🪐 Velvet Chains & Voidlight — The Game (Player Handbook Edition)

Velvet Chains & Voidlight — The Game

Welcome to the Ebonverse, corsair. You pilot a starship powered by emotion, cruise through neon-lit debris fields, and swear oaths that matter more than any laser. This is a roleplaying game built from the fusion of Daggerheart’s Hope/Fear engine and Thirsty Sword Lesbians’ Strings and Conditions, tuned to a single rule:

Everything—love, battle, and discovery—operates by consent.

⚙️ The Tri-Engine

The game runs on three intertwined currents:

Heart (Velvet Chains): empathy, reflection, tenderness.
Pulse (Space-Pirate): courage, spectacle, motion.
Mind (Prime Empathy): reason, insight, foresight.

Every roll calls on one or more of these aspects. When you face risk, roll the appropriate Approach; interpret results as Triumph, Success, Mixed, or Setback—each fueling Hope, Fear, or Strings.

Before a campaign begins, every crew writes a Consent Codex. It lists what themes are welcome, what boundaries are firm, and how to signal discomfort. The sacred safe word is “fiction.” Speak it three times to pause the scene, breathe, and renegotiate. When the table honors this pause, everyone gains 1 Hope.

🌌 The Ebonverse

Imagine Firefly rewritten by queer poets and synth-witches. Neon skyports, fungal rimworlds, and drifting ringworld monasteries pulse to the beat of Voidlight Drives—engines that hum with human connection. When relationships fracture, so do the stars.

🎭 Hope, Fear & Strings

Hope is your spark of trust and creativity. Earn it when you act with flair, empathy, or consent. Spend it to reroll, perform heroics, or protect someone’s dignity.
Fear marks stress and doubt; it’s never punishment. The Guide spends it to twist the story or tempt transformation.
Strings are emotional leverage—tokens of affection, guilt, attraction, or power. Trade them like promises; burn them to change someone’s fate.

🌈 Lineages of the Voidlight

Corsair Humans Raised among the Armada, you thrive on daring and adaptation. When you defy an order for a moral cause, gain 1 Hope.

Synth-Courtesan Androids Social AIs built for connection. When you affirm someone’s boundary, both gain Hope; when logic calms fear, turn that Fear into a String.

Rope-Magi Tieflings Descendants of the Plane of Fetters. When you tether yourself to an ally during danger, share your Hope pool. If that trust breaks, each gains 1 Fear.

🏴‍☠️ The Voidlight Corsair Playbook

You can always become a Voidlight Corsair—a performer, pirate, and philosopher.

Corsair’s Strike

When you move toward a foe or confession with reckless style, roll Pulse + Heart.

Triumph: deal harm and gain Hope.
Success: harm or impress your foe.
Mixed: harm but reveal a vulnerability; they gain a String on you.
Setback: miss and earn 1 Fear.

Spend Hope to add flamboyant flourishes: rope swings, taunts, or declarations of desire.

Dramatic Entrance

When you burst into a scene with spectacle—through smoke, portals, or spotlight—everyone chooses: gain 1 Hope or hand you 1 String in admiration.

When you mediate between rivals, roll Heart. On success, tensions ease; both parties gain Hope. On a mixed result, peace holds but you owe each side a promise.

🎭 Backgrounds

Rimworld Colonist — You patch what’s broken. Restore Hope when you repair body, hull, or heart. Consent Coordinator — You’ve seen every negotiation. When you defuse tension with compassion, exchange 1 Fear for 2 Strings. Voidlight Engineer — You whisper to machines. When you steady a panicking AI or friend, roll Mind + Heart to restore their Hope.

💎 Tools of the Trade

Silken Harness — doubles as climbing rig and ritual restraint. Using it in a scene of trust gives both wearers 1 Hope. Consent Token — a carved coin etched with fiction. Spend it to cancel one Fear or remind the table of safety. Rainbow Grenade — bursts in prismatic glory. Allies who watch gain 1 Hope; foes who flinch gain 1 Fear.

🔮 Spells & Rituals

Voidlight Bindings — Roll Heart + Mind to restrain someone safely. Triumph: they gain Hope when released. Mixed: both gain Fear. Rainbow Heatmap — Spend 1 Hope to see the emotional traces of a place. Ask two questions; the Guide answers in colors, not words. Sonic Consent Pulse — Emit a soothing vibration. Willing allies gain +1 Hope to resist Fear until the next beat. Voidlight Rite — A group ritual of boundaries and vows. When complete, each crew member may spend 1 Hope per act to grant an ally a reroll. Breaking the vow drains all Hope and inflicts 2 Fear.

📜 The Hope Economy

You gain Hope when you:

Act with dazzling style.
Offer vulnerability or affection.
Enforce or respect a boundary.
Heal a wound, emotional or otherwise.

Spend Hope to reroll, aid allies, or trigger playbook moves. Convert 1 Fear to 1 Hope by reconciliation. Trade Strings to influence scenes, claim narrative authority, or repair bonds.

🪐 Adventures of the Voidlight Armada

Salvage Heists: liberate empathy chips from corporate freighters—signed waivers required.
Diplomatic Duels: resolve disputes through swordplay and flirtation.
Neon Mysteries: chase a stolen Consent Codex across glittering stations.
Starship Performances: sing your battles; each maneuver a duet between trust and risk.

Remember: the true treasure isn’t plunder—it’s connection.

🎭 Table Principles

Consent before plot. No story is worth a broken boundary.
Flair over efficiency. Describe your moves; style earns Hope.
Share the spotlight. Give Strings generously.
Fiction is the safe word. Say it, honor it, and the voidlight glows brighter.

In consent we transcend; in drama we burn bright.

🪐 Velvet Chains & Voidlight — The Game (Player Handbook Edition)