American gothic horror tabletop RPG set in the Thirteen Colonies of 1776.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Actual Play tonight at 5pm CDT + interview with TK Johnson!
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 02:05:36 PM
Hello friends,
Thank you to all who have watched our FLAMES OF FREEDOM Actual Plays to date! Please let us know what you think. We honestly want to hear from you.
Don’t forget Encounter Roleplay’s adventure coming up tonight:
And if you miss it, don’t worry – we will be sharing links to the archived sessions in a few days.
Today, we are pleased to introduce you to another team member – TK Johnson!
TK Johnson is a freelance speculative fiction writer, narrative designer, editor, and eldritch horror. They are a cast member of the suboptimal comedy stream team, Indoor Recess, and the Dungeon Master of Roll20's Mythic Odysseys of Theros on the official Dungeons & Dragons Twitch channel. Their work can be found on their website: tkjwrites.com and pictures of their cat, Poindexter, can be found on their Twitter.
Q: Flames of Freedom involves a number of new and experienced designers on the project. Can you tell us about your role on the team and where you felt your contributions and writing made the most difference?
TK Johnson: I primarily designed flash fiction for Legends and Threats in this book, but I also helped guide the lens for some of the Black-specific sections in the Preamble. I think it's just as important to outline what people should not expect from this book – such as slavery mechanics – as it is to list the amazing things that you CAN do.
Listening to those with lived experiences and the act of inclusivity are principles we center in all tabletop RPGs we design. Can you tell us about how your identity and experiences helped inform your writing on Flames of Freedom?
My parents are an interracial couple, so I'm a member of the Black community. That said, I took a backseat to Tanya and Gabe, as my experiences will not always inform me in the same capacity. Luckily, this team had a good handle on issues that I've had in other teams, and they were always open to my input. As for writing, I'm from rural Kentucky, so the flash fiction that I brought in all has a decidedly Southern Gothic twang to it, which slots nicely in a more "Colonial Gothic" setting.
Most tabletop RPGs focus on the combat aspect of the game, whereas Flames of Freedom treats overland journeys, social interactions and chase scenes with equal focus. What is your favorite subsystem in Flames of Freedom, and why?
Oh, I LOVE a good chase scene. There is so much room for improvisation, and the higher stakes necessitate quick thinking. Anything to get the blood rushing!
“Race” has always been contentious ground for tabletop RPGs. In Flames of Freedom, the game seeks to examine cultures as individuals and in relation to others. Do you feel your culture is represented in Flames of Freedom, and why is it important for you?
I do think I'm well-represented in the book – however, I think that it's more important that multiple sensitivity readers and cultural consultants were members of the development and writing team: We could shape our own representation and form a racially inclusive narrative.
One hallmark of games Powered by Zweihänder is to present a myriad of choices of character professions and classes to play. Flames of Freedom has at least 84. Which are your favorite and why?
I love the Sin Eater, in the Mage Archetype list. It's so completely my aesthetic that I will probably choose it every time. Apothecary is a close second.
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Stay tuned for Sean Van Damme later this week!
Cheers,
-d.fx
Monday updates, new Add-Ons and a new First Look and Actual Play coming this week!
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 09:48:40 PM
Hello friends,
A happy start of the week to you! We are beyond thrilled with your response to FLAMES OF FREEDOM during the first seven days, especially so many great comments and questions. Keep them coming! We promise we are listening.
First and foremost, we are excited to offer a brand-new add-on option to your pledge:
Purchase the Zweihander Revised Rulebook, the Zweihander Player’s Handbook, or the Main Gauche Supplement (or all three!) at substantialdiscounts. This is an exclusive offer for our Kickstarter backers only, so be sure to take advantage! These books will come with limited edition bookmarks, and will be shipped just in time for the holidays in 2020. They have their own shipping charges (which will be collected in Backerkit w/ customs). We are also continuing our work to get further reduced international shipping rates:
United States $10 + $5 each additional book ordered
Saturday updates + an interview with Anna Goldberg
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 02:17:43 PM
Hello friends,
Hopefully you are all enjoying your well-deserved weekend! Thank you for an amazing first week for FLAMES OF FREEDOM here on Kickstarter. Thanks to you, we just broke $40,000! We are beyond excited to have you on board.
Now please meet Anna. She is another integral part of our team, and joins us for a Q&A:
Anna Goldberg is a writer, editor, and ttrpg streamer living in the Pacific Northwest. She has a degree in English from the University of Florida and did her graduate fellowship there in Early American Literature, with a focus on gender and sexuality studies. She never expected studying Puritan smut could get her a job in ttrpgs, but she’s happily surprised it has! Anna is also the cofounder of the Disability Readathon, a month-long event dedicated to celebrating books and media by, for, and about disabled people. When she’s not editing, you can also find her streaming ttrpgs on Twitch, usually in cosplay, always with feeling. Her dooming? “Beware the soup brewed of Chaos, for it brings nothing but thirst”.
Q: Flames of Freedom involves a number of new and experienced designers on the project. Can you tell us about your role on the team and where you felt your contributions and writing made the most difference?
Anna Goldberg: Sure! I’m a development editor, writer, and sensitivity reader on this project, so I wear many different hats. I actually joined the team after I’d been playtesting Flames of Freedom and reached out to Daniel, who then onboarded me to the team. My background is in Early American Literature and how they viewed gender and sexuality--basically, I did a graduate fellowship that allowed me to read a lot of Puritan smut and talk about how 17th century people had a much more sophisticated view of human sexuality than we give them credit for. So it was amazing to work on a project like this that combines my love of gaming with my expertise in this area.
Listening to those with lived experiences and the act of inclusivity are principles we center in all tabletop RPGs we design. Can you tell us about how your identity and experiences helped inform your writing on Flames of Freedom?
I came to this project because I offered to do some sensitivity reading around disability and accessibility--disabled people make up nearly one fifth of the U.S. population, yet we are among the least represented in media, and we’re often left out of representation in games particularly. I wanted Flames of Freedom to reflect the lived reality of disabled people in history, and a lot of that has to do with creating game mechanics that treat disability not as a punishment or obstacle to overcome, but as something that is a part of life.
In both this time period and in a grim & perilous game, people are both born disabled and acquire disabilities through illness or injury. I wanted to help make a game that reflected the real-life creativity and resilience of disabled people like myself, and also make sure that we worked with consultants to make the game accessible to as many gamers as possible. Something I’m really proud of is that we’ll be releasing a PDF of the game that is compatible with screen reader technology, which means that blind and visually impaired gamers will have access to the game. This needs to be the norm in tabletop rpgs, and while we still have a long way to go, I think we have a great opportunity here to lead by example.
Most tabletop RPGs focus on the combat aspect of the game, whereas Flames of Freedom treats overland journeys, social interactions and chase scenes with equal focus. What is your favorite subsystem in Flames of Freedom, and why?
I’m a big fan of the way overland travel works in this game! Most ttrpgs I’ve played kind of gloss over travel altogether, unless it’s to include a random combat encounter or something that advances the plot, but in Flames of Freedom, travel is hard! It’s dangerous and not to be taken lightly, much like in real life during this period. I think the way that we’ve divided up the roles the different characters will take during a journey is going to add some interesting narrative moments to the game, as well as give players an idea of just how arduous travel could be during this period. We take it for granted because we have cars, trains, and planes, but in Flames of Freedom, the journeys your characters take are anything but trivial.
“Race” has always been contentious ground for tabletop RPGs. In Flames of Freedom, the game seeks to examine cultures as individuals and in relation to others. Do you feel your culture is represented in Flames of Freedom, and why is it important for you?
I do, but I am also white, and I often find people who look like me in text and artwork of ttrpg’s. We have an incredible team of people from a wide array of cultural backgrounds working on Flames of Freedom, and I want to pass the mic to them to talk about what it means to them. I also want to challenge more ttrpg companies to hire diversely and pay their cultural consultants well! Not only will this make the games themselves better, but also it’s an important part of anti-racist work within the industry.
One hallmark of games Powered by Zweihänder is to present a myriad of choices of character professions and classes to play. Flames of Freedom has at least 84. Which are your favorite and why?
Argh, just one?! I think I have to go with the Weaver--I love the idea that someone who works with fiber and cloth has insight into the supernatural because they can see the literal threads of fate. I tend to play characters with some sort of magical knack in Zweihänder, and I think that when I actually get to play Flames of Freedom, I’m going to start out as a Weaver.
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Finally, you can now find a first FAQ list on our page. We will add on to it as we receive new questions that haven’t been covered yet.
Cheers,
-d.fx
Friday updates & an interview with developer Gabe Hicks on FLAMES OF FREEDOM!
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Oct 10, 2020 at 12:14:37 PM
Hello friends,
WOW! What a week it’s been! Our Kickstarter is now over $38K, and we can’t wait for you to get to the next Stretch Goal, which is a set of six Kickstarter-only FLAMES OF FREEDOM dice. They'll be customized with the engraved Rising Star, marking the face '6' for when D6 Fury Die explode for massive damage. The face 10 on the D10 and D% will be engraved with Skull, marked for critical hits.
Rebels, roll for initiative.
So share this campaign with your friends! (You’ll want them to play anyway, right? Right.) Simply use this link: http://flames.zweihander.game
We are pleased to introduce you to another developer on our team today – Gabe Hicks! Gabe has also agreed to a Q&A on his work with FLAMES OF FREEDOM:
Gabe Hicks is an independent game designer for digital and tabletop. He's currently working on a Goblin Dating Sim called Hidden Treasures, created the CMM an alternate creation tool for 5e focused on narrative and the class itself which has been downloaded over 10,000 times and been featured on multiple shows and even the Roll20 marketplace. He has worked with Roll20, Paizo, Shadow Health, MageHandPress, MCDM, Grim & Perilous Studios, and more. An avid cosplayer, voice actor, streamer, and writer Gabe is seen wearing many hats with the focus that you can always find a balance, especially when you learn who can help you create those stories. He leads a group called Mythic Grove that focuses on highlighting smaller creators to give them an opportunity and platform on a game design project so they can both get experience and show their capability. One of the most important focuses for him is the emphasis of what a community can create. "Let's put more magic into the world, together."
Q: Flames of Freedom involves a number of new and experienced designers on the project. Can you tell us about your role on the team and where you felt your contributions and writing made the most difference?
Gabe Hicks: So I work as a designer and primarily a consultant on the African American and Black representation. The 1700s was not a great time for people of color in the colonial world. I feel like that hits right on the head where my job comes into play the most. There's a difference between historical accuracy and historical reference, and oftentimes we feel like we have to talk about some of the harsher things in history, but there are some stories that other people do not need to tell. There are some instances that people should not recreate, and slavery alone is a big one. Some games try to reference slavery in plenty of different ways when in my opinion, often the best choice would be to try to integrate it as much as possible altogether. This game has become an altered telling of history with fantasy aspects mixed in, and there are plenty of pieces of history that we could have done better and we didn't get a chance to. Here's a chance to do that in a game form.
Listening to those with lived experiences and the act of inclusivity are principles we center in all tabletop RPGs we design. Can you tell us about how your identity and experiences helped inform your writing on Flames of Freedom?
It has been nice being heard. My mother was a woman born in the South during the peak time of segregation, and some of the stories that she told me were terrifying. The stories my grandmother had before her as well, and we've improved more and more, but it's stuff that has stayed with us because when we consider the idea of 1776, that was merely a few generations ago, this stuff is still relatively recent. This has given me the chance to really explicitly talk about how there is a difference between acknowledgment and understanding and sometimes it might only be one of the two that you can get. There has been a lot of both, though, that when it comes to the harsher treatment of especially Black people, a large amount of the team might acknowledge it but they don't understand it, and when it comes to showing what points of that in the game should be highlighted versus creating the game in a sense of what would have been equal treatment of people regardless of color in that time, it's been good to be able to focus on proper modern representation rather than historical disappointments.
Most tabletop RPGs focus on the combat aspect of the game, whereas Flames of Freedom treats overland journeys, social interactions and chase scenes with equal focus. What is your favorite subsystem in Flames of Freedom, and why?
It really is the chase scenes. It's a really unique feature and it gives an exciting pace to it while still keeping the encounter flexible. It could be combat-related, it could be that you're just trying to get away as fast as possible. It could be related to vehicles (which, having a type of event built in for vehicles as if you're navigating on horseback and running through the night while trying to avoid your pursuers, that's my jam). I love that stuff.
“Race” has always been contentious ground for tabletop RPGs. In Flames of Freedom, the game seeks to examine cultures as individuals and in relation to others. Do you feel your culture is represented in Flames of Freedom, and why is it important for you?
I do feel represented! Race is a very complicated thing in games, and I personally don't think it always has to be. I'd really argue that the reason it is is because it was built on an archaic foundation by people who were not diverse. I feel represented because even if it's not the way people would imagine it, the way this game comes across is: This is how diversity could and should have been different people of different races living together and normalcy, because that's the way that we strive and survive. The Black person isn't a slave, the Black person doesn't have to have any relation to slavery from this point, the Black person is just another person in the colonies doing what they need to do to survive. It makes them characters and not caricatures for people to play.
One hallmark of games Powered by Zweihänder is to present a myriad of choices of character professions and classes to play. Flames of Freedom has at least 84. Which are your favorite and why?
I think the one that really sticks out for me is the barber. This game puts an emphasis on the fact that these are sometimes just people who become involved in this world. The people that were fighting in the war were barbers, bakers, butchers – oddly, a lot of B’s were my first choices. The idea that a barber becomes involved in this fight after potentially doing the hair of someone else days before, and then this fight comes to them. They become involved in this different world, this game. The war has come to the area where they are, but along with that war there is a mythical background of things happening.
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Get a head start on your gaming weekend by downloading the free FLAMES OF FREEDOM 61-page Quickstart (a 2 to 3 hour adventure experience), playable either one-on-one or for up to 7 players plus one Historian.
And that's it! Stay tuned for a Q&A with Anna Goldberg on Saturday afternoon.
Cheers,
-d.fx
Day 3 - Coins are free for $75+ backers & an interview with our lead Indigenous developer
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Oct 07, 2020 at 03:33:55 PM
Hello friends,
You’ve unlocked the second Stretch Goal! (And it’s only day 3!)
This means all FLAMES OF FREEDOM backers (at our $75+ pledge level and above) will now receive 6 poker chip-sized Campaign Coins engraved with a skull on one side and the rising star on the reverse side. We've also added this as an Add On if you want to pick up additional sets for $15 (MSRP $30):
If you missed out on this, it is not too late to pledge up and get in on our physical Stretch Goal items – there are many more to come…
In the meantime, today we’d like to introduce you one of our developers on our team, Elijah Forbes. Elijah worked with our Indigenous cultural consultants across FLAMES OF FREEDOM, and shaped the stories and perspectives of the nations represented inside the book. We're including Elijah's biography below, along with a Q&A...
Elijah Forbes is a creative working to create inclusive and uplifting Indigenous stories. He has previously written for Fieldmouse Magazine and Model View Culture, and received the 2019 Gender Reveal Reward for his work with Two-Spirit people in Northern Michigan. His comic work has appeared in "Ambrosia: Trans Masc and Non Binary Erotic Comics Anthology," as well as the "Our Ways Always" zine benefiting the Unist'ot'en Camp. He wakes up every day finding ways to make media both more transgender and more Indigenous. You can find Elijah on Twitter.
Q: Flames of Freedom involves a number of new and experienced designers on the project. Can you tell us about your role on the team and where you felt your contributions and writing made the most difference?
Elijah Forbes: Sure thing! My role on the team is lead Indigenous editor. It's my job to scout out sensitivity readers for applicable sections of the game, and rework sections with edits made by the Indigenous sensitivity reading team as well as myself. I feel like my biggest contribution has been the overhaul of pretty big parts of the manuscript that needed an Indigenous perspective.
Listening to those with lived experiences and the act of inclusivity are principles we center in all tabletop RPGs we design. Can you tell us about how your identity and experiences helped inform your writing on Flames of Freedom?
I'm a transgender Two-Spirit Odawa man, so I definitely have a different lived experience than some of the more "mainstream" folks on the team. My creative background tends to be all over the place, from comics to zines to murals, so my approach to writing tends to emphasize what we mean when we write certain things, and who gets to tell history.
Most tabletop RPGs focus on the combat aspect of the game, whereas Flames of Freedom treats overland journeys, social interactions and chase scenes with equal focus. What is your favorite subsystem in Flames of Freedom, and why?
I think the social interaction system has to be my favorite. It's a fun take on how characters may or may not react to the character you're playing positively, but with really fun roleplay opportunities if you do manage to make that roll. Maybe John Pierre the Rebel really is just that attractive that the Loyalist guard let him off with a wink, you know?
“Race” has always been contentious ground for tabletop RPGs. In Flames of Freedom, the game seeks to examine cultures as individuals and in relation to others. Do you feel your culture is represented in Flames of Freedom, and why is it important for you?
I believe so. It's important to note that there's never going to be a perfect representation of Odawa culture, both because each person is so multifaceted, and that there are elements of my culture that I would never feel comfortable sharing with a larger audience. My main goal with the project has always been to make characters of Indigenous backgrounds feel like people instead of tropes. If I've done that, I've done my job.
One hallmark of games Powered by Zweihänder is to present a myriad of choices of character professions and classes to play. Flames of Freedom has at least 84. Which are your favorite and why?
I think my personal favorite has to be the midwife! It's exciting to see the role of a vital community worker into a tabletop game system which gets more attention as a "big men with big swords simulator." I'm hoping that the tabletop games industry keeps pushing more unconventional narratives and roles, there's so many stories that need telling.
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And that's all we have for today. Stay tuned for interviews with Gabe Hicks and Anna Goldberg later this week.
