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[generic] Whatever happened to....

Neil Gow said:
Sticking within my own thread parameters of not turning this into a debate about the validity of game systems, I think from a market 'space' point of view, Fate and PBTA served the same segment - people who sit between the traditional gaming experience, as delivered by things like D&D, Traveller, BRP etc, and the cutting edge 'indie' experiences. They've been dubbed in the past as 'trindie' systems.

There was a time when Fate was flavour of the year for systems, and a noticeable chunk of new, non-trad, games were Fate driven. Then, PBTA came along and that segment split a bit, and then FitD came along and it split again. You could argue that Carved from Brindlewood is the next iteration of this division. As the spotlight turned to PBTA, it turned away from Fate.
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This was what I was trying to say.
 
Yes, I think a niche can be occupied by quite different products systematically but which functionally meet the same market need.
 
Whatever happened to Thirsty Sword Lesbians?

I was expecting it to be adopted as a pulpy PBTA system; I've enjoyed it when I've played it; but I don't see it on offer. Even I've not run it.
 
I'm going to hazard a guess that it hasn't disappeared, it's just either burned brightly and then fell back into the PBTA crowd, or many gamers find it a difficult game to run because of the premise - either because they baulk at the idea of empowered female characters and heady romance in a game, or they respectfully do not feel they can do the subject matter justice? Obviously it had an 'expansion' book soon after launch, which is better than 90% of PBTA games (!) but was it expected to have more.

[And you know my view of the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink version of PBTA it uses....]
 
I see variants of Thirsty people on itch.io but I think Neil nailed it. Probably like a lot of the romance RPGs on itch.io, most groups don't feel comfortable with romance.
 
It's a funny one though, isn't it? Has it got more romance in than, say, Apocalypse World or Monsterhearts? Passion de las Passiones still seems to get run outs, as does Good Society - which are much higher % romance.

When it came out someone commented that they wouldn't buy it because they couldn't put it on their shelves in case people judged them (?!?!) - is that part of it, do you think? Is it the edgy title that does for it? Wasn't there a thing with Expo banning/not accepting some games of it?
 
I admit to ignoring Thirsty, largley because I wasn't wanting to play a thirsty lesbian sword twonker. I'm all for empowered women, and indeed lesbians, but the title premise isn't something I want to explore and play out in my tabletop gaming. I have shelves jammed with games to play already.

Have I missed a gem of a PbtA game? What makes the expansion book one of the best PbtA games out there?
 
I haven't read it. So I only know the response of myself looking at the cover.

Which was:

"That's nice and I'm sure it's fun, but it's about S-E-X innit? Never gonna work at the table but I might read it.. OH MY FREAKING GANESH AND ALL THE HINDU BRAHMINS ON FIRE!

It's P-B-T-A!

Run children, run, cover your eyes, edit your memory files and gouge out your tertiary reception tentacles."

I may be a bit traumatized by a PBTA Shadowrun game. To this day no-one has been able to overcome the horror.
 
And thus we have discovered what has happened to Thirsty Sword Lesbians - it's waiting to be revealed at Furnace by Guy. Next!

Also
Guvnor said:
I may be a bit traumatized by a PBTA Shadowrun game. To this day no-one has been able to overcome the horror.
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To parody a Goodness Gracious Me sketch - why haven't you come to your Uncle Neil?!
 
Neil Gow said:
And thus we have discovered what has happened to Thirsty Sword Lesbians - it's waiting to be revealed at Furnace by Guy. Next!

Also


To parody a Goodness Gracious Me sketch - why haven't you come to your Uncle Neil?!
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Or Uncle Graham. :)

Though I don't think my Ironsworn game helped. :LOL:
 
Neil Gow said:
And thus we have discovered what has happened to Thirsty Sword Lesbians - it's waiting to be revealed at Furnace by Guy. Next!

Also


To parody a Goodness Gracious Me sketch - why haven't you come to your Uncle Neil?!
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I don't think it's a secret.
Problem there is that your favourite PBTA seems to be Monsterhearts, which falls into the "teenage angst romance" box that I ain't going near either.
There was some unconvincing illusionist Dungeon World once but I blanked it.
I like Blades in the Dark..
 
First Age said:
I admit to ignoring Thirsty, largley because I wasn't wanting to play a thirsty lesbian sword twonker. I'm all for empowered women, and indeed lesbians, but the title premise isn't something I want to explore and play out in my tabletop gaming. I have shelves jammed with games to play already.
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Exactly my position on the matter, with a side order of not understanding how to play anything in the PBtA clade.
 
I think I saw a couple of games of Thirsty Sword Lesbians on offer at Con-Tingency but PBTA isn't my cup of tea in general (although a game of Root at Seven Hills last year (or the year before ;) ) almost changed my mind).
 
My thoughts on Thirsty Sword Lesbians.

Please note that I'm a cis white dude who is rapidly approaching 60 and I fully understand that this game isn't aimed at me. That's okay. But in the spirit of this discussion...

First, there's the title. It sounds like a porn video (and maybe that's the point), but it also doesn't sell the game to me.

Second, I'm not sure what you do in the game. I'm guessing there are queer folk and drinking and swords? But in what context? (And a quick look at the game's itch.io page doesn't make that much clearer.) What do you do?

(If I had to guess, some kind of fantasy Three Musketeers game? Is that something I want to play? I dunno.)

Third, there's the aggressive queerness. For reasons I probably can't explain without therapy, that puts me off. I don't think I'm homophobic, but I'm allowed to be uncomfortable. (And I suspect I'm not alone.)

I have no issues with romance in RPGs, however. Romance is a feature of many freeforms, and can be great fun. It drives so much drama in life and other media that its absence in most rpgs seems a bit weird.

(Interestingly, I've just found that I've got a copy of Thirsty Sword Lesbians - which I guess I picked up on an Itch bundle at some point. I've never opened it - which I wouldn't read too much into as I suspect I haven't looked at 95% of the games in that bundle.)

Anyway, if @GuyMilner runs it at Furnace, I may sign up, just to find out. Or I may chicken out and play something else instead...
 
GuyMilner said:
Whatever happened to Thirsty Sword Lesbians?

I was expecting it to be adopted as a pulpy PBTA system; I've enjoyed it when I've played it; but I don't see it on offer. Even I've not run it.
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I ran it at 7 Hills this year (slot 3) - which I think makes it the 4th time I've run it at a con. You probably just missed it but it has been on offer.
 
I've played and run Thirsty Sword Lesbians a few times now, although I think the only Garrison con I've taken it to was Revelation where I could be sure of PBTA fans. It appeals to me in a way Monsterhearts doesn't - it's the kind of romance you get in movies like Pirates of the Carribbean, so enjoyably unrealistic and with sword fights rather than any kinds of goings-on. 'Robyn Hood and her Merry Maids' went down well at the cons I took it to.

I can entirely see how it's not everyone's thing and why some people are hesitant to run it, but here's the big secret: you don't actually have to play lesbians if you really don't want to. One guy in our campaign was a bit uncomfortable so played a man who wasn't interested in romance. I probably wouldn't pitch it that way at a con as I assume most people signing up will expect the default experience, but it can be done.

If you enjoy swashbuckling movies and unknowingly picked this one up in an itch bundle, I'd recommend giving it a read. And I should get on and write a new scenario.
 
A couple for @Dom here

Whatever happened to Urban Shadows 2e?

Whatever happened to Blue Planet : Recontact?
 
Like the takeaway that takes three hours and four phone calls to arrive, can something so late ever be hot?
 
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