gods at TTRPG Insider! www.ttrpginsider.news/p/defying-de...
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Defy the Gods draws on folklore & myth of Mesopotamia. For Gilgamesh's bull of heaven, @theveryworstthing.bsky.social made lightning flash from his flanks. The manticore is from ancient Persia. Kanesha gave her tail both venomous spines & a scorpion's sting. See more at tinyurl.com/defy-the-gods
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I spoke with Arwen from Cardboard Time about Defy the Gods, game design, raccoons, and what we find in games to keep us going. One of the most in-depth discussions I’ve had so far. Give it a listen! open.spotify.com/episode/7G8e...
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Incredibly relevant. Just to let you know: I've played the hell out of Raccoon Sky Pirates with my afterschool RPG clubs. I think this one is going to be some much-needed comfort at my home table. Thanks for the joy you bring.