Call of Cthulhu vs Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Thirsty Sword Lesbians side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Thirsty Sword Lesbians | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Fantasy, Scifi, Cyberpunk, Modern |
| Tags | Investigation, Deadly, One-Shot Friendly, Atmospheric, Roleplay-Heavy, Mystery, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Corruption, Skill-Based | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Collaborative, Playbook-Driven, CC-Licensed Rules, Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under your skill percentage. Success tiers at half (Hard) and one-fifth (Extreme) of the skill value. Bonus and penalty dice adjust the tens digit. Failed rolls can be pushed for a second attempt at greater risk. | When a move's fictional trigger occurs, roll 2d6 plus Daring, Grace, Heart, Wit, or Spirit. Each move defines the consequences for an up beat on 10+, a mixed beat on 7–9, or a down beat on 6-; down beats mark XP and let the GM introduce a complication. |
| Dice | d100 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | CC BY-SA 4.0 (text) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Powered by Lesbians open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Evil Hat Productions |
| Year | 2014 | 2021 |
| Best For | Investigation-driven horror where combat is deadly and sanity is fragile. Great for one-shots. | Groups seeking queer action romance centered on personal relationships. It supports one-shots and campaigns built through collaborative setting creation. |
| Highlights | Tracking Sanity as a depletable score ties mental erosion to the fiction, so confronting cosmic horror mechanically wears characters down. The percentile skills resolve on a d100 roll-under, with Hard and Extreme bands at half and one-fifth of the rating. Bouts of Madness convert failed Sanity checks into temporary phobias, manias, or loss of character control. | Conditions impose concrete penalties until recovery scenes or destructive actions clear them. Strings let characters influence rolls or tempt choices, making relationships mechanically consequential. Playbook conflicts and Smitten prompts give each romance a source of dramatic tension. |
| Considerations | The chase rules add a detailed positioning subsystem whose complexity outweighs how often it sees use. Character creation allocates points across a long list of skills, a slow first step for new players. In long campaigns the sanity spiral can strip a character of player control as madness accumulates. | There is no general move for persuading an NPC directly, so mechanical leverage comes from gaining and spending Strings. The default Fight move resolves one exchange rather than a turn-based combat round, but optional Expanded Fight Moves support longer duels. Exploration and investigation rely on fictional positioning or Defy Disaster instead of dedicated procedures. |