Dogs in the Vineyard vs Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Compare Dogs in the Vineyard and Thirsty Sword Lesbians side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dogs in the Vineyard | Thirsty Sword Lesbians | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Historical, Fantasy | Fantasy, Scifi, Cyberpunk, Modern |
| Tags | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Tag-Based, Drama, Collaborative, Improvisation, Roleplay-Heavy, Social Combat, Strong GM Support | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Collaborative, Playbook-Driven, CC-Licensed Rules, Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d4–d10 pool from relevant Stats and Relationships. Players Raise with two dice and See by spending dice that match or exceed the Raise. Traits, belongings, and escalation add dice as they enter the conflict. Seeing with three or more dice earns Fallout. Giving concedes the stakes. | 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 | d4–d10 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | CC BY-SA 4.0 (text) |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Commercial publishing allowed — Powered by Lesbians open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | lumpley games | Evil Hat Productions |
| Year | 2004 | 2021 |
| Languages | English, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish | English, French |
| Best For | Groups who want episodic frontier drama built around difficult moral judgments and arguments that can escalate into violence. | Groups seeking queer action romance centered on personal relationships. It supports one-shots and campaigns built through collaborative setting creation. |
| Highlights | Escalation supplies fresh dice at the risk of harsher consequences, making continued opposition a choice about what the stakes are worth. Fallout changes Traits and Relationships to carry conflict consequences into later play. The town-creation ladder builds crises from interconnected grievances without prescribing how the Dogs should resolve them. | 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 Faith's patriarchal theology supplies concrete grievances in the town-creation rules and needs deliberate rewriting for another religious framework. Conflicts abstract range and movement into narrated actions rather than measured positioning. The GM must challenge the Dogs' judgments without preparing a preferred solution. | 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. |