The Fallen

The Fallen once possessed great power, ability, and potential. Now they don’t. Maybe it was taken from them, or maybe they simply pushed themself too far past their limits. The result is the same: they’re a shadow of who they used to be, grieving their own past self.

Their central conflict revolves around the fact that chasing who they used to be is preventing them from recovering and growing into a new self. 

The Fallen is a playbook about navigating burnout, about the way it makes you grieve the person you used to be and the things you used to be able to do. It's about the temptation to keep burning yourself out in pursuit of those past highs, and the difficulty of accepting a new reality. It's mostly inspired by my own experience dropping out of university, paired with some fictional touchstones like Eda the Owl Lady (The Owl House), Elric of Melniboné (Michael Moorcock novels), Sothis (Fire Emblem Three Houses), Riko Sakurauchi (Love Live! Sunshine!!), and Kiki's Delivery Service.

The Fallen is an additional playbook for the Thirsty Sword Lesbians roleplaying game by April Kit Walsh and published by Evil Hat Productions - you will need a copy of Thirsty Sword Lesbians in order to use this playbook.

Playbook art is the Fantasy Female White Hair sprite by RedBaby (Red Chan). If you're interested in making your own playbook and want art on a budget, I absolutely encourage you to check out their work, as well as the work of other artists selling visual novel sprites on itch.io! 

Cover background is Cilgerran Castle, artist unknown, available through Wikimedia Commons and the National Library of Wales.

Additional thanks to Pat McCabe, Michelle Jones, Chase P, zoodude254, Arianna, Christie R. Fremon, April Kit Walsh, Kona Goodhart, Al Cusack, and Emily Care Boss for playtesting, brainstorming, or otherwise helping me develop this playbook! Also, my therapist, who I will not name here, but who definitely helped me work through the themes of this playbook.