Thirsty Sword Lesbians Guide — Build an Adventure Around Relationships
Thirsty Sword Lesbians is worth considering when your group wants a confrontation to change a relationship as well as a situation. Its invitation is queer adventure with emotional stakes: characters can care about an opponent, disagree with someone they love, and find that a victory leaves an important conversation unfinished. This is a guide to choosing and preparing the game, not a report of a campaign played for this article.
What you are buying
April Kit Walsh’s standalone roleplaying game is published by Evil Hat Productions and belongs to the Powered by the Apocalypse family. The core book supplies nine playbooks organized around emotional conflicts, setting tools, GM guidance, and starting situations. The publisher provides downloadable playbooks and handouts. Begin with that core game; a supplement is not required to understand the basic proposition.
Choose it for the conversation your group wants
The useful test is whether players want their characters’ feelings to affect their choices openly. Someone who enjoys arguing with a beloved rival, offering comfort after a dangerous scene, or choosing between belonging and independence has a clear reason to investigate this game. Someone who mainly wants equipment optimization and carefully measured movement may be looking for a different evening.
Do not equate emotional play with a demand for personal disclosure. A player can create a vivid fictional relationship without explaining their own life. Agree on romantic boundaries, unwanted themes, and an easy way to pause or revise a scene. Ask which kinds of attention each character welcomes before turning that attention into a surprise.
Prepare relationships before elaborate geography
For a first session, write a place in one sentence, a public problem in another, and three people with conflicting hopes. Ask each player to connect their character to one of those people. You need enough context to make a decision meaningful, not a complete atlas.
A useful preparation question is “Why might this person listen?” Give an opponent a commitment they want to protect, someone whose opinion matters, or a reason to doubt the order they received. That creates room for negotiation without guaranteeing that a sympathetic speech fixes everything.
An original opening: the last night of the observatory
A city council plans to close a neighborhood observatory at sunrise. The astronomer has discovered something dangerous in the sky, the council’s envoy believes closure will protect the district, and the night caretaker is hiding a visitor who knows why the telescope was damaged.
Ask the party why this place matters to them. One character may have made a promise there; another may distrust the astronomer; a third may know the envoy. Start when officials arrive to take the keys. Players can investigate the damage, reach an agreement, protect the visitor, or reveal the discovery publicly.
This is an original situation to adapt through the game’s actual moves. It is not a published scenario or a new rules module. Keep the immediate facts clear and let the characters decide which relationships they are prepared to risk.
Keep emotional consequences playable
After a major exchange, name what changed in ordinary language. Someone now trusts a character with a secret. An ally wants an explanation. An opponent has accepted help but still disagrees about the solution. Give players something they can respond to next.
Avoid deciding another character’s feelings for their player. Apply the written procedures and preserve the choices those procedures leave open. The aim is a developing relationship, not a GM verdict about the correct emotional response.
Where to start
Read the official Evil Hat product description and downloads, then discuss one setting and the tone of the relationships before character creation. Check the selected format and included digital material when ordering.
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