Thirsty Sword Lesbians vs Vampire: The Masquerade
Compare Thirsty Sword Lesbians and Vampire: The Masquerade side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Thirsty Sword Lesbians | Vampire: The Masquerade | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Scifi, Cyberpunk, Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Tags | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Collaborative, Playbook-Driven, CC-Licensed Rules, Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly | Social Intrigue, Faction Play, Urban Fantasy, Corruption, Drama, Investigation, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll a pool of d10s (attribute + skill), count successes (6+). Hunger dice replace regular dice in the pool: their 10s trigger Messy Criticals and their 1s trigger Bestial Failures, making the Beast an ever-present threat. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 (text) | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Powered by Lesbians open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2021 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups seeking queer action romance centered on personal relationships. It supports one-shots and campaigns built through collaborative setting creation. | Drama-heavy campaigns exploring themes of addiction, power, and losing your humanity. |
| Highlights | 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. | Hunger system mechanically integrates the vampire's predatory nature into every dice roll. Clan membership and sect politics structure who a character allies with and opposes, giving the social game mechanical weight. Humanity and Stains system tracks moral erosion with narrative consequences. |
| Considerations | 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. | Hunger dice inject swingy results at the worst moments, since a Bestial Failure can surface on a critical roll. Play leans heavily on social and political maneuvering, so groups expecting frequent combat will find that side of the system thin. Choosing a clan and predator type at creation assumes setting knowledge the player may not have yet. |