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!
