Swedish publisher Bläckfisk Förlag are about to embark on their first international RPG project, and it’s a novel one.
Blood Feud is GM-less tabletop RPG about toxic masculinity. Every character in the game is a Viking. As a Viking, your honour will be in question, and the only way to protect it, or increase it, is to be manly.
In the struggle to always be an exemplar of masculinity, your story will weave a path like an old Icelandic saga, cost your character dearly and harm those around them too.
What is toxic masculinity? Well, if you’ve not heard it before, Bläckfisk Förlag define it like this;
… common attitudes and behaviours among men that cause serious harm to them and to others around them
Set in pre-Christian Scandinavia and a culture that cares about honour and blood feuds. Honour will be challenged, and to have honour is to have power. To be powerful, a Viking man has to act in accordance with what society considers appropriate for them.
Seven moves can be used in the diceless game. They are;
- Sharing someone’s bed
- Giving someone a gift
- Commenting on a woman’s appearance
- Praising someone
- Insulting someone
- Escalating
- Striking a deadly blow
Each time one of these things happen, honour is challenged, and power is won or lost by the reaction and response.
Bläckfisk Förlag says that the point of the game is to learn how to recognise toxic masculinity and perhaps learn something about yourself in the process.
Version 1.1 of the playtest rules are available to download for free.
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