Always Stretch First
over 3 years ago – Fri, Oct 16, 2020 at 06:17:17 PM

Friends, you have been absolutely lavish in your support. It’s day three of the campaign and we’ve added another 400 backers in search of dangerous intrigue, tantalizing exchanges, and furtive glances over half-filled cups of wine.

We'll revisit all the previous stretch goals as the campaign unfolds (yesterday's update was already a big one) but here's what you've unlocked since our last update:

•  Crystalia, by Ash Kreider. Can the Elemental Archons of Crystalia put aside their differences long enough to find the secret weapon which will defeat the Lich Prime or will they be crushed beneath the heel of his Necrohorde army?
•  Battle Bards of the Solar System, by Bryanna Hitchcock. In the future humanity has spread across the solar system from Venus to Neptune but we are just as fractious as ever. Battle Bards are pledged to solve conflicts and bring resolution through music and competition!
•  The Troubadour Playbook, also by Bryanna Hitchcock. The Troubadour lives to entertain and have a good time, but self-expression often takes a back seat to earning a living and maintaining privilege. Keeping everyone happy is both her blessing and her curse. Her central conflict is speaking her truth versus her need to be liked. Relatable… 

Altogether that makes eight additional settings and three new playbooks we will be creating as bonus materials for the game. Plus the VTT assets you can access right now to give us a dozen funded stretches. Thank you!

If you’re looking for some behind-the-scenes, Ana Valens at the daily dot did a nice overview of the KS and interviewed April about her goals and motivation for creating the game.

We’re about $1k away from unlocking a new setting by James Mendez Hodes: To Lay Down One’s Life For Another. James takes TSL to Japan’s late Heian period, when the provincial knights challenge courtly aristocrats’ grip on power. Steal a perfect instant of love and beauty from Japanese chivalry’s tragic peak before it all collapses in the Latter Day of the Law.

The initial rush of the first-48 is over and we’ll soon be into the slower climb of the campaign, but we have more planned for you lovelies yet so help us spread the word and keep the dance in motion.

And thank you as always for your support!

A Very Passionate First Encounter!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 10:14:42 PM

Thank you so much to all of you! Over 1500+ backers made the first day of Thirsty Sword Lesbians a smashing success! Not only did we fund production of the game but you nimbly danced through no less than nine different stretch goals in our first 24 hours! We are truly humbled and grateful for the amazing support that you’ve all shown.

Most of the stretch goals - like the six new settings, or the new Naga and Matriarch playbooks - will begin development after the KS and get delivered next year. Our approach is to get the finished game into production (and into your hands) as soon as we can so you’re not stuck waiting for the book while bonus material is in development. 

But one of those stretches you can start using right now.

Virtual TableTop (VTT) Art Assets

The VTT assets for All Backers stretch goal includes files for character portraits for all the iconic characters, iconic character tokens, generic tokens, a Thirsty Sword Lesbians background, and a special overlay tray you can use to track Strings. You can find this folder in the same place as the TSL preview PDF: in Backer Update #1

But that's not all.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians Character Sheet in Roll20

While the files are compatible with whatever VTT you use, this morning we launched the complete, customizable Thirsty Sword Lesbians character sheet on Roll20. It includes all the moves and playbooks so you don’t have to tinker with adding rules or adapting from some other PbtA character sheet. (Which, frankly, would be a pain.)

Best of all, the character sheet is free for anyone with a Roll20 account. So if you’re on Roll20 and you have friends who are, umm, curious about the game, you can spin up a session and they can try it out for themselves.

Putting it all together

And if all of this is leaving you feeling a bit overwhelmed, we filmed a complete walk-thru to get you set up with both the character sheet and the assets on Roll20. It shows you how to download the images, load them into Roll20, create a token marker set, create a character, upload the token art, track strings, and more.

We want you to have a safe, easy-going experience with Thirsty Sword Lesbians. If you can’t get together with friends and try it out (and it most parts of the country you probably can’t) we hope that Roll20 offers you the chance to responsibly enjoy this cheeky, joyously queer game. If you have more questions about using Roll20 we have some Token Marker Tips on our web site and the Roll20 Wiki is also a great resource.

So, is this the same thing as the Roll20 Module?

This is just the beginning! The Roll20 Module (included in the Cyber Flirt, Cyber Smitten, and NICE pledge levels) will be developed once we have all the art complete. It will also include all the settings and adventures from the book, more tokens, worldbuilding handouts, pre-generated characters, and more!

When you become Smitten with someone, say why

Thank you again for your support! The outpouring of response and the rate at which we achieved those stretch goals wildly exceeded our expectations. Rest assured, we have more hijinks afoot, so tell your friends and spread the word.

One final note: We’re going to communicate regularly but we’re not going to spam your inbox. So expect an update when we hit a new stretch but if we somehow hit multiple stretches in a single day, we’ll just send you one update. Like we did here. We’re always available in the comments if you have a question.

We did it! Thirsty Sword Lesbians has funded and we're blasting onward to stretch goals
over 3 years ago – Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 11:36:26 PM

April here, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude! This beautiful book is going to be a reality, thanks to you! I’ve been working on this game for over two years and it has come a long way. Between itch supporters, Evil Hat, playtesters, contributing authors, and now you, it’s been a group effort and a journey that I treasure, one that’s helped me grow as a game designer and brought together an amazing team.
And we’re just getting started! The lineup for our stretch goals is frankly awe-inspiring and I can’t wait for you to see the powerful and imaginative contributions that these designers are making. But I have to wait, because that’s how unveiling stretch goals work—so please, keep spreading the word and keep up the momentum! And, as always, keep sharing the stories of your Thirsty Sword Lesbians because I will never get sick of hearing them <3

Thank you all SO much for your support!

~April~

Draw your sword: Your Preview PDF is Here
over 3 years ago – Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 06:44:43 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.