#Silk & dagger: a sensible drow rpg

[anim-ttrpgs]

You know how there's IRL movies where the protagonist is some lame loser dude who ends up paired up in a crazy situation with a badass woman with years of experience in [crazy situation] and she trains him and he's way better than her in half the time and is the only one who can defeat the bad guy and also she swoons and falls in love with him and becomes a submissive wife. The Drow from Silk & Dagger would make those movies with the sexes reversed.

[mc-cookies]

Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG casts Drow (as they're portrayed in a lot of Forgotten Realms media) as a society of fucked up, comically over the top warrior women with deeply repressed insecurities and extreme superiority complexes. It is very good at portraying these types of women! One media example of this genre of woman is Queen, from Deltarune, and as an exercise to test the robustness of S&D's character creation, I tried to recreate her. It took me all of 15 minutes to create a very accurate and mechanically supported version of her, and most of that time was just me thinking about how to transplant her into S&D's setting.

In particular, the character creation process means that this Drow would be very likely to lounge around on her throne, laugh at people condescendingly, hang around with other people who she shows off to, unpredictably succeed or fail at certain tasks, and do silly bullshit that makes real-world audiences laugh. Any fan of Deltarune will tell you that that is a reasonably good description of how Queen acts throughout most of Chapter 2, and it was effortless to put together in S&D.

Character creation in this game is very easy, and on the Drow mistress side of things, it's very good at creating weird, domineering, hilariously over the top women. Check out the Traits I gave her (listed below the cut) to get a sense of what this game does!

Authoritative Idleness: This Drow gains a +1 Contextual Bonus to any Interpersonal Roll (besides Social Cues) if the Skill check is made while they are the only one in the chamber who is sitting or otherwise lounging casually, such as with her legs crossed, or laying on her side propped up at the hip. She gains an additional +1 Contextual bonus if she is on her throne, and/or an additional +1 bonus if whoever she is speaking to is at a lower elevation.

Laughtracker: This character gains 1 Favor Point every time their actions or dialogue result in at least one player laughing out loud,[1] to a maximum of 1 time per Scene. [1. Sidebar] Meaning players in the real world, not any of the characters in the game world. If any spectators who are not directly participating laugh, that counts too. [Favor, in Silk & Dagger, is a metacurrency that can be exchanged for Boons, which grant advantages on future rolls.]

Noblewoman's Laugh: Up to once per Scene, when this Drow gets a haughty laugh in,[1] partially covering her mouth with her hand, she gains a +1 Contextual bonus to all Interpersonal rolls until the next time she loses Reputation or the end of the Scene. [1. Sidebar] This has to be a situation where it makes any sense for her to be doing a haughty laugh. [Reputation, in Silk & Dagger, is a stat representing how much a Drow is respected, loved, and/or feared by her peers. A PC's Reputation reaching 0 is the main fail state of the game.]

Showboater: This Drow thrives on showing off. Add a +1 Contextual bonus to any Skill roll this Drow makes as long as two or more people are watching her. However, she takes a -1 penalty to all rolls when nobody is watching.

Unpredictable: All rolls for this Drow must be made with a 1D12 instead of the usual 2D6. If using a Boon, add an extra D12 instead of an extra D6 and only count the highest die. [If you're unfamiliar with how probability works with multiple dice, this essentially makes extreme results more likely. With 2d6, the range of roll values is from 2 to 12, but values closer to 6 and 7 are most likely, which in S&D means that Partial Successes are more common. Using 1d12 means that every value from 1 to 12 is equally likely, so the character is more likely to get unexpected full successes or failures.]

[faeriedaez]

Something I really appreciate about @anim-ttrpgs's upcoming Silk & Dagger is that it is in my opinion very approachable when compared to similar games. Which, if you’ve READ Silk and Dagger you might be cocking your head at that claim, because I will admit. Silk and Dagger is unique - it has some mechanics that are doing things I legitimately don’t think I’ve ever seen any other TTRPG do.

But let me explain what I mean. I have, in the past, tried to get into games that, for example, place you as like a British aristocrat or whatever. But these sorts of games - they ASSUME you already kinda know the social norms and stereotypes of Regency Era Gentry. 

…Which like. I don’t. 

But, the conceit of Silk & Dagger promises the very same thing that made those other games attractive to me. It places the player into the restrictive and ridiculous norms of a highly stratified society. BUT since it's a brand new set of fantasy norms, the book EXPLAINS them to you. Making it a far more approachable example of this kind of play because you're not expected to already know the ins and outs of an existing society at a specific point in history. Not only that, the game FULLY mechanicalizes the norms and stratifications in a way none of the other games could. (After all, if they DID I wouldn’t have felt the need to already know them, right?)

Anyways, as far as I know Silk & Dagger is getting an Ashcan release in a month or so, but if all this sounds intriguing to you here’s the patreon. For just a five dollar entry fee, you’ll get the game at its latest states, (AND likewise for the OTHER genre defining masterclass of game design ANIM created, the hot and upcoming Eureka - bbbbut this isn’t about her.) and believe me when I say the team NEEDS the money. 

[mc-cookies]

@anim-ttrpgs

My collection of spider-themed wine mom home decor, so far

[sirobvious]

I beat Deltarune chapter 2 and will soon be moving on to the new parts. Queen is basically one of the archetypes of a Silk & Dagger Mistress

[chaospyromancy]

A Squad of Drow is now available!

Many of you are already familiar with @anim-ttrpgs's Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG but if you're not, it's about playing a beautiful woman who has something wrong with her. Well, there's other stuff in there like dark comedy, caves, and clever social commentary, but the insane women bit is what I care about. I made character design zine for it using the manual's tables to generate many women who have something wrong with them, and it's available on itchi.io at the beautiful price of whatever you want. Check it out!!

[thydungeongal]

do you have any recs for medieval fantasy RPG's more character driven and not as challenge based as Pathfinder or DnD?

Fantasy World aims at doing fantasy by way of the PbtA framework but in a way where instead of just doing D&D style dungeon fantasy using the framework it aims for a more dramatic style of play. It has a free SRD which you can find through the following link as well as being able to download the first chapter and play sheets of the game through here.

Swords Without Master, found in Worlds Without Master, issue 3, is a sword and sorcery RPG that is not really interested in challenge, but in tone: rolls are not used to determine success or failure but the tone of a given action.

For something a bit more on the trad side there is Mythras, effectively a version of RuneQuest 6th edition without the RuneQuest license. It is still a very traditional game in its structure but much more so than the dungeon-gaming of D&D and Pathfinder Mythras is sort of like trying to present a verisimilar fantasy world, along with multiple magic systems and a toolbox approach to really make player characters feel like inhabitants of a living world. It's not just a dry simulation game either, as it included mechanics for organization membership and invoking character beliefs and relationships for benefit, making it a game that really rewards character integrated into the setting.

Also gonna plug Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG by @anim-ttrpgs. It has only just been released and it is a very different type of fantasy RPG, but with a very specific focus. It is very much a comedy of manners about a society of dark elves with extremely byzantine rules of etiquette. Really unique in both concept and execution, promises to be a riot in actual play. Imagine a social situation where the one in a position of authority really has to project competence and poise, even when they have no idea what they are doing, and their subordinates must at the same time support their subordinate while at the same time being careful not to upstage them so as to embarrass them, while also having to subscribe to an intricate web of social mores so as to not bring shame to anyone? That's Silk & Dagger.

[veryextraincorrectfegbaquotes]

So, an excerpt from the alpha book of 'Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG' was brought to my attention.

My Impact Is Undeniable

[anim-ttrpgs]

I wish it were part of my job to reblog hot goth elves on tumblr

You have no idea how stressful this is.

[mc-cookies]

I saw someone mention that their Drow's palace (read: renovated cave system) in Silk & Dagger was so shitty that it didn't even have a spider pit. Then I blacked out, and when I came to, this was on my screen.

(If you're interested in dark humor sitcom shenanigans involving backstabbing BDSM-themed dark elf nobility and their maids/servants/roommates, then you'll love Silk & Dagger, which has an alpha version of the rulebook available right now! Coming from ANIM TTRPGs, the premier studio for indie tabletop games that put evil goth women in absurd situations, it has loads of mechanics for over-the-top characters navigating a variety of intricate social minefields in a deeply fucked up society. It truly captures the tragedy and comedy of trying to live up to social norms in a fun dark fantasy package.)

[mc-cookies]

@anim-ttrpgs

i need to think about elfs in a normal way. no pervert intentions officer

[anim-ttrpgs]

Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG

(thumbnail art by @chaospyromancy)

Drow: Intensely matriarchal, tunnel-dwelling, scantily-clad warriors obsessed with an evil spider goddess. Why would anyone with access to magic and resources live in tunnels and fight half-naked? Enter: Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG.

These dark elves have a long and sordid history, but now they live in a network of tightly constraining social rules, entangling them like a useless servant in the webs of a domesticated spider. Every Drow is the matriarch of a household of servants, and together (and apart), they must navigate the edicts of the Spider Goddess and keep up the Reputation that keeps them safe against other Drow.

Asymmetric Gameplay 

Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG features two distinct player-character classes, and two distinct game master roles.

Players either take the role of a brutal mistress whom everything she says goes, whether she understands what she’s talking about or not, and whose position of dominance is maintained by the respect of her peers, respect that hinges on how brutal and controlling she is to her subordinates; or an array of pathetic servants who are helpless without their mistress’s “leadership,” (and maybe even be more so with it).

In addition to the standard game master role, the one who sets up the scenario and runs the NPCs, there is a secondary game master role, that of the Spider Goddess, representing the social scrutiny weighing down on every caste of this strict, ruthless society. Silk & Dagger encourages rotation of players in and out of these roles, rewarding them with points that can be spent to give their own PCs an edge next time they play a PC.

Satire and Deconstruction 

Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG takes many of the established trappings of “dark elves” and asks “what kind of society and environment would actually produce individuals like this?” This question is the springboard off which the satire launches, and lands uncomfortably close to home.

Comedy 

Taking inspiration from games like Paranoia, Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG presents a situation where survival often hinges on working together, but social pressures, class divides, and constant scrutiny encourage player-characters to do anything but, resulting in a sitcom-esque comedy-of-errors in a grimdark, lightless world.

[anim-ttrpgs]

The hardest part isn’t convincing people that our approach to playing TTRPGs is the best one ever, that isn’t even what we're trying to do. The hardest part is convincing people that any distinct deliberate approachs even exists at all, and that individual TTRPGs will play better if approached with the approach that they were designed to be approached with.

[anim-ttrpgs]

This happened to a friend of mine so I'm warning everyone, no matter how fashionable or sexy a (Silk&Dagger) Drow looks, do not tell her she is “serving”!

[anim-ttrpgs]

Silk & Dagger & Disability

So, obviously, the main thing Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG is about is capitalism and slavery through indirect means, but people really resonate with the disability readings of my work, so here’s this.

So, unlike Eureka, Silk & Dagger is technically a class-based RPG, but it only has two classes, Mistress and Servant, which is the joke. (It’s literally their socio-economic classes.)

It also has two races, elf and man, A.K.A. humans.

“Race” is not normally something I default to when writing RPGs, but in this case it’s a matter of the inspiration and source material that Silk & Dagger is parodying. The thing is, though, that still isn’t really what Silk & Dagger is about. It’s about class and forced labor, and the way that these two “races” map onto that is not really applicable to how that works in the real world. That’s one of the reasons that Silk & Dagger doesn’t have a whole roster of “races,” it would make people even more likely to try and read it as a racism allegory when it’s not.

So, there’s the dark elves that live in the underground caves. Dark elves can see in the dark, have sensitive ears that move and that ear movement is part of their language, and they don’t sleep, among other things.

You, reading this, are probably a human so you know that humans can’t see in the dark, can’t really move their ears, and do need to sleep regularly.

While dark elves are actually still not particularly well-suited for life in these caves, nor the society they live in, their innate abilities make them much more suited to it than humans.

The people in charge of division of labor in this society pretty much all happen to be dark elves, who have obviously never been humans and never will be, and have an interest in their underlings working as much and as hard as possible. So when they get servants who can’t see, can’t hear, and can’t communicate as well as a normal person, and these servants try to say they also need to take more time off than a normal person, you can probably see where I’m going here. The response is that humans are dumb, lazy, ungrateful, parasitic, worthless, etc.. Many Drow don’t even think “sleep” is real, they think it’s something humans are making up to get out of work.

These humans are people who would be able to thrive somewhere else, in some other situation, but they’re not in that situation, they’re in another situation that the Drow forced them to be in. They have no choice but to do a job their body is not good at, do it worse than everybody else because of this, and be considered dumb, lazy, and a liar the whole time.

I’m sure many of you reading this will find this situation familiar.

Oh and also the little candles that humans need to see in pitch black caves are constantly blamed for the buildup of carbon dioxide in the enclosed cave systems by Drow who burn coal to heat their bathtubs.

[anim-ttrpgs]

The maid and princess side of tumblr has got to check out Silk & Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG.