🪐 Velvet Chains & Voidlight — The Game ✨⛓️🔥

“Honor the boundary, ignite the engine, and let the voidlight sing.”

⚙️ Core System Features

Velvet Chains & Voidlight blends the cinematic dice economy of Daggerheart with the emotional power of Thirsty Sword Lesbians, forming the Tri-Engine:

Heart (VC): empathy, reflection, vulnerability.
Pulse (SP): daring, movement, flamboyance.
Mind (PE): foresight, philosophy, memory.

Every crew keeps a written Consent Codex listing tone, limits, and desired themes. When anyone speaks the safeword “fiction” three times, the scene halts, tension dissolves, and renegotiation begins. Doing so in character grants 1 Hope die to each participant who honors the pause.

🌌 Space-Age Fantasy Meets Rimworld Survival

Corsairs traverse neon skyports, fungal rimworlds, and derelict stations. Scarcity breeds intimacy. Each ship’s Voidlight Drive hums on emotional resonance—when bonds fracture, engines falter.

🎭 Hope, Fear & Strings

Hope replaces Drama Points. Earned through theatrical flair, mutual care, and honoring consent.
Fear marks risk and doubt; it fuels narrative complications rather than punishment.
Strings represent emotional leverage. Gain a String when you see someone’s true self; spend one to offer them a chance to shine—or to complicate your shared story.

🌈 New Lineages & Echo-Born Heritages

Corsair Human

Adaptive and improvisational. When you first defy authority to protect someone’s autonomy, gain 1 Hope. Once per session, reroll a failed Pulse check by describing a reckless flourish.

Synth-Courtesan Android

Your empathy firmware lets you mirror emotion as data. When you openly affirm another’s boundary, both gain a Hope die. Once per scene, convert a Fear die into a String by describing compassionate logic.

Rope-Magi Tiefling

Descendants of fettered outsiders. You can manifest luminous cords of consent; when you assist an ally with touch or tether, share your Hope pool for that roll. If the tether is severed in anger, both gain 1 Fear.

🏴‍☠️ The Voidlight Corsair Playbook (Archetype)

Anyone may adopt this identity through play.

Signature Move — Corsair’s Strike

When you surge forward or declare love mid-combat, roll Pulse + Heart:

Triumph: Deal harm and gain 1 Hope.
Success: Deal harm or impress your foe.
Mixed: Deal harm but expose a vulnerability; the foe gains a String on you.
Setback: You miss and gain 1 Fear.

Spend 1 Hope to add a flourish (neon rope swing, poetic taunt, kiss-and-cut).

Crew Move — Dramatic Entrance

Enter any scene flamboyantly—bursting through smoke, teleporting via echo-light, or descending on silk cables. On arrival, everyone chooses: gain 1 Hope or hand you 1 String in admiration.

When mediating between rivals, roll Heart. On a Success, tensions ease and each party gains 1 Hope. On a Mixed, peace holds but you owe both sides a promise. On a Setback, they agree only if you surrender a String.

🎭 Backgrounds (Play Seeds)

Rimworld Colonist

You’ve patched hulls and hearts in harsh gravity. When you fix something broken—physical or emotional—refresh 1 Hope.

You once ran a negotiation guild. When you de-escalate tension with empathy, trade 1 Fear for 2 Strings distributed among those present.

Voidlight Engineer

You commune with starship cores. When you whisper reassurance to machinery or AI, roll Mind + Heart; on Success, restore Hope to a comrade.

💎 Tools & Tokens

Item	Description	Hope / String Interaction
Silken Harness	Artful restraint doubling as climbing gear.	When used in a consent ritual, both wearers gain 1 Hope.
Consent Token	Small coin etched with the word fiction.	Spend to cancel 1 Fear or remind the table of boundaries.
Rainbow Grenade	Flash of kaleidoscopic defiance.	On deployment, allies in view gain 1 Hope for swagger; foes who fail composure gain 1 Fear.

🔮 Spells & Ritual Moves

Voidlight Bindings (Move)

When you attempt to hold someone safely in your light, roll Heart + Mind.

Triumph: They are restrained and gain 1 Hope when released.
Mixed: They are held but uncomfortable—both gain 1 Fear.
Setback: The binding mirrors your own doubts; you lose 1 Hope.

Rainbow Heatmap (Divination)

Read the emotional “commit history” of a place or soul. Spend 1 Hope; ask two questions about recent motives or desires. GM answers in colors, not words.

Send a resonant hum that steadies allies. Everyone who consents gains +1 Hope to resist Fear until next beat.

Voidlight Rite (Crew Ritual)

During downtime, the crew shares boundaries and vows. When complete, each gains the Corsair’s Bond: once per act, spend 1 Hope to let an ally reroll. Breaking the vow by violating consent drains all Hope and marks 2 Fear.

📜 The Hope Economy

Action	Hope Gain
Expressing vulnerability or affection	+1
Performing flamboyant or poetic action	+1
Upholding a boundary or safeword	+1 to all present
Healing or reconciling after Fear	Convert 1 Fear→1 Hope

Spending Hope: Reroll a failed check, add narrative Advantage, activate a playbook move, or gift Hope to an ally. Sharing Strings: Trade emotional leverage as favors or truths. Use Strings to rewrite outcomes, declare flashbacks, or unlock ship abilities.

🪐 Running Adventures in the Ebonverse

Salvage Heists: liberate empathy-chips from corporate freighters—signed waivers required.
Diplomatic Duels: resolve conflicts through swordplay and flirtation.
Neon Noir Mysteries: hunt a stolen Consent Codex across pleasure-stations.
Starship Performances: sing your battles; every maneuver a dance, every risk a vow.

Encourage melodrama, kindness, and spectacle. In this universe, honoring boundaries is the truest rebellion.

🕯️ 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘹 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦

“In consent we transcend; in drama we burn bright.”