The PbtA ruleset in TSL isn't fit for the kind of sandboxy 'universal system' that the game attempts to be. For the 36 pages dedicated to 'settings', it should have gone entirely to 'one' unique setting that complements all the different playbooks available. But instead it go's on a whistle stop tour of 6 different settings so each 'setting guide' tends to be no longer than 8 pages and just lays out a bare minimum rough draft for that setting. And even with the 'adventure' given for each one, it's barely 3 additional pages. Usually forcing each setting to boil down to "(insert pop culture thing) but gay", in a way that feels less like a hand crafted experience meant to play out one's LGBTQIA+ fantasies, and more like someone filled in a page of Mad Libs and said 'there, have your TSL setting'.
And even some of the things that 'are' in there are... questionable at best. Like the "Lesbeans CoffeeHouse" setting having an adventure suggestion where, to deal with a bunch of straight people 'invading' the coffeehouse speed dating night. Its suggested that you 'show them enough magic to awaken any latent queerness in them.' Which... are you like, magically spiking their drinks? Cause magic is real in that setting, and they say that the coffee 'has' magic in it. So its not 'metaphorical' magic like being 'really hot' to question one's sexuality. Like the setting distinctly says they are straight, not 'questioning', not 'curious', but straight. So its just... 'fine' to try and convert them or something by lacing their drinks with gay magic. And this isn't the only one that has this weird disconnect. ((An all straight empire called Hetronormia, they could have been creative but they decided to use naming conventions akin to the Care Bears))
It feels like only surface level care was given to any of this, or if there was care, there wasn't enough room to properly elaborate on it as it would feel weird to have 6 different settings, but while all of the others have 6 to 8 pages worth of content, one gets 20 pages.
The same also go's for the playbooks, as it 'says' it has 9 playbooks but in reality due to the breadth of vastly different settings, you only really feasibly have 6 available options for each setting as a good chunk of them are very setting dependent. But the settings don't really have 'suggested playbook' lists so its assumed they should all be compatible. But they are not.
And due to this vague 'cover all' approach, only two, maybe three playbooks have any proper synergy. And unfortunately one of those is "The Chosen" which is in no uncertain terms, a dedicated 'protagonist' role. Which is a bit of a faux pas when it comes to PbtA games as it renders the rest of the party as 'side characters'. This doesn't help that PbtA by it's very core doesn't allow players to run the same playbook as someone else. It also doesn't help that the strings system isn't implemented in any interesting way, with most playbooks having unique ways of 'gaining' strings, but no interesting ways in 'spending' them, and even when they 'do' gain strings its more of a fun 'bonus' they get for rolling well.
This wouldn't be nearly as unfortunate if Monster Hearts didn't exsist, but it does, and effectively does everything TSL tries to do, but better. One great dedicated setting instead of a handful of light mediocre ones, every playbook meshes with each other in fun ways that promote romantic and sexual self discovery, with a bit of messy self destruction.
To be honest, you could remove all mentions of queer identity and gay pride from TSL and all it would do is turn it into a mediocre Soap Opera PbtA game. Which... if they leaned into it being a schlocky Soap Opera experience, would have probably made it into a better functioning game that would still get all the same romantic thrills they aimed for.
Also, to those who say they enjoy playing the game, good for you. I suggest giving your GM a big thank you cause they had to do a lot of work to make this game interesting. And for the GMs, thank your players for providing fun character building experiences and creativity having to work around the rules. That's the rub with TTRPG's, even a bad game can be fun with a good GM, but a good game makes being a good GM 'much' easier. If you enjoy TSL, might I suggest next time taking a setting you like and homebrewing it into Lasers & Feelings, you'll be having a similar amount of fun with a fraction of the rules and upkeep. Or maybe look at MonsterHearts, or Masks, there are plenty of PbtA styled games that can scratch a similar itch.
Thanks for your kind words! I'm working on the third TSL book, "Falling Deeper," along with Alexis Sara (author of Yuisa Revolution in the core book and The Matriarch playbook in Advanced Lovers and Lesbians). It'll have new variants, playbooks, adventures, and ideas for your adventures!
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I hope you make an audiobook of the rules one day! ^3^
TLDR: Just get Monster Hearts
The PbtA ruleset in TSL isn't fit for the kind of sandboxy 'universal system' that the game attempts to be. For the 36 pages dedicated to 'settings', it should have gone entirely to 'one' unique setting that complements all the different playbooks available. But instead it go's on a whistle stop tour of 6 different settings so each 'setting guide' tends to be no longer than 8 pages and just lays out a bare minimum rough draft for that setting. And even with the 'adventure' given for each one, it's barely 3 additional pages. Usually forcing each setting to boil down to "(insert pop culture thing) but gay", in a way that feels less like a hand crafted experience meant to play out one's LGBTQIA+ fantasies, and more like someone filled in a page of Mad Libs and said 'there, have your TSL setting'.
And even some of the things that 'are' in there are... questionable at best. Like the "Lesbeans CoffeeHouse" setting having an adventure suggestion where, to deal with a bunch of straight people 'invading' the coffeehouse speed dating night. Its suggested that you 'show them enough magic to awaken any latent queerness in them.' Which... are you like, magically spiking their drinks? Cause magic is real in that setting, and they say that the coffee 'has' magic in it. So its not 'metaphorical' magic like being 'really hot' to question one's sexuality. Like the setting distinctly says they are straight, not 'questioning', not 'curious', but straight. So its just... 'fine' to try and convert them or something by lacing their drinks with gay magic. And this isn't the only one that has this weird disconnect. ((An all straight empire called Hetronormia, they could have been creative but they decided to use naming conventions akin to the Care Bears))
It feels like only surface level care was given to any of this, or if there was care, there wasn't enough room to properly elaborate on it as it would feel weird to have 6 different settings, but while all of the others have 6 to 8 pages worth of content, one gets 20 pages.
The same also go's for the playbooks, as it 'says' it has 9 playbooks but in reality due to the breadth of vastly different settings, you only really feasibly have 6 available options for each setting as a good chunk of them are very setting dependent. But the settings don't really have 'suggested playbook' lists so its assumed they should all be compatible. But they are not.
And due to this vague 'cover all' approach, only two, maybe three playbooks have any proper synergy. And unfortunately one of those is "The Chosen" which is in no uncertain terms, a dedicated 'protagonist' role. Which is a bit of a faux pas when it comes to PbtA games as it renders the rest of the party as 'side characters'. This doesn't help that PbtA by it's very core doesn't allow players to run the same playbook as someone else. It also doesn't help that the strings system isn't implemented in any interesting way, with most playbooks having unique ways of 'gaining' strings, but no interesting ways in 'spending' them, and even when they 'do' gain strings its more of a fun 'bonus' they get for rolling well.
This wouldn't be nearly as unfortunate if Monster Hearts didn't exsist, but it does, and effectively does everything TSL tries to do, but better. One great dedicated setting instead of a handful of light mediocre ones, every playbook meshes with each other in fun ways that promote romantic and sexual self discovery, with a bit of messy self destruction.
To be honest, you could remove all mentions of queer identity and gay pride from TSL and all it would do is turn it into a mediocre Soap Opera PbtA game. Which... if they leaned into it being a schlocky Soap Opera experience, would have probably made it into a better functioning game that would still get all the same romantic thrills they aimed for.
Also, to those who say they enjoy playing the game, good for you. I suggest giving your GM a big thank you cause they had to do a lot of work to make this game interesting. And for the GMs, thank your players for providing fun character building experiences and creativity having to work around the rules. That's the rub with TTRPG's, even a bad game can be fun with a good GM, but a good game makes being a good GM 'much' easier. If you enjoy TSL, might I suggest next time taking a setting you like and homebrewing it into Lasers & Feelings, you'll be having a similar amount of fun with a fraction of the rules and upkeep. Or maybe look at MonsterHearts, or Masks, there are plenty of PbtA styled games that can scratch a similar itch.
i saw the physical edition of this at my local game store this weekend.
it made me so happy to see how far its come :)
Gay and sweet style, best game ever
I don't even know what to add to these comments, TSL is already proven its quality as a big names of the "powered by the apocalypse" scene of TTRPGs.
I can only wish evilhat (studios ?) a great future, earned by the upmost quality of their work.
Aaa I love this game! Are there any plans for starter kits, playbook expansions, or other supplementary materials? I’d buy the hell out of any of it!
Thanks for your kind words! I'm working on the third TSL book, "Falling Deeper," along with Alexis Sara (author of Yuisa Revolution in the core book and The Matriarch playbook in Advanced Lovers and Lesbians). It'll have new variants, playbooks, adventures, and ideas for your adventures!