A TTRPG about a coven of witches who are fighting fascism
By Sam Backus
"Witchcraft is a name given to networks that have survived despite innumerable repressions. The history of fascism is not just the history of fascist repression. It is also the history of resistance. Witchcraft is the practice of building that resistance." 1
Fascist ideology and tactics: bigotry, violence, gaslighting
You belong to a coven of witches and you just found out NaziCon 2020 is coming to your town.
Of course that's not what they call it. They've got some bullshit name like "Unite the Right" or "Free Speech Week".
But fuck that. You've seen this shit before and you know what it is: another fucking NaziCon.
One: You're a witch. You do magic and other queer stuff.
Two: You're willing to oppose fascism by any means necessary.
These eight words the rede fulfill,
& IT HARM FASCISTS, DO WHAT THOU WILL. 5
Roll 3D6 (or choose one of each) to determine your Descriptor, your Motivation, and your Preferred Praxis
- Punk
- Goth
- Hippy
- Nerd
- Queen
- Bear
- Idealist
- Rebel
- Leader
- Healer
- Organizer
- Protector
- Making beautiful art / Making illegal art
- Cooking, Baking and potion making / Demolition & Sabatoge
- Ritual, and Fotune Telling / Non-violent direct action & truth-telling
- Dance, Fashion and Drag / Spying & Espionage
- Music and Story telling / Deplatforming, Distraction and Disinformation
- Sexuality and the Great Rite / Violent direct action
Think about what makes your witch vulnerable or different. Write down names and pronouns for your witch.
- People of any gender can be witches.
WE CALL UPON THE ANCESTORS, MARSHA P. JOHNSON, WE INVOKE THEE.
WE CALL UPON THE ANCESTORS, SYLVIA RIVERA, WE INVOKE THEE.
WE CALL UPON THE ANCESTORS, SOPHIA ISABEL MARRERO CRUZ, WE INVOKE THEE.
WE CALL UPON THE ANCESTORS, ALL THE REINXS FROM BELOW & BEYOND THE FALSE WALLS, COME FORTH, WE INVOKE THEE. 5
You have two stats. Each starts with 3 points.
Antifa: Use this stat whenever you're fighting fascism
Witch: Use this stat to perform magic or whenever you're trying to build something worth fighting for.
Preferred Praxis come in pairs.
If your witch stat is greater than 3 use the one on the left as your Preferred Praxis.
If your antifa stat is greater than 3 use the one on the right as your Preferred Praxis.
If they're both 3, you choose.
Mind the threefold law ye should: Three times bad an three times good.
Take turns describing scenes.
The GM describes the fascists conververging, recruiting and gathering power.
The Witches describe their lives, conversations, rituals and their responses to the fascists.
WE THE QUEEROS THE NIGHTMARE POC THE WITCH HEALERS WE KNOW YR FEAR & IT WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOU
When you act, and the outcome is in doubt, roll a D6.
If it’s equal to or under the relevant stat (antifa/witch), you succeed.
If it’s over the stat, you fail.
If you’re using your Preferred Praxis or doing something related to your Motivation, roll 2D6 and pick the lowest.
Move one point from Antifa to Witch When you cite wiccan lore, values, or tradition, or when you raise a moral objection to a particular antifascist tactic.
Move one point from Witch to Antifa When you state a truth about how those fuckers are trying to discount, disdain, or criminalize who you are or who you love. Each witch that says "fuck those guys" may also move a point from Witch to Antifa
To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be said in rhyme. 6
If your antifa stat ever reaches 6, you've gone too far. The feds swoop in, accuse you of terrorism and haul you off to jail.
If your witch stat ever reaches 6, you've become soft. You care more about comfort than justice. You sell out.
Keep track of your successes and failures as a group.
If together you get 3 successes with witch and 3 successes with antifa you win! NaziCon is cancelled and you can go back to planning for the next solstice celebration. Have one last scene where you each describe enjoying a beautiful solstace party.
If together you get 3 fails with witch or 3 fails with antifa you loose! Despite your efforts NaziCon proceeds. The GM gets one last scene to describe how the bad guys win.
THE SKIES THE EARTH THE WATERS SEE.
THE FASCISTS SILENT THE PRISONS FREE. 5
Magic can be anything beautiful, indulgent, sensual, intimate, loving, healing, transformative, meaningful, truth-seeking, mysterious, or powerful.
It can take the form of a spell or a ritual: gather ingredients, call the ancestors, draw circles, light candles, anoint yourself, chant, etc.
Magic can also be beautifully mundane: Cook dinner for your friends, ask your crush on a date, dance, flirt, live as if you're already free.
Magic is not a means of fighting fascism.
It's what you're fighting for.
Merry meet and merry part
bright the cheeks and warm the heart 6
YERBA MALA NUNCA MUERE
A BAD WEED NEVER DIES 5
This isn't an Indiana Jones movie.
The nazis aren't wearing swastika or speaking german.
They're the Richard Spencer and Tucker Carlson type: all-american, clean cut, suit wearing, logical, big boys.
They will deny that they're the fascists.
They'll say that they just want to have their convention in peace.
They'll say that the witches are the real extremists.
NaziCon is in a week or two.
Give the witches time to make magic, to talk with each other and plan.
They might stop NaziCon before it even begins. That's great.
Double double, toil and trouble
Fire burn and cauldron bubble
By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes
Roll for as many of these idiots as you need.
1: Tucker
2: Richard
3: Milo
4: Jordan
5: Ben
6: Gavin
7: Jason
8: Candace
1: McGinis
2: Peterton
3: Yonopolis
4: Carson
5: Omens
6: Shapro
7: Kissler
8: Spemser
1: Cunning and Sly
2: Greedy and Wicked
3: Clueless and Exploitable
4: Media Savy and Charismatic
5: Strong and Stupid
6: Ruthless and Corrupt
1: Creepy
2: Busy
3: Run-Down
4: Beautiful
5: Historic
6: Lavish
1: Gated Community
2: Fishing Village
3: Metropolitan City
4: Convention Centre
5: Boat Parade
6: University
Be a hateful, bigoted, racist, fuck.
Keep your hate a secret. Shroud it in nationalism, respectability and traditionalism.
Always deny your fuckery.
Use dog whistles and secret symbols to gather your supporters.
Project reassuring strength and unity.
Express contempt for the weak.
Maintain power heirarchies.
Remember equality is a scam and life is permanant warfare.
Steal and distort the rhetoric of the witches.
Hint at glorious palingenetic rebirth.
Conform to conventional values.
Follow powerful authoritarians.
Think in rigid categories.
Fear and punish difference and nonconformity.
Obsess over other people's sexuality.
Make "jokes" that punch down.
Claim to be logical.
Certainty sells, honesty smells.
Dismiss anything emotional, introspective, or tender-minded.
Never play defense.
Project your darkest desires and worst hypocracy onto the witches.
Spread propaganda.
Gaslight everyone.
Be an "alpha", not a "cucK"
Get the moderates to defend your rights. `
Have the pundits to be your apologists.
Let the cops carry the guns and truncheons.
Kill the antifascists if you can get away with it.
Obtain power using any means necessary.
Soft of eye an light of touch; speak little, listen much. 6
These safety tools and best practices were adopted from Golden Lasso Games
Role-playing and story games offer a unique opportunity for creativity and collaboration. However, the improvisational nature of these games exposes players to the risk of discomfort and emotional distress. Everyone has different boundaries and it’s impossible to know what will be upsetting to a fellow gamer. Best practices and safety tools are an important part of tabletop role-playing because they allow clear communication about what is, and what is not okay for everyone at the table.
Remember, the most important part of safety tools is using them to make yourself heard. In other words, if there are safety tools being used at the table it is your responsibility to use them to communicate with your fellow players. They are there for a reason. It is your responsibility to utilize them to ensure your own well-being. Safety tools cannot work if players do not implement them.
Take care of yourself. Take care of each other.
These tools should be used for every game session. You should use other safety tools as well, but these are general gaming best-practices more than “tools.”
Step one of creating a game that everyone can enjoy is clearly communicating the tone of the game and agreeing on which safety tools you will be using for your game. Some games or groups may only need one tool in place, but if your game setting is especially emotional, violent or “close-to-home” for anyone at the table it may be a good idea to use multiple tools. Make sure everyone at the table is clear on how all of your safety tools work before each session.
Agreeing on tone is an important step before starting your game too. Tone is defined as “the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.” Before making characters it’s important that everyone know if it’s going to be a lighthearted romp with funny characters, an intense emotional exploration, a game focused on romance and seduction, or a battle-heavy dungeon crawl. A good way of defining tone is to describe it using movie ratings (G, PG-13, R) and to cite examples of popular media to make sure everyone is on the same page.
After you have finished a session of your game, it is important to check in with everyone to see how they are feeling. This can be done by the GM in private with each person for highly sensitive games, or just be a casual conversation with everyone after the game over some beers. It’s especially important that players touch base with one another after intense scenes or conflicts that happened during the game. This avoids the buildup of negative emotions between sessions and player misunderstandings.
An open door policy is exactly what it sounds like, players can leave the table or leave the game in a mature manner for any reason without being judged. Obviously, this policy doesn’t apply to players who leave the table in a combative or unreasonable way. This can apply to things as simple as restroom breaks, taking phone calls, or going to another room for an emotional cool-down. Everyone at the table is an adult and deserves the respect to take care of their own needs.
The x-card is the simplest safety tool and also the easiest to implement. A card with a large X is placed on the table where everyone can reach it. If anyone feels uncomfortable, they simply touch the x-card. The GM and other players will change the scene immediately by skipping it or changing what is happening. The person who activated the x-card is not expected to explain their reasons. You can read more about the x-card at http://tinyurl.com/x-card-rpg. John Stavropoulos developed the x-card.
Script Change is a more complex tool than some of the others, but it is highly effective at giving everyone at the table more direct control of a scene when they feel uncomfortable. Three cards are placed in the middle of the table labeled “rewind”, “pause’, and “fast forward” that anyone at the table can tap to activate.
- “Rewind” – this card takes the game back to before the uncomfortable content so things can be retconned
- “Pause” – this card puts the scene on pause but doesn’t make any changes. Take a breath!
- “Fast Forward” – this card skips play forward past the uncomfortable content so that it isn’t described
Script Change was designed by Brie Sheldon and more information about it can be found at http://tinyurl.com/nphed7m
This was created as part of The Antifa Game Jam. Big thanks to the organizers.
Live an let live. Fairly take an fairly give
Honey Heist: Grant Howitt
Be Gay Do Crimes: Evan Saft
Kissing Comrades: Adira Slattery
Teen Witch: Avery Alder
Misspent Youth: Robert Bohl
Is it Ok to Hex a Nazi?
Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt By Umberto Eco
Witchcraft, Gender, & Marxism | Philosophy Tube
The Philosophy of Antifa | Philosophy Tube
BURN IT ALL DOWN: AN ANTIFASCIST SPELLBOOK BY YERBAMALA COLLECTIVE
The long rede
The gandhi trap
The Alt-Right Playbook
Trumpism Is Just A Synonym For Fascism
Fascism & Anti-Fascism: A Decolonial Perspective
The New Neo-Nazis: How Matthew Heimbach Is Building A Racist Network Across The US
Calling them "alt-right" helps us fight them
The Love Potion