The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers, episode 5: The Finale

The three musketeers chased after Lady Blanche and the hooded lady, and were just in time to see them going into a town house belonging to Duchess Selina - the one who witnessed Renée's not-quite-duel in the park with Patience.  They took a moment to catch their breath.  Arsene apologised to Katerina for turning her down quite so forcefully, and Katerina assured him that that was completely fine.  But then they saw someone else arrive at the house.  Queen Louise.

They needed to get into that house and find Blanche.  Renée suggested the traditional method of climbing over a back wall, and soon they spotted Blanche inside being plied with champagne by the mysterious hooded lady, now no longer hooded.

If they were going to get inside, they would need some disguises, blood-spattered musketeer uniforms being a little inappropriate for a fancy party.  Renée seduced a couple of party-goers in the gardens, efficiently separating them from their dresses to give Arsene the chance to swipe them.  Arsene himself located a spare servant's uniform, and the three of them got dressed.

A random party-goer, mistaking Arsene for the butler he was dressed at, handed him a note to deliver to the Queen.  Arsene read it at the first possible opportunity.  It was to tell the Queen that Lady Blanche was there.  He substituted it for a note of his own saying that Lady Blanche was with the Cardinal and that he wished to meet with the Queen, and handed it to one of the Queen's footwomen to deliver.  The Queen immediately gave her apologies and left the party.

Renée and Katerina went to find Blanche.  Renée flung open the door, and dramatically accused Blanche of abandoning her when they were supposed to be meeting in the gardens.  While everyone's attention was on Renée, Katerina slipped inside, grabbed a champagne bottle and hit the hooded lady over the head with it.

While Renée fled with Blanche, Katerina shared an appraising look with the hooded lady, then made her own exit via the balcony, leaping down into the fountain.  Arsene was hot on her trail, intercepting the hooded lady and attempting to convince her that he was still working for the Cardinal.  He asked for a report to pass along.  She said Blanche didn't say much beyond that Blanche knew where the Duchess of Buckingham was.

The three musketeers gathered again, along with Blanche and Monique, and took a carriage to Katerina's lodgings, Renée having finally had enough of her place being used like a public house.  Blanche was very drunk, insisting that she didn't tell the nice lady where the Duchess was in a way that didn't convince anyone.  Katerina was somewhat discheveled from her dive into the fountain, and scandalised everyone by discarding a series of torn items of clothing out of the window along the way.

They arrived at Katerina's lodgings to find Jussac waiting.  She was initially very happy to see the by now almost entirely disrobed Katerina, but somewhat less happy when the other four got out of the carriage, particularly Arsene who she still wanted to arrest.  Katerina lead her off for a private talk.  Jussac said it was either going to be Arsene's head or hers in a noose.  Katerina convinced her that there was another way: help them take down the Cardinal.  Together they hatched a plan.

Renée had been planning to talk to Katerina about Monique's interest in her, but seeing her head inside with Jussac realised Monique wasn't anywhere in Katerina's view.  She sat down with Monique to explain to her that if Katerina was going to settle down with anyone, it was going to be Jussac.  Monique was very upset, and Renée assured her that she knew how she felt.  Monique was surprised.  How did Renée know how it felt to love someone who didn't love her back?  Who was it that she loved?  And Renée was forced to admit that it was Monique.

Arsene looked after Blanche, getting her a coffee and somewhere to lie down as she started to sober up.  He explained to her that he wasn't really working for the Cardinal, but that nice lady she'd just been sharing all her secrets with was.  Blanche rapidly sobered up, suddenly realising how much danger the Duchess was in.  They had to get her to her meeting with Queen Anne.  Arsene didn't think the palace was a safe meeting place, but remembered a particularly discreet venue from his highwayman days where the meeting could take place.  Moved by Arsene's obvious sincerity, Blanche found it within herself to forgive him his past crimes against her family.

They had to act fast, if they were going to both incriminate the Cardinal and save the Duchess.  Katerina went straight to the palace to talk to Queen Louise.  She delivered an impassioned speech on the Cardinal's plotting against the crown, and how the Queen needed to witness his betrayal for herself.  And the Queen was persuaded to go with her.

Arsene and Renée took Monique with them to find the Duchess, but arrived at her safe house to find the Cardinal's guards already there and preparing for an ambush.  Renée spotted Patience, and remembering the way she'd looked at her in the park, realised this would make a great distraction.  She taunted Patience into a repeat of the earlier duel, a fight that rapidly turned to kissing.

With most eyes on Renée and Patience, Arsene slipped into the building and soon convinced the Duchess of the urgency of departure.  But Jussac was on his tail, still hoping to take him down as the Cardinal considered him a loose end.  He got Monique and the Duchess to freedom, but was forced to turn to face Jussac, fending her off for just long enough to make a dramatic escape.

Renée finally let go of Patience, who was coming to realise that Renée didn't really like her that way.  Patience tried to convince her to renounce the Hapsburg Queen.  Renée wasn't sure, insisting that her loyalty was to France.  And then a flash of red caught their attention.  The Cardinal was there.  Would Renée swear on the Bible to renounce the Hapsburg Queen?

The Cardinal's Bible.  The one where he hid all his secret documents.  The proof that they needed to convince Queen Louise of his treachery.  Renée grabbed the Bible and ran.

Guards pursued her, but found themselves slowed by a sudden swirl of a cape as Arsene leapt down from the roof, breaking his leg as he landed but still slowing them down enough for Renée to keep running.  And then Katerina was there, leaping out of the bushes, rampaging like a wild animal, knocking guards out of the way as she ran to intercept the Cardinal.  And suddenly Renée was face to face with Queen Louise, thrusting the incriminating Bible into her hands.

Everything went still as she leafed through the papers within.

And here we leave our three musketeers.  Perhaps Katerina will find happiness with Jussac, now free of the Cardinal's influence.  Perhaps Renée, now finally sure that she made the right choice leaving the convent, will win Monique's heart.  Perhaps Arsene will find peace knowing that at least some of his sins have been forgiven and he has two true friends at his side no matter what.  But for now, their story is at a close.

The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers, episode 4: Lady Blanche

We left our heroes on their way back to Renée's lodgings to get her some replacement trousers, but on arriving learned that she had a visitor.  Renée complained about her lodgings practically being a public house by this point, and they peered through the keyhole to see who it was.  Lady Blanche.

Lady Blanche had come to see Renée, and was not at all happy to see Arsene.  To the point of slapping him.  As she poured out every offence he had committed against her family, a litany ranging from grave robbing to leaving her to pay a large bill, the other two found themselves rather shocked to discover just what depths Arsene had sunk to before becoming a musketeer.  Katerina joined in with slapping him in the face.  Renée made profuse apologies to Lady Blanche, but refused her offer of forgiveness if she agreed to stop associating with Arsene.

Finally the fight was defused to the point where Lady Blanche was willing to have the conversation she'd come for.  She was quite convinced that Monique was the one who'd betrayed her to the Cardinal.  Renée did not think her capable of such a thing.  A plan was hatched, with the aim of both discrediting the Cardinal and determining Monique's loyalty.  Arsene would tell the Cardinal that messages were being passed inside clocks made by a certain favourite clockmaker of the Queens by the name of Renault.  Katerina would tell Monique that a planned meeting was to take place at a tannery rather than the intended location.  If the Cardinal's forces showed up there, they would know that Monique could not be trusted.

Katerina and Arsene left the room, while Renée stayed behind to talk with Lady Blanche.  She defending her association with Arsene.  The motto of one for all and all for one meant too much to her for her to turn her back on her friend.  Lady Blanche had a job for her.  What was it?  Something to do with talking to the Queen to explain things?  But all Renée could think of was Lady Blanche's beautiful eyes.

Katerina had been intending to wait for Renée to join her, as for some reason she didn't seem to want Katerina to talk to Monique alone, but soon became aware that she was taking rather a long time over things.  She listened at the door, and then found a gap where she could sneak a look into the room.  She was on the point of ripping the door open to join them when Arsene intervened.  She should let Renée have her moment.

Katerina's response was to turn her attentions to Arsene instead, dragging him off into another room.  However, he insisted very strongly on keeping his trousers on, firmly stating his complete lack of interest in any such activities, and ultimately Katerina was left alone and disappointed while Arsene left to talk to the Cardinal.

While Arsene made a convincing case for investigating the clockmaker to the Cardinal, with the additional detail of Renée and Blanche being an item, Renée finally emerged from her lodgings in a fresh pair of trousers to find Katerina sitting morosely on the stairs with a bottle of wine.  They went together to visit Monique, and had no trouble convincing her of the story about the meeting at the tannery.  She also wanted a word with Renée alone.  It seemed she had a bit of a thing for Katerina, and wanted to know if Renée thought Katerina would ever consider settling down.

Arsene went home after visiting the Cardinal, and found Adrian there.  He had a job for the Cardinal that he thought Arsene might like to join in with: relocating some aristocrat to be under the control of the Cardinal.  Arsene decided to go along with it, knowing that he'd be in just the right place to make sure Lady Blanche was safe if she did turn out to be the target.

As Arsene arrived at the house, he was being watched.  Monique had gone to look for Lady Blanche after meeting with Katerina and Renée, and was watching him as he arrived, immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion.  But she was also being watched, by the mysterious hooded lady who had paid Katerina's bar bill.  Who in turn was being watched by Katerina.

Monique went running in after Arsene.  Katerina and Renée followed her in, counting on their flair for dramatic entrances to disrupt any trouble.  And trouble there was, with Arsene fighting Adrian, the thugs attacking Monique, and Lady Blanche attempting to escape out of a window.  But none of them were a match for the three musketeers working together, and soon the thugs were taken out and Monique was safe once more.

Lady Blanche, however, had made it out of the window, and into the arms of the mysterious hooded lady, with whom she was rapidly departing.

The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers, episode 3: The Plot Thickens

When we left our heroes, Katerina had been detained by Jussac, Arsene had allowed himself to be taken by the Cardinal's guards in order to allow Renée to pursue Monique, and Renée...

The carriage was already moving, and swift as Renée was she couldn't outrun a horse. Instead she took to side streets and alleyways too narrow for a carriage. The driver and guard began to relax as they easily outdistanced her and were soon approaching the Bastille, only for Renée to appear on the roof of a nearby building, leap down onto the carriage roof, grab the driver and throw him out of his seat, grab the reins and start driving the carriage herself, all while delivering an impassioned speech on the subject of justice that left the guard spluttering too much to do anything about what had just happened.

 She brought the carriage to a halt at a construction site, jumped down and opened the door to see a second angry guard. In a moment she was away, climbing the scaffolding with the two guards in hot pursuit, neither of them noticing Monique slipping away from the other side of the carriage. At last, by pushing over the ladder they were climbing at a critical moment, Renée was away. She soon met up with Monique, and swept her into her arms to kiss her, only to then have to back off again in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Arsene had been taken to see Cardinal Richlieu. There was a long silence before the Cardinal turned to Arsene, indicated a wanter poster on the wall, and noted that he had something of a chequered past. Arsene acknowledged this, and noted that it was a particularly good wanted poster and he didn't have that one yet.

The Cardinal got down to business, bringing a certain Lady Blanche. A familiar name to Arsene, who had previously dug up two of her close relatives to sell their corpses to resurrectionists. The Cardinal's request was simply. Find out where she is, and what she's up to.

What better way could Arsene find to persuade the Cardinal to trust him? Throw in that wanted poster, and they had a deal.

Katerina found herself taken not to any kind of prison, but to Jussac's own lodgings, still in restraints. Jussac wanted to know about the letters. Did she have to beat it out of Katerina? Also, what was her safe word? After agreeing on 'banana', the interrogation continued.

Afterwards, having resisted the urge to steal Jussac's Bible, Katerina convinced Jussac to open up about what she really wanted. A big score. Something that would make the Cardinal trust her again. Or else enough money that she could retire. The problem remained of what Jussac was going to do with Katerina now. She couldn't exactly just let her go, but she did need to get back to work. Katerina suggested tying her up again, so Jussac would know exactly where she was.

Renée wanted to take Monique straight back to her lodgings, but Monique insisted that she first had to deliver a message. They went to a hotel, where Monique was taken inside and Renée immediately pressed her ear to the door. Monique was meeting with Lady Blanche, and the message was that Queen Anne was ready to meet with Buckingham, one of the most powerful people in England.

After the meeting, they returned to Renée's lodgings, and met up again with Arsene. They were just sitting down for some breakfast when Katerina also joined them, clad in nothing but a bedsheet and her hat. Monique's reaction to meeting Guiton was not enthusiastic, and soon the two were shouting at each other until the three musketeers managed to calm things down again.

With both Arsene and Renée both not feeling at their best, the three of them stepped away from the breakfast table for a catch-up and a friendly chat. Katerina reassured Arsene that he was a good musketeer, and assured Renée that her faith was strong enough that she didn't need a Bible (although she was still going to get her a replacement.) Arsene loaned her one of his spares; a slightly musty copy that he'd 'found' in a church, but nevertheless with all the right words in. Renée prayed with him on the subject of forgivenness. Everyone hugged, leaving Renée rather flustered by Katerina's attentions but otherwise everyone felt much better.

Those letters still had to be dealt with, and also the three of them had been summoned for an audience with Queen Louise. This seemed like an opportunity to get Monique back into the palace to deliver the letters back to Queen Anne. Despite a distraction on the way in, when Renée was challenged to a duel, they made it inside. Unfortunately, Monique had somehow misinterpreted their instructions and was well on the way to getting intercepted. Arsene went to deal with it.

The other two were brought in front of the Queen, and soundly berated. Katerina assured her that she had our support and she would hunt down traitors, while giving the Cardinal some significant looks. Renée gave a rather more sincere apology, making the same promise. Both of them did their best to cover for Arsene's absence.

Arsene made it in front of Queen Anne and was able to return the letters. She wasn't particularly impressed to learn that the contents of the letters were known to people other than her, or by Arsene questioning her about the meeting with Buckingham, but did assure him that her goal was to bring peace to France.

With all three of them out of the palace again, there was just one thing to deal with: Renée's duel with Patience. They went along to the agreed meeting place, where Katerina soon spotted guards clearly placed to arrest anyone taking part in the illegal activity of duelling. Renée, entirely unwilling to forfeit either her honour or her freedom, taunted Patience into attacking first, although that first blow hit only Renée's trousers, exposing rather more skin than anyone considered decent and arousing something of a blush on Patience's face. Renée continued to defend herself, while the others made sure a nearby duchess was getting a good view of how Renée totally wasn't responsible for the fight.

Finally, with a flick of her sword, Renée disarmed Patience, bringing the fight to an end. She bowed deeply, completely destroying her trousers, and departed wrapped in Arsene's cape to preserve what was left of her modesty.

The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers, episode 2: Stolen Letters

When we left our heroes, Katerina was hot on the trail of the mysterious hooded lady.  She stayed close behind her, staying out of sight, until the lady lead her to the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  There Katerina saw her meeting with Cardinal Richlieu, and handing over the bundle of letters.  This was more than Katerina could stand, and she burst into the room, telling the lady that they had to discuss a bar bill.  Her animal passions awakened, she hurled herself at the Cardinal, snatching the letters from him and standing there laughing in victory.

It took her a moment to realise the Cardinal's guards were closing in on her.  Ahh well.  Time for a dramatic chase through the streets.

Meanwhile, Renée was following Guiton the Huguenot back to her lodgings.  Noticing that there were a number of toughs hanging around in the streets outside, and having been working on her dramatic entrances recently, she decided to quickly scale the outside of the building.  Guiton looked away from the window for a few moments, and when she looked back, the window was open, framing the crouched form of Renée.

Guiton scrambled for a knife, but Renée was unfazed.  Mentioning her protection didn't help much either, as Renée dismissed the group of toughs outside.  Except...Guiton didn't know anything about them.

Arsene had extracted himself from the bear fighting ring at the first possible opportunity and followed Renée.  He also spotted the toughs in the alleyway, but unlike Renée, he recognised them.  His old friend Adrian and his gang.  Adrian was pleased to see Arsene, and keen for him to join in their plan.  They had been hired to make sure that Guiton didn't talk.  They were pretty sure they could extract quite a lot of money from her for not killing her after beating her to a pulp.

A tough call for Arsene, who didn't want to be on the wrong side of Adrian, but couldn't betray his new friends.  The people who accepted him for who he was, and believed he could be more than his past.  Could he really let Adrian drag him back into old habits?  In a moment he was joining Adrian as they headed up the stairs.

Renée heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs.  There was no point arguing with Guiton about Huguenot rights any further just now.  They had to get out.  "Come with me if you want to live," she told Guiton, and took a running leap from the window that landed her on a nearby rooftop.  She looked back, expecting Guiton to follow.  But Guiton was standing in the window, looking down at the stones of the street below her, and looking terrified.

Did she have to convince Guiton that it was more dangerous to stay behind?  Or make it more appealing to jump?  Both.  Both was good.  After both the threat of encountering the thugs alone, and the promise of a kiss, Guiton jumped.  Renée caught her in her arms, and the two of them kissed, silhouetted against the rising full moon behind them.

Arsene kept pace with Adrian up the stairs, and hearing Renée's voice, he knew what he had to do.  He drew his cane and turned on Adrian, holding him back for long enough for Guiton to make her escape.  With Adrian defeated, Arsene made his own exit, leaping with catlike grace and landing on the rooftop with his cape billowing in the wind.

The three of them met up with Katerina again at Renée's lodgings.  Monique wasn't there, but Renée soon found the note she had left saying she had returned to the palace.  Katerina was still angry about the Cardinal and the letters, which she had read on the way, and found herself snatching up Renée's Bible and tearing it in half, to the absolute horror of Renée.

Arsene, experienced in dealing with these two idiots, quietly removed Guiton from the room and left them to sort things out.  Which they did, over a glass of Cognac and Renée's insistence that Katerina could buy her a new Bible.  And a new bottle of Cognac.

There was still the matter of the letters to deal with.  Should they be destroyed, or returned to the Queen Consort?  Things had been complicated somewhat by Katerina having blurted out their contents in front of Guiton, who as a Huguenot probably wasn't a good person to be aware of such things.  But they decided on a trip to the palace.

How were they going to get in unhindered?  None of them really wanted to explain what was going on, and having lost Guiton somewhere along the way wasn't particularly reassuring.  Katerina had an idea though.  Jussac was there, and she was quite keen to continue their aquaintance.  An excellent distraction while the other two made their way inside.

Unfortunately it wasn't quite that simple.  While Katerina's distraction went off as planned, Renée soon encountered a distraction of her own.  A terrified looking Monique was being bundled into a carriage.  Renée gave chase at once, but couldn't stop the driver, and the carriage began to move with Monique inside.

What is happening to Monique?  What is the Cardinal planning?  What will Guiton do with the new information she's learned?  Only time will tell.

The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers, episode 1: Stolen Jewels

We're playing Thirsty Sword Lesbians at MK-RPG at the moment, in a game called The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers.  Given that this looks likely to derail the original tale far beyond the original change of making everyone a woman instead of a cartoon dog, I thought it could use a write-up.

What do you mean, this isn't Dumas' original vision?

Meet our three brave musketeers in the service of Queen Louise.

Katerina (Beast) enjoys drinking, fighting and women, not necessarily in that order.  Probably the best fighter of the group, due to her willingness to abandon social norms and fight dirty when required.

Arsene (Infamous) suffers from guilt from his past as a thief, a career that eventually led to murder.  He's a reluctant combatant, favouring non-lethal approaches, but nevertheless essential to the party.  Being ace, he's frequently the only one able to keep his mind on the job.

Renée (Scoundrel) didn't always plan on being a musketeer.  She originally wanted to be a nun, only to get cold feet before taking her vows and retraining as a swordswoman.  Even now though, she's not sure she's on the right path, although she's at least enjoying the ride.

The three were out walking one day when suddenly from a nearby building appeared Lady Monique, closely pursued by a group of guards lead by Jussac.  Monique threw herself into Katerina's arms, somewhat to the consternation of Renée who had a certain affection for Monique.

Jussac claimed that Monique had stolen some jewels from Queen Anne.  This seemed unlikely, but as the others held off the guards, Katerina searched Monique's bag.  Much to her surprise, the jewels were there!  Katerina, of course, claimed that they were not, and that Monique should be escorted to the palace.  Via a series of nods and glances, she communicated to Renée the plan to ensure that Monique arrived at the palace jewel free.  Which would have gone splendidly, if Renée hadn't immediately fumbled the jewels...

There was nothing for it.  Renée had to defend her lady's honour.  She told Monique to run, and drew her sword.  Katerina threw herself into battle with Jussac, while Arsene picked up the jewels.

Renée's flamboyant fighting style drew most of the attention off Monique, as she taunted the guards into pursuing her up a statue in the middle of a fountain.  Katerina kept Jussac busy, abandoning her sword in favour of bare handedly wrestling her to the ground.  Arsene and his sword cane ensured that Monique made her escape.

The fight took rather a long time to finish, what with Katerina and Jussac enjoying themselves rather more than anticipated, and Renée's leap from the statue into the fountain pursued by guards resulting in an impromptu pool party and a demonstration of the transparency of billowy white shirts when soaking wet.  Eventually everyone was extricated, and after assuring Jussac that the jewels would be returned to the Queen, the musketeers went on their way.

Passing by an alleyway they were met again by Monique, who went to hug Renée, only to back off again when realising that she was soaking wet.  She swore her innocence in the jewel theft, but told them about a Huguenot who had come to the palace to talk to the Queen, and who had brushed passed her while leaving, presumably planting the jewels on Monique as she did so.

This warranted looking into, but first there were some other matters to take care of, such as the jewels, Monique, and the fact that Katerina hadn't had a drink in several hours.

At the pub, Katerina was greeted with a warm welcome, which soon turned out to be due to someone having paid off her rather large tab.  Katerina ran through a few possible women, but the landlady was sure it was none of them.  She gave a detailed description of the mysterious woman though, as Katerina enjoyed her claret.

Arsene, still in possession of the jewels, made his way quickly to the palace.  There was something of an altercation with the palace guards, complicated by the word 'Queen' being a little ambiguous when there was both a Queen Regnant and a Queen Consort, but finally he got to see Queen Anne and return the jewels.  Shockingly, he learned that there had been an even worse theft - private letters exchanged between Queen Anne and her brother.  It was critical that these were recovered

Renée took Monique back to her lodgings to keep her hidden from the guards until her innocence could be proven.  There Monique was a little surprised by the austere decor, with few adornments save for a cross on the wall and a large bible on the table.  While Renée got herself cleaned up, they talked about God, faith, and leaving the convent before taking vows, an experience they both shared, although Monique was untroubled by doubt about whether she had made the right choice.

Arsene called on some old underworld contacts to find out more about the Huguenot, and learned she was meeting someone that very night.  The three gathered once more, and made their way to the site of a bear baiting ring.  Alas, their attempt to enter stealthily was thwarted when Renée jostled someone on the way in, spilling his drink.

Arsene took charge at once, preventing the impending fight by distracting the would-be combatents with drinks.  Renée and Katerina moved in on the Huguenot, and were in time to spot her handing a bundle of documents to an unidentified woman - one that Katerina nevertheless recognised from the landlady's description as the one who had paid her bar bill.

In the chaos, the two ran in different directions, with Renée following the Huguenot and Katerina following the mysterious woman.  Not with the intention of catching them, but to find out where they were going.

Will Arsene manage to get his companions to stop kissing their enemies long enough to foil whatever dastardly plot is afoot?  Only time will tell.

First Time Playing: Thirsty Sword Lesbians

Thirsty Sword Lesbians is a game that didn't grab me when I first heard about it, largely because I couldn't figure out what it was for.  Most games have some kind of elevator pitch that sums it up, like 'space western' or 'modern day urban fantasy' or 'investigative horror' which tells me pretty quickly if it's something I want to know more about.  TSL didn't seem to have that, so it was hard to find the appeal.

I finally did find the appeal when a game pitch went up at MK-RPG for a game entitled 'The Three (Thirsty) Musketeers.  Now it made sense.  Swashbuckling and romance!  Having grown up watching Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds I was absolutely willing to give this a go.  Unfortunately only one other player was interested, and we all felt that two was an insufficient number of musketeers, but I was now interested.

So a group of people from the Good Friends of Jackson Elias assembled to give this game a go.  We were invited to pretty much create the setting from scratch.  We unanimously agreed on the idea of being space pirates and decided we were going to do a heist.

Slightly more complicated was picking playbooks.  Like most PBTA games, TSL uses playbooks with a set of archetypes, each having their own special moves.  This is one of the things that initially put me off the game, as I couldn't really relate to the archetypes, especially without any context to fit them into.  With some actual context (space pirates!) to work with, they were a little less confusing.  I went for the Trickster as I could see how she could fit into the pirate crew with her deception based skillset.  I could then work from there in making sense of the rest of the playbook and how it worked.

I found a lot of constrast here with two other queer-friendly PBTA games, Monsterhearts and Dungeon Bitches.  Both of these have much more defined themes: high school supernatural romance for the former, traumatised dungeoneers for the latter.  I had little trouble coming up with a character for Dungeon Bitches, and could probably do the same with Monsterhearts if I didn't absolutely refuse to play anything focused on teenage romance.

With our setting and characters sorted out, we proceeded to the heist, taking place at a society wedding at a mansion on a private asteroid owned by a billionaire socialite who I suggested we name Ellen Musk.  All the rich people would be bringing valuables that would get stored in Ellen's safe, and we could use the wedding as cover for our crime.  We went in with very little plan, in the great traditions of Blades in the Dark, figuring that the actual heist was less important than the relationships we made along the way.

The hardest part for me was getting into the romance mindset.  Romance as a literary genre is something I just plain don't like.  (I've been known to accidentally pick up crime novels that turned out to be romantic crime novels and then spend half the book yelling at the protagonists to stop kissing and solve the goddam murder.)  But I'll happily watch a good rom-com, or the thematically similar friendship movie, so I do technically know how it works.  It's just a very new thing in RPGs for me.

But I got there in the end, and the heist went off in dramatic style, ending with us absconding with the entire safe, a pirate from a different crew, and the bride.

Overall I found this a challenging game to play.  The themes are unfamiliar, the lack of a standard setting makes it hard to contextualise, and the mechanics are a little confusing.  But it also forced me to step outside my comfort zone, think about characters in a different way, and ultimately roleplay something really fun.  Challenging but worthwhile.

Accordingly, I've backed the kickstarter for this game's supplement, Advanced Lovers and Lesbians and will pick up the main book at the same time.  And here's hoping one day we'll assemble sufficient musketeers.