WhenGirl by Moonlightlanded in my inbox , I knew it was something special . A tabletop role - playing game using theBlades in the Darksystem free-base on theMagical Girlgenre in the year ofBarbie2023 ? I was so quick . The plot take on inspiration from Hellenic shojo manga and shows like Sailor Moon , Revolutionary Girl Utena , Card Captor Sakura , and The Vision of Escaflowne as well as more modern iteration of the literary genre like Puella Magi Madoka Magica , Stephen Universe , and Star vs. The Forces of Evil .
So let ’s get down to it . This is a standalone game , around 250 pages , which includes seven playbooks for character creative activity , four genre - focused “ Series Playsets ” that aid determine history melodic theme and game direction . Also included in the playsets are jumpstart adventures to help get your campaign started . Plus , the prowess . The art ! Truly unbelievable .
I was very excited to get a chance to talk to Andrew Gillis — the author and game room decorator behindGirl by Moonlight , which is being published through Evil Hat Games . It’scurrently crowdfundingand smashed through its funding goal in an minute ! All the extras now being funded are glitter on top of a very sparkly cake . So what does Gillis have to say about their newfangled secret plan ?
Image:Girl by Moonlight | Illustrated by Lorne Colt
Linda Codega , io9 : There ’s a spate of wizardly Girls out there — what take in this genre so limited , not just to you as a interior designer , but to people all over the domain ?
Andrew Gillis : The magical girl genre gives us an opportunity to front outside the dominant ( read : masculine ) mode of storytelling in our acculturation . It ’s not just about identity , though , it ’s about dissimilar ways of envision the world , and approaches to changing it .
Magical girl stories are also tale of hope , which feels very important to hold on to in cynical clock time . Every genre is a exercise set of expectations , and an opportunity to subvert them . I utilise the musical genre very expansively in the biz , and offer up a variety of withdraw on what it could have in mind , and be about . So I think it ’s a very fruitful space in which to secern stories , and a chance for me to tender something unexpected in [ tabletop role - playing game ] .
Image:Girl by Moonlight | Illustration by Simon Sweetman
io9 : How do you equilibrize societal roleplay with combat mechanics ?
Gillis : In Girl by Moonlight the action of the chronicle you tell is run aground in emotion . So whether it ’s a tranquil moment that two character share in downtime , or the climactic confrontation with the series ’ adversary , the inner world of the character matters . The plot give equal mechanical weight to my character direct confronting a big scary monster that was once the captain of the track team , as it does to me appealing to the fragile human warmheartedness that still overreach inside it . It was very authoritative to enable non - trigger-happy , compassionate approach to the threats front the protagonists . I wanted to challenge the idea that our first and best prick should be violence , which is so common in games , and in medium more generally .
io9 : What was your favorite pattern challenge you had to snap during the creation of this game ?
Image:Girl by Moonlight | Illustration by Jabari Weathers
Gillis : The secret plan has four distinct ‘ series playsets ’ that offer unlike site , adversaries , and themes with which to play your own series of Girl by Moonlight . I wanted to build these playsets such that elements from each were inter - operable . The al-Qaida rule of the secret plan use in each , with some small additional elements or variation that are unique to each playset . It postulate that I keep all four in mind when make on the sum rule of the game , which is a lot of possible interactions to describe for . calculate out what needed to live within a series , and what was core to the secret plan generally , really helped me understand the design better , in the remnant . Just as hacking blade in the Dark help me understand how that game worked , I terminate up ascertain about my own biz in the course of , basically , making hacks of it internally .
io9 : What variety of metaphors can be woven throughout this biz and the lineament that people produce ?
Gillis : First and first of all , the game is about transformation , and struggling against a hostile world , so it is always pass to be a metaphor for trans experience . It has a lot of my own experience of that tie up in it . Each of the seven character type , and the four series playsets , have their own pallette of metaphor , though .
Image:Girl by Moonlight | Illustration by Kelsey Phillips
So there ’s a very all-embracing range of ideas and account that players can pick and choose from . So you might play the Time Traveller , who has come back in time to prevent a dire destiny befalling a champion , but that ’s really you exploring how someone might think they bang what ’s best for another . You might toy the Harmony , a character who is the living embodiment of a relationship , and use that to suppose about queer love affair , and how there ’s elbow room in your heart for more than just one mortal . Something I ’ve endeavor to emphasise in the secret plan is giving players a chance to take the conception I supply , and understand and translate them into something that suits their needs . The secret plan volunteer social organisation , and documentation , but also plenty of way for players to extract themselves .
io9 : If you had to choose a magical girl catch phrase , what would it be ?
Gillis : “ Hope is not a design ! ”
Image:Girl by Moonlight | Illustrated by Raven Warner
Even though Bob Hope is crucial to change the populace , Bob Hope is not enough on its own . You need to get organized , and work with your friends to make that change find . I often find overwhelmed by the struggles of my life , nevermind the heavy problems that shape the globe we live in . suffer a design have me break it all down into pieces I can empathise , and actually make forward motion on . Believing in something is a outstanding start , but if you never do anything with it , it does n’t have in mind much . Hope is not a plan .
So I gauge I would be the rival magical girl , who pushes another case to turn their aspiration into realism . I do n’t mind if I create a act of friction , if it arrest things moving . Even if they begrudge me now , they ’ll thank me later .
girlfriend by Moonlightis crowdfunding on Backerkit until June 22 .
need more io9 news ? hold out when to anticipate the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on picture show and TV , and everything you want to have intercourse about the future ofDoctor Who .
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