Defy the Gods RPG

The Thief unlocked!
9 months ago – Wed, Jul 09, 2025 at 04:51:13 AM

Hi everybody! Oh man what a way to wake up. 

New Stretch Goal Unlocked!

We've officially unlocked the Thief! I'll be writing this transgressive playbook—that dashing rogue who shows up where you least expect them, steals your coin purse and your heart, and fences them both to Ninshar the Knife for a quick cash turnaround. Good luck getting either one back.

Another Project You'll Love: SUKKERS

I recently found out about the Kickstarter for SUKKERS: a cartoon about queer vampires biting back. Let me lay it on you:

Viktor is a young gay kid who, on the verge of dying, unexpectedly gets bitten and turned into a vampire. His journey afterward involves finding friends and allies from every age, banding together, and fighting back against the ruling vampiric Old Guard. His story resonates as much with vampire genre fiction as it does with queer life—a lot like Defy the Gods does with sword & sorcery! 

The animations are charming, and the studio making them looks pretty great too—they're actively looking for ways to help queer kids in inhospitable places. They've already way surpassed their funding goal, and they seem to really have it together. I'm excited to see where they go next!

If you like vampires and queer themes—and I know you do—you should check it out! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darkviktory/sukkers/ 

Ask Me Anything on Reddit Today

Don't forget! I'll be on https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/ today, starting at noon Eastern, to field your questions! 

One Last Stretch Goal to Unlock

With just over 30 hours to go, we have a shot of unlocking the final stretch goal! The one where 

• The One True Ryan Khan writes a recipe for a Sumerian meal!
• The standard edition gets full-color endpapers!
• I write a guide to fantasy ancient Mesopotamia!

It's the third act. We stand in a sacred burial ground. The barbarian warrior has returned from the brink of death, and the climactic battle scene approaches. The very gods hold their breath. 

Am I talking about Conan the Barbarian (1982), Princess Mononoke, or this Kickstarter? Play to find out!

Cheers,
Chrys

Less than 48 HOURS to Defy the Gods!
9 months ago – Tue, Jul 08, 2025 at 12:27:43 PM

Last Two Days!

Hi all! With less than 48 hours remaining in the campaign, we're still bounding forward!

We're less than $750 away from getting the Thief playbook. A dashing rogue, an urban creature, a person who disregards others' boundaries and finds things that should've stayed hidden.

We're less than $3K away from getting the One True Ryan Khan's Sumerian dinner recipe, a guide to fantasy ancient Mesopotamia full of rich setting details, and full-color endpapers on the standard-edition book.

I recorded an interview with Clifton of the Arcology Podcast last night, and he's already put it online.

Tomorrow, Wednesday July 9th at noon Eastern time, join me on the Tabletop RPGs subreddit (r/rpg) to Ask Me Anything!

How to Support Defy the Gods!

Already pledged? Thank you! 

If you want to help us reach those last two stretch goals and make the game the best it can be, here's how:

• Recommend it personally! This carries the most weight. Send this link to a friend, family member, coworker, etc. along with why you think they'd like Defy the Gods: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hecticelectron/defy-the-gods-rpg?ref=43b8ea 
• Post the link in a Discord you're on, whether it's a small one just for friends, your game store, a TTRPG Discord, or any other!
• Repost, quote-post, or reply to this post on Bluesky.
• Follow Hectic Electron on Instagram!
• Like and comment on this Facebook post and like the Hectic Electron FB page!
• Lastly, if you're backing at the PDF level and want the book—or if you backed the book and want more special goodies with it—feel free to upgrade your pledge.

Thanks again! Last two days—let's go!

Cheers,
Chrys

More stretch goals on the last Defy the Gods weekend
9 months ago – Sat, Jul 05, 2025 at 04:41:09 PM

Welcome to the last weekend of Defy the Gods! We're tantalizingly close to Sebastian Yūe's stretch goal—an adventure seed full of dark promises:

A dead god calls you to their tomb with a promise for each member of your party. If you assist in their resurrection, they'd give you everything. Discover how this god died, reveal their relationship to the Pantheon, and make a devastating choice.

After that, we may yet unlock the Thief playbook: 

The Thief goes where they please, takes what they want, and makes it look good. Their terrible boundaries make them a dangerous friend or lover, but their transgressive nature also makes them alluring—and useful. Inspired by the Gray Mouser and the Thieves' Guild.

And then, if we beat all the odds and hit $36,000, we'll pull out all the stops: 

• Ryan Khan will give you the recipe to a delicious Sumerian meal, letting you immerse your senses in Defy the Gods.
• We'll add full-color endpapers to the standard-edition hardcover.
• I'll write up a guide to ancient Sumer to enhance your sense of the setting: its seasons, architecture, music, ships, chariots, writing, and cylinder seals. All fully illustrated.

See you at $36K!

Cheers,
Chrys

Burning through stretch goals
10 months ago – Sat, Jun 28, 2025 at 05:06:57 AM

Hooray! We've just unlocked Rae Nedjadi's stretch goal—the Demigod playbook! I'm so excited to add this dimension to your Defy the Gods game. The Demigod is a child of both god and man, as if Hercules spurned the gods and pursued his own labors. What would you do if you realized your power was yours to use as you see fit? What happens when your parents become your worst enemies? As Laurence Olivier said, "find and fulfill your destiny."

For those who don't know, Rae is the brilliant game designer who wrote (among other things) Apocalypse Keys, a game about monsters seeking to avert the end of the world, inspired by Hellboy. Many of Defy the Gods' mechanics come straight from Apocalypse Keys, making Rae the perfect person to write a playbook for this game. He's one of my heroes; as you can imagine, I'm over the moon that we get to see what he does with this.

Then, after Sebastian's adventure seed (which sounds so cool!), I've added a new stretch goal: 

At $34,000, I'll write a new playbook called the Thief. This is that dashing rogue you know, the one with terrible boundaries who seems to take whatever they want without consequences—even your heart. Will you reduce all relationships to mere transactions, or will you find some things worth more when you don't keep them? Inspired by the Gray Mouser and the legendary Thieves' Guild. 

After that, I'm asking the One True Ryan Khan, author of Bug Dish, to write a recipe for the table based on Sumerian dishes. I love when games can engage more of your senses, and the aroma of lentils, lamb and coriander will immerse you even more fully into the world as you play.

I think we can hit these goals! Let's keep spreading the word!

New stretch goal! And check out Galactic and Going Rogue
10 months ago – Wed, Jun 25, 2025 at 09:47:17 PM

Whew! These updates aren't keeping up with the pace you all are pledging at. Since I last updated you, we've unlocked another stretch goal. 

Kevin Kulp will now be writing a new adventure seed. I don't want to give too much away, but it involves an ancient secret that the gods hid beneath the City, now coming to light. Kevin is a font of ideas, and it's a real joy to watch his brain work.

Since we unlocked that, it's only fair to add a new stretch goal to reach for! If we hit $32,000, award-winning designer Sebastian Yūe will write an adventure seed too. In this one, a dead god calls you to its tomb, seeking resurrection. It's going to floor you.

I also want to talk about one of my favorite Kickstarters for games right now: Galactic and Going Rogue. Two adventures bound in one volume, in dialogue with each other. In the unlikely event you haven't heard of them before, Galactic is Riley Rethal's love letter to the classic Star Wars trilogies, and Going Rogue is Jess Levine's remix of Rogue One and Andor. Both games take their source material apart and give you the pieces to put back together how you want. Be heroic and charming in Galactic, or tragic and driven in Going Rogue. As the Kickstarter says, "tell your story of resistance, relationship, and galaxy-spanning adventure." 

The Kickstarter itself is kind of amazing, too. It's more than 650% funded. And the Story page is laid out by Cris Viana, graphic designer for Defy the Gods! 

These two games are a blast. They innovate on Avery Alder's GMless "Belonging Outside Belonging" engine in ways that keep the story moving forward—see traits and pillar moves! If you love Star Wars and Andor but wish you could've told them differently, this is your chance. Only four days left to back—sign me up for the Liberation!

Meanwhile, I'm busily lining up more stretch goals for Defy the Gods, to keep pace with your funding. Thanks, and keep the pledges coming!

Cheers,
Chrys