Lighthearted

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Lighthearted is a magical 80’s RPG of self-discovery. Revisit the coming of age stories of 80s films as college kids in a modern fantasy world filled with neon rainbow magic.
Welcome To 1987
The setting of Lighthearted is a romanticized 1987, that’s rediscovering magic. It’s like the version of the ’80s portrayed in Jem and the Holograms and Weird Science. Except in the places where computers were expected to do literally anything, we sub in light-powered rainbow magic. Want to summon a fairy while wearing a bra on your head? Rad! We’re gonna call that magic.
Is It Earth?
Not quite. It’s an alternate 1980’s with fantasy elements weaved throughout the most outlandish bits of what we remember from 80’s pop culture. There are fantasy religions mixed in with mall culture and illusory glamours replace plastic surgery. There’s still a cold war going on between world powers, but their weapons are destructive mages gifted with dark magic.
The Rules
The game uses a roll and keep dice mechanic where you roll a Trait die and an Emotion die then keep the higher of the two. While the Traits are set at character creation the Emotions change over the course of a scene. This brings the character's emotions to the forefront of the players minds and effects how well they can achieve their goals.
Resolving rolls involves establishing what the character wants and what is at stake if they fail. Based on their roll they will see variable results similar to PbtA games.
Why Play Lighthearted?
Ever wish you could retell the stories you loved from 80s films without all the problematic crap? Us too! That's the goal of Lighthearted. It puts the players behind the wheel of college kids trying to get past being a Prep, Jock, Geek, Rebel or Outcast. On top of that whole mess they'll have to deal with dark magic, parties, vampires, and finals week.
Who's Involved?
Lighthearted is written by Kurt & Kate Potts.
Kurt and Kate have been playing RPGs together for 10+ years and married for more than that. Kurt started working on Lighthearted in 2018, but as is common in this type of partnership Kate's influence was always present. She came on as an official co-author in mid 2019.
We've begun working with Minerva Fox on some initial art. So far she's done the Jock and Geek portraits on this page and will be bringing to life the Prep, Rebel, and Outcast later this year.
Why Early Access?
We want to give the people most interested in the game the opportunity to follow along and help shape the final product. Right now the game is still in development. There will be typos and rules changes, but with your support and feedback we can push the game over the line. All updates to the core rules will be made available to anyone who purchases a copy. Even if the price goes up later.
Along the way we'll set goals for purchasing art, hiring an editor, and hopefully fund a few trips to conventions where Kurt will be running the game.