Some advice to represent trans characters in game

Note: I am discussing that topic from my own point of view, like I underline it below, trans people are very diverse, so naturally different trans people may feel differently about trans representation, if you have trans people at your table, listen to them first.  

The other day someone said they wanted to include trans non player characters in their game but did not know how to show or communicate that they are trans. I thought about it and here are some of my thoughts as a trans person. 

I would say that:

A) You can include trans characters without the need to show that they are trans. Being trans can be a private thing for some NPCs. If you do that it is important to not treat their transness as a dark secret or as a dramatic reveal, if a PC get close to that NPC try to make the reveal casual. 
 
and

B) You can simply state that a NPC is trans when you introduce them. You can say "you enter into the bakery shop and the baker, a cheerful trans woman with brown hairs and a warm smile, great you". 

I like that B offer clear representation and normalize trans people in a casual way. It can be a bit meta but I think that clear communication and representation are worth it.

This is worth a thought: when you describe cis people you simply state their gender, you don’t try to remain immersive by communicating their cisness and gender only through physical descriptions. If saying "you see a young woman with brown hairs, wearing a blue dress" is fine, casually saying "you see a trans woman with brown hairs, wearing a blue dress" should also be fine.  

When presenting a NPC as trans you are not saying that their transness is automatically apparent, you are simply informing the players that the NPC is trans, you are not necessarily communicating this to the characters. I would let a player choose if their character notice that the PNJ is trans or not. People perceive us in different ways, how we are perceived is not a fixed trait. (Please, don't ask for perception tests to notice if a character is trans or not, this put emphasis on "passing" and is kind of transphobic.) 

If you decide to physically describe a trans character don't present some of their physical traits as "non passing" or as being noticeably odd for their gender. Don't put the focus on how a trans person pass or not pass. You can frame some trans traits in a positive light but be careful not to base your entire description around them, also include traits that are not related to being trans. Exp: "You see a tall trans woman with dark hair and beautiful broad shoulders, she is wearing a..."     

This is mostly for binary trans characters, but with some nuances, the same can be applied for presenting and describing non binary characters. The main difference is that you will introduce them using non binary pronouns and often their occupation. Exp.: "You see a knight, they look brash and are wearing a fine set of armor." I would also be ok with adding "they are non binary". 

Other things to consider when creating or roleplaying a trans character: 

Diversity 
Don't forget that trans people have very diverse backgrounds and life stories. Try to give them diverse cultural backgrounds, educations, careers, ages, loyalties, attitudes, personalities and gender expressions. Their path toward self discovery, coming out and transition are very diverse too. Note that trans people may also remain in the closet or avoid transition for very diverse reasons too. Try to include more than one trans NPC to also represent trans people diversity. Like you can have old butch trans woman warrior and a young closeted non binary scholar. 

Family
Family can be a big thing for trans people, their family can be a source of anxiety or support. Again,  there is a large variety of experiences: some trans people may have cut all ties with their families, some may be in conflict with them while some other may receive a lot of support. I think it is important again to show different interactions for different trans people and different family member. A father can be very unaccepting while a uncle can be very supportive. I would say try more often to show family members as distant or supportive to avoid creating overemphasis on rejection. Don't ignore family conflicts but don't make them the norm too as it can get tiresome to see trans character always struggling with their family. 

Friends
Trans people don't exist in vacuum, they have friends and allies that support them. Try to give them some close friends or allies, people that support them or that simply appreciate them. These friendships may have started before or after their transition. Often trans people have a wide variety of friends of diverse genders, coming from the different parts of their life. On the other hand some trans people may experience a lot of isolation, which can be a source of distress for them, again don't make this the norm but it can be something to explore.

Partners
Trans people, like everyone else, may be single or have a partner (or more) and have diverse intimate relationships. Some may be in a relationship with a cis person, some may have a trans partner, some may be strait, gay, poly, ace, etc. Again the keyword here is diversity. Don't forget that your cis NPCs could also have a trans partner. 

Skills and past careers 
Depending of their background, trans people may have acquired a wide variety of skills, especially those who transitioned later in life and went through different careers. In a fantasy setting some trans people may have experienced a drastic career change due to the gender roles of their society or culture. But then again, trans people are good at challenging gender roles so there is no fixed rules here. You can have a trans woman baker who was a soldier before or a trans man who remain a well know healer and "midwife".

Networking and community
Trans people network together to learn about themselves and how to transition, also to help and support each others. This is especially true with internet but you could easily imagine a fantasy trans network about helping each other finding hormones potions or more mundane resources. Give your trans NPCs other trans allies, friends and contacts. Make trans people interact and discuss together, make them part of a community. Again, also consider that some trans people can be isolated and cut away from that networking, which can make their transition harder or be a source of distress. 

Ups and Downs
Trans people often have both a mix of low and high self confidence, sometime they can be very self confident and self affirming while other times they can experience a lot of anxiety and self doubts. This is often part of the trans experience, sometime you feel super courageous and defiant but other days you may feel super insecure about your appearance or something else about yourself. Some trans people also experience up and downs with their gender dysphoria, sometime they can feel super dysphoric, other time they forget about gender or are gender euphoric. (Note that not all trans people experience gender dysphoria, some trans people simply feel more comfortable in their chosen gender). 

Transitioning 
For your trans characters who choose to transition, don't forget that there is different ways to transition, someone can do a social transition (changing name and pronouns) while others can take hormones to also transition their body. Depending of your setting there may be different ways to transition socially or physically. Modern days offer different options (name change, hormones, surgery, etc) but you can also easily imagine ways to transition in other settings, like a renaming ritual or spell, hormones potions, magical pools, etc. Try to combine these with other services or social functions, like that trans clinic could also be a good bioware clinic and that hormones potions witch could also be a wonderful healer.

Somethings to maybe consider about magical or high tech transitions: is a "perfect" transition possible? Or is it a long and difficult process? Do it require frequent uses of magic or injections that reflect how modern trans people have to regularly take hormones? How accessible transition is? Is there different ways to transition that have different costs or benefits? 

Discrimination 
Trans people can face discrimination, this can be something that you explore in play but be careful if you choose to do so, even if it only affect NPCs, take the time to discuss with your players to see with what they are comfortable with or not. Also be careful not to define trans character only through the discrimination they face. If every trans characters are show as facing discrimination and suffering this teach to trans people that we can only experience our transness through suffering and struggles. This is why you need to be careful to avoid making discrimination the norm or default, even if discrimination can be a common thing, use it sparingly at the table or in your writing and don't be afraid to imagine trans characters who are well supported or settings with no discrimination at all. 

Some tropes to avoid

• Trans identity as a dark or mysterious secret.
• Dramatic outing of a trans character.  
• Trans people who don't reveal their identity to their partner. 
• Pre transition life coming back to haunt trans characters.
• Blackmailing trans characters with the menace of outing them or revealing their past identity. 
• Murdering trans people or suicide. 
• Assassins, spies or monsters who switch sex as a weapon. 

The Sad Blue House

EDIT: E.K. Hill kindly assembled my blog post into a PDF

Sometime ago a blue skinned teenager was found naked in a field, the villagers where not certain if it was a boy or a girl but they still befriended this strange kid. The blue teenager was happy for a while but a some horrible event happened and the teenager used their divine powers to save the village. Everything changed afterward, people started to worship the teenager, to fight between themselves to get his or her favor. The teenager was afraid as this worship brought back memories of their former divinity and the teenager wanted nothing of it. One day the tension between two factions of the newly formed cult fought together and someone was gravely wounded. The blue teenager had a meltdown, they curled into a ball in the grass and screamed "NO!", their divine power fully awakened and they transformed all the villagers into walls, rooms and doors that formed a house around the teenager, cutting them from the world. The divine teenager now hide the house, scared of what they have done and of what they are, afraid to venture back into the real world.

Maybe the blue teenager was a deity that fled their pantheon, maybe because they ran away from their divine duties, a divine conflict or maybe they decided to transition, it is hard to know...

Rumors now circulate about a abandoned village and a strange house that is sad. Some adventurers dared to venture into the house and brought back some treasures or strange tales. Maybe the characters had family or friends in that village. (If you are running a one shot, maybe they were former servitor of the blue deity).

The houses of the village are now abandoned. Some of them look like their occupants suddenly vanished. One small shed have been upgraded into a small house, gifts and offerings have been deposed around it but things of value have already been looted. Not far away from that small house, near the edge of the village, there is a large and strangely shaped blue house that have human like features. This house is the transformed villagers, inside the divine teenager hide away from the world. Anyone who enter the divine house is protected from divination and scrying powers, they vanish even from the sights of divine beings.

Maybe some vagrants camp in one of the village's abandoned houses.
Random vagrants (d8)

1. Outcast from a other village who need a quiet place.  
2. a runaway criminal (could be dangerous or a Jean Valjean)
3. a kid or teen who fled abusive parents from a nearby village. 
4. d6 murder hobos who hesitate to venture inside the godchild house. 
5. d6 bandits 
6. d6 lepers
7. a witch who want to be left alone (a magic user) 
8. a former servitor of the divinity who is attracted to the area (a depowered mythical being, now they only have a few more HD that the player characters). 

Random encounter while exploring the village. (d6)

1. vagrant (roll on the vagrants table) 
2. abandoned cattle or pet (probably hungry or in need of affection) 
3. scavenging small animal (raccoon, badger, coyote) 
4. scavenging large animal (pack of wolves, bear) 
5. foraging animal (deer, elk, moose) 
6. flashback from the divinity (roll on the flashbackd table) 

Divine flashbacks about the village (d20) 

1. Being found naked in the field.
2. Learning to wear clothes.
3. Learning to speak.
4. Learning to do some farm work and house chores. 
5. Petting a farm animal or a pet.
6. Sharing a meal with some villagers.
7. Helping the villager to upgrade the shack into a small house.
8. Looking at a religious item and feeling uncomfortable. 
9. Laughing with a villager and having fun.
10. Wondering about gender or trying a different gender expression. 
11. Listening to a villager singing or playing a musical instrument. 
12. Doing a minor miracle while being alone and being scared of it.
13. The village is in danger, maybe because of a fire, a plague or raiders. 
14. Being scared and using their divine power to save the whole village. 
15. The villagers being scared and admirative after being saved. 
16. Receiving gifts, favors and offerings from the villagers.
17. Being worshiped by the villagers, being deadly scared of this. 
18. Villagers bickering and arguing about their worship
19. Villagers asking for miracles and having different emotional reactions
20. A mob of villagers, things are getting out of control, the pressure is immense. 

The Sad Blue House

Everything that form the house was once a villager, the floor, doors, the furniture, etc..
These items are still conscious, most of them are asleep, interacting with them usually wake them.
Their memories are clouded, most of them think that they are dreaming.

If you need to know who was that door or chair before roll a d20 on the former villagers table.

Former villagers (d20)

1. Farmer / Laborer
2. Midwife / Healer
3. Miller / Masson / Carpenter
4. Fisherman / Sailor
5. Shepherd  
6. Woodcutter / Hunter / Trapper
7. Elder / Storyteller 
8. Wife / Husband
9. Kid
10. Peddler 
11. Shopkeeper
12. Innkeeper / Serving wench
13. Village guard 
14. Tailor / Cobbler 
15. Butcher / Cook
16. Clerk / Accountant  
17. Apiarist / Smith
18. Brewer / Barber 
19. Acolyte / Priest 
20. Outcast

The Rooms
The rooms are odd, they are a bit organic and feature element from different types of rooms. Think uncanny valley but for rooms.

(01) Lying door

• The front door is bitter and jealous, it will lie and try to lure the adventurers to room 09. 
• This room is a mix of a pantry and a forge. 

(02) Worried door

• The front door miss a relative or a lover transformed into a chair in room 08 or 09.
• This room is a mix of a cloak room and a kitchen.

(03) Friendly door

• The front door want people to go inside and to worship the blue teenager in room 11.
• This room is a mix of a wardrobe and a child bedroom.

(04) Looted room 

• This room is a mix of a closet and a foyer.
• A group of scavengers left some adventuring gear here as they ran away from the house (rope, torches, bedroll, dagger, waterskin).
• The sentient items in the room ask the character to remove that gear "they are nobody, their place is not here". If they do the fireplace poker will insist "you forgot something, this coin have no place here". Use the time they spend looking for that coin to make random encounters checks. 
• The lost coin is a ancient copper coin worth d6 gold pieces for a collector, it bring bad luck and give a point of penalty to saving throws.  

(05) Wounded door

• This front door have been forced open and is in pain, it beg to be repaired and locked back. 
• Acid leak from the door's wounds, interacting with the door or passing thought it without repairing it require a saving throw to avoid a point of acid damage. 
• The room is a mix of a tannery and a master bedroom. 
• A stretching frame have been broken by a scavenger and is also in pain. "Why are you coming here? You will only hurt people!" 

(06) Angry mouth door

• This front door is shaped like a mouth. It is filled with the fears of the blue deity, if someone come close it will scream "go away!" or "leave!" It will try to bite anyone who enter inflicting d8 points of damages (save for half). 
• The room is a mix of a barn and dinner room. 
• The items inside are also angry and can bite for d4 damages if touched. 
• Feeding them food will occupy them as they can only masticate without swallowing. 
• Looking for valuable items here grant +1 to value rolls.

(07) Random encounter

• The room is a mix of a house hall and a stable
• Four 1HD darts fetishes wait in ambush here, they will attack when the character reach the center of the room.  
• A rocking horse (formerly a stable groom) try to warn the characters. 

(08) Grabbing hands corridor

• A long corridor made of stones that whisper in their sleep "no I don't want to, leave me alone".
• A sneak test enable to pass through the corridor. 
• If noisy adventurers take a few steps in, hands will extrudes from the stones to try to grab them.
• A sneak test enable to pass through the corridor without activating the hands. 
• Characters must make a save against paralysis to move through the corridor, a fail push back the characters at the cost of losing d4 items. 
• Hacking at the hands trigger strangulation attacks. A attack roll against the AC of a chain mail let the character pass through, a fail inflict d4 strangulation damage by round until a strength roll is made to break free. 
• Trying to soothe the corridor by speaking in a soft voice is possible with a good reaction roll. 

(09) Mimic lair 

• The room is a mix of a study and the long corridor of a inn with wooden pillars and windows that open to a stone wall. 
• The desk chair miss the front door of room 02. 
• On the floor lay the corpse of a murder hobo, his head and shoulders have been eaten. 
• A small 3HD mimic have made it nest here amid the study's chests. It recently laid it eggs and it is full of coins, it contain 3d10 x100 gold coins and 3d10 mimic eggs that look like coins. 
• The mimic wont attack as it want the adventurers to take it eggs. 
• There is 3 other small chests in the study. If the adventurer talk with them or with other sentient items, they will say that a stranger hide among them. If this happen the mimic will play the role of a transmuted villager and will try to blame one of the other chests. 
• The other chests contain each a random treasure (add +1 to the value roll) 
• The mimic eggs will hatch in 2d6 days and will eat bugs and small animal until they grow larger. 

(10) Sleeping door 

• From outside, this room look like a gigantic sleeping face. 
• Every d6 turns the face mumble in it sleep and it is possible to sneak in through it mouth with a dexterity test. A fail mean no damage just a missed opportunity. 
• The room is a mix of a bedroom and a humble library. 
• The books talk about their content as if they have been rewritten by a child or a naive teenager. Opening them reveal inintelligible text. 
• Random encounters in this room are replaced by random divinity flashbacks that turn into nightmares and inflict d8 points of damages on a failed save against spells. If someone is reduced to 0 hp they fall unconscious and gain a phobia related to the nightmare.  

(11) Happy dinner room

• The room is a dinning room decorated with organic elements like the outside of the house. 
• The items in this room see their transmutation as a spiritual ascension and are happy to be part of the house that shelter their newfound deity. 
• They encourage the adventurers to eat the food put on the tables. 
• Eating the food trigger a saving throw against transformation, on a fail the character turn into a house item, on a success they experience a positive flashback about the village and all their wounds are healed. 
• A secret door lead to room 12: a beautiful face embedded in the wall. Gently touching the face will make the wall open like a blooming flower. 

(12) Isolation chamber

• This room look like the interior of the shack that have been upgraded into a small house.
• In the center lay a human sized cocoon that look like someone curled into a ball. 
• Touching the cocoon trigger a collective flashback that take the characters to when the blue teenager was part of a pantheon. (roll on the pantheon flashback table). 
• While in a the flashback the characters can try to talk with the divinity. Make a reaction tests modified by their roleplay. On a positive reaction the flashback move to a more positive one, on a bad reaction the flash back move toward a darker flashback. 
• Two positive reactions out of three lead to a positive conclusion while two negative reactions lead to a negative conclusion. Neutral reactions don't matter.  
• A positive conclusion can be the deity deciding to shed their powers to become mortal to experience the world or to go back into their pantheon to stand against it negative elements. 
• A negative conclusion can be the divinity cursing the characters. Or turning the blue house into a giant rock that no one can ever enter. Or maybe the divinity go back to their pantheon has a bitter god overcome by negative emotions.    

Divine flashbacks about their former pantheon (d12).
These flashback may happen in mortal or divine realms.
Use them to reveal or hint at the deity former pantheon. (Or their divine transition if you decided to explore that)

1. A act of creation related to their divine sphere of influence.
2. Unleashing their power in act of anger or jealousy. 
3. Being hurt physically or emotionally by a other deity. 
4. Bestowing a gift to a mortal. 
5. Locking or freeing a mythical creature.
6. Flirting or laughing with a other divinity.
7. Transforming a animal into a divine servitor.
8. Admiring a divine item or weapon.
9. Arguing with a other divinity. 
10. A positive or negative memory about their divine parents.
11. Being sad at the death of a mythical monster or a mortal. 
12. Being disgusted by the action of a follower or a priest. 

Random encounters in the blue house (d6)
(test every 2 or 3 rounds or when the group is noisy)

1. Patrolling 3HD fetish  
2. Three patrolling 1HD fetishes  
3. A 2HD fetish disguised as a ordinary item 
4. A house item awaken to demand something or ask a question 
5. Wildlife lost in the dungeon
6. Random vagrant lost in the dungeon

Fetishes (HD: 1 to 3, AC as chain, ML 9)
In it sadness the blue deity created fetishes that remind them of their former servitors.
These fetishes are the only animated items in the house, they slide on the ground like magical chess pieces. They protect the house and want people to remain away from room 12.

Fetish type (d6)

1. Petrification gaze (save vs petrification or paralyze for d3 rounds and take a damage by round) 
2. Acid (spit acid for d6 damages save vs poison for half damage, ruin a piece of equipment)  
3. Noxious breath (save vs poison to avoid taking a point of damage for d6 rounds) 
4. Biting (attack for d6 damage) 
5. Dart (spit 2 darts each round, d4 damage each) 
6. Entangling (sprout entangling vines, save vs paralysis or get entangled taking 1 point of damage by round if moving, DEX or STR test to get free) 

Fetish attitude (d6)

1. Sad (-1 reaction roll) 
2. Helpful (+2 reaction roll) 
3. Angry (-2 reaction roll) 
4. Happy (+1 reaction roll) 
5. Trickster (like to deceive) 
6. Unpredictable (roll a d4 each turn) 

Random treasures
Treasures found in the blue house are physical manifestations of the emotions or memories of the villagers. For exemple, if a villager is transformed into a chest it will contain items representing his emotions, same for the items left on a table or in a drawer. These items retain their existence when taken out of the house. Touching the item for the first time or selling it can fill someone with the emotion or memory it represent.

When a characters search through a room let them find a few valuable items like these.

The item is filled with (d6):

1. Sadness or loneliness 
2. Love or happiness 
3. Anger or hatred
4. Desire or jealousy 
5. Fears or worries
6. a specific memory

Worth (the more precious the stronger the emotion it represent)

1. Used or broken item worth nothing
2. Common item worth 1d10 copper pieces
3. Good quality item worth 1d10 silver pieces
4. Excellent quality item worth 1d10 gold pieces
5. Excellent quality item worth 2d10 gold pieces.
6. Fabulous item worth 1d20 x 10 gold pieces. 

The Coven, campaign setup

I was rereading some old blog posts that I removed for personal reasons and I thought of rewriting the campaign setup that I wrote to play a coven of witches. To do so I want to get rid of the material linked to the LotFP book Vaginas are magic (VAM).

VAM could have easily been trans inclusive, I mean magic... you can easily writestuff to include trans women. This is a book about spells, you can even write a transition spell (even with all the nasty miscast effects) and add it to your spells list. Or you know, you can simply avoid writing that vaginas and fertility are the only ways of defining womanhood in your magical cosmology.

At the time of publication of VAM, some of us defended VAM by saying: "the book don't have to include trans women, this is the OSR, you can simply hack who can cast these spells or devise your own magical means for trans women to gain a vagina and a fertile womb if they really want to cast these spells." And at the time I was feeling uncomfortable but I thought: yeah I guess this is the OSR way of resolving problems…

At that time I was really trying hard to like VAM and to continue to like LotFP, I even ran a campaign entirely built around VAM. But as I took some distance from my initial love for LotFP, I saw how trans exclusive and shitty the game text of VAM was. Looking back on how I was ok with these excuses, I cringe a lot at my past self.

The text of VAM present the spells as women's magic and state that you need to have a fertile womb to be able to cast them (the book title also imply that you need a vagina).

"Now about this “only women can cast these spells”
thing. When creating new spells, It is perfectly fine
to say that certain spells can only be cast by one sex,
or people with brown hair, or people with no eyes.
Or by those in certain moods, or who are wearing/
not wearing jewelry or clothing made of certain
materials, or who are covered in squirrel shit. It can
be that arbitrary, that simple. If a caster wants to use
these spells without the specific restriction, she can
recover a spellbook with the spell in it and research
her own version without the restriction. Spell
research rules aren’t just there to fill out a page count.
For the purposes of being able to cast the spells
in this book, “woman” is defined as someone (or
something, non-human magicians can cast these
spells too) able to be impregnated and carry a child to
term. Is a character Postmenopausal? Prepubescent?
Infertile for any other reason? These spells are not for
them. Exceptions are made for those normally barren
if they have been infected with parasites which are
then naturally expelled through their normal birth/
life cycle.
Yup, these spells will have players of male Magic-
Users (and old crones, and etc.) begging you to run
Alien for them, just so their characters can get face-
fucked. Isn’t gaming grand?"
-VAM

What I get from the text is that in LotFP, the cosmic magical forces of the universe align with some of the arguments that TERFs use to exclude trans women. If I play a trans woman, VAM tell me that my character need to get impregnated by a alien parasite for the magical laws of the universe to consider her a woman or that she need to do some magical researches to rewrite these spells so that a “non woman” can cast them.

Again with all the trans people playing and creating gaming material in the OSR, I think that our allies can show more creativity and do better than this.

COVEN CAMPAIGN SETUP

The characters are all witches (magic-users) and they are all members of a secret coven that researched the dangerous spells list of a long dead Elder Witch. Something happened and the coven have been recently dismantled, the player characters goal is to rebuild their coven and to find a way to deal with what menace them. While doing so, there should be plenty of opportunities to impact the campaign's setting.

The campaign can be run as a sandbox build around a small town and a situation that is affecting everyone in the area. The player characters could first try to find back their former allies and resources, then personal goals would surely emerge and the game could become more about dealing with the big situation (or other emerging stuff). Naturally dealing with the legacy of the Elder Witch and other supernatural elements will come in to complicate everything.


THE ELDER WITCH

The Elder Witch should have lived some generations ago, she was a brilliant witch that grew obsessed with her magical researches and accessed dangerous planes of existences. After her death her spell book became a precious artifact, copies were made but errors slipped in. The original book eventually gained a “soul” of it own and became a magical entity, a bit like the necronomicon in Evil Death but maybe more alien than “evil”. Finding back the Elder book is something that witches booth desire and dread.

Keep the Elder Witch history vague and shrouded in mystery and rumors, give her some scary traits but also some positive and relatable ones. Echoes of herself still survive, trapped between the planes, she feel anger and regrets, her feelings are conflicted, maybe she can be redeemed or maybe not.

Crafting the Elder Witch’s spell list

The Elder Witch discovered a plane of existence that she explored until some of it secrets consumed her. This plane have it own ecosystem and rules, think of the Upside Down of Stranger Things or the Otherworld of Silent Hill.

Her spells are about accessing and manipulating the energies of this strange plane, define the plane and maybe around 10 spells to start with.

Spells effects (d20)

1. Perceiving the plane
2. Accessing the plane’s background energy
3. Locating portals to the plane or toward it orbiting sub planes.
4. Travelling to or through the plane
5. Using the plane to affect our reality
6. Contacting and influencing denizen of the plane
7. Imbuing someone with the essence of the plane
8. Unleashing the energy from the plane
9. Manipulating the plane energy or essence
10. Controlling a positive or beneficial effect of the plane
11. Controlling a negative or dangerous effect of the plane
12. Reaching or accessing the plane’s core, lower or higher levels
13. Harvesting the plane’s primordial or forbidden energy
14. Awakening sleeping parts of the plane
15. Contacting a primordial and elder entity of the plane
16. Draining or corrupting the plane to achieve a major effect
17. Warding or protection against the plane energy, influence or hazards
18. Sensing or harvesting the plane’s natural resources or hazards
19. Summoning minor flora or fauna from the plane
20. Imbuing a traditional feminine craft, art, activity or item with the energy of the plane.

Casting and miscasting spells

A part of the fun of the campaign is to see how much the witches are willing to use these dangerous spells and how using them will affect and impact their live, their world, the plane and reality itself.

You will have to hack a bit the game system that you use. Character of any levels should be able to cast spells of any levels. Spell of higher level than your own should be more dangerous to cast.

When casting a spell, a witch need to make a saving throw, depending of your system, greater spell effects should be harder to save against. On a failed roll the witch lose control of the spell and she must roll on the miscasting table. There is also the possibility of casting spells when you expanded your magical spell slots for the day, this should automatically lead to a roll on the fumble table. 

The conditions in which a character is casting a spell could also impact the miscasting save. But keep in mind that casting spells should always involve some risk. 

Miscasting Table (higher results are potentially more dangerous)

1. The area of effect is larger than anticipated (in a bad way)
2. The spell effect someone else you know, a ally (or a enemy depending of the effect).
3. The effect become contagious or move travel through potential targets
4. The effect have a extra horrible side effect
5. The effect is corrupted, twisted, toxic or dangerous
6. The effect is too potent and out of control (in a bad way)
7. The effect attract hostile supernatural creatures
8. The effect hide in someone you know, emotions may trigger it
9. Casting the spell displace things between reality and the plane
10. Casting the spell mess up your mind or perception
11. The spell imbue a object and create a cursed item, scroll, tattoo or mark
12. The spell effect become a dangerous elemental or construct
13. The spell create a doppelganger of the caster
14. The spell germinate inside you like a parasite (ask the player how it manifest).
15. Casting the spell mutate your body
16. The spell awoken a terrible threat
17. The spell rewrite itself and it effect and become a new spell
18. Casting the spell edit a part of your the local area, ecosystem or reality
19. Casting the spell edit a part of your personal life or history
20. The spell try to rip you apart (save or die)

THE WITCHES

Players characters are women (cis or trans) magic-users.
Characters can be from level 01 to 03
>Level 01 characters can reroll 2 stats and keep the best
>Level 02 characters can reroll 1 stat and keep the best
>Level 03 characters don’t get a reroll.
Any character can switch a stat with their magic casting score (probably INT).

Starting ages:
Level 1: 15 +1d6
Level 2: 16 +2d6
Level 3: 17 +3d6

• Each character choose one spell from the Elder Witch spell list.
• Each character roll a number of spell equal to their level on the magic user spell list of your game system. This spell can also trigger miscasts and is linked to the plane discovered by the Elder Witch or one of it sub planes.
• No duplicate spells between character are allowed (reroll duplicates).
• Character understand better the spells they chosen and rolled and get +1 to save against miscasting these spells. All the characters’ spells are pooled together to create the master spell book of the coven.
• The referee add a extra spell from the Elder Witch’s spell list that is harder to master and that always inflict a penalty when saving against miscasting it.
• All characters can use the master spell book to prepare spells.
• Your personal spell books start with level+2 spells written in it selected from the master spell book.

THE TOWN

The referee should name the town.
Go around the table and answer these questions together.
If a question don’t inspire you, pass it to the next player.

• What is the town main landmark?
• A local product that you appreciate?
• A local product that you find cringy?
• A local tradition?
• A place where you feel safe in town?
• A place where you feel unsafe in town?
• Someone in town who abuse of their power?
• Someone in town who try to restrain them?
• Someone new and ambitious?
• A old incident that disturbed the town?
• A distant calamity that is starting to affect the town? (war, natural disaster, plague, revolution, etc)
• A rumor about it? (ask each player)

THE COVEN

The game will be mostly about rebuilding the coven…
Go around the table and answer these questions together.
If a question don’t inspire you, pass it to the next player.

• Who founded the coven?
• How did she learn magic?
• What was her relation with the memory of the Elder Witch?
• Where was the coven situated?
• What special resource the coven had?
• What magical artifact the coven lost?
• What spell did the founder was never able to master?
• What native beings from the other plane the coven feared?
• Who was secretly allied with the coven?
• Who betrayed or abandoned the coven?
• Who raided the coven?
• Who of your sisters died in the raid? Who still perceive her?
• Who of your sisters ran away?
• Who of your sisters was captured?
• How the founder failed the coven before her demise?
• How the founder perished?
• Where were you instructed to go if things go wrong? (were the game will start…)

Personal questions for each characters

• How the coven recruited you?
• What did you glimpse from the other plane during your initiation?
• You admired or feared the founder?
• Who are you close with within the coven?
• Who do you trust in town?
• Who do you fear, hate or avoid in town?

For transgender witches

• How do you transition? (socially and or physically) 
• Do you use potions, herbs, rituals or other magical means of transition?
• Who taught you this secret? 

Divine Transition (in a petty pantheon)

Because of my family issues with my transition I thought, what if a divinity in a classic family based pantheon came out as trans? I doubt that I would use this myself in a campaign but there is no harm in brainstorming just for the fun of it.

Lets say that we have a classic Greek or Norse pantheon with a strong family structure and a lot of petty, jealous and controlling divinities who have the habit of intruding into other people's business...
While these gods could easily shapeshift, most of them maintained a fixed gender identity to maintain family ties as they were know as the son or daughter of... or the wife or husband of... 

Here are some possible consequences of a divine transition in these circumstances: 

• Transition could be simple as gods can easily shapeshift. 
• But maybe that how their follower perceive them shape their appearance on the mortal plane. 
• Maybe the trans divinity will make some coming outs to their followers through different divine means. 
• Maybe the trans divinity will go in hiding to transition and appear to have abandoned their followers (some heroes will have to undertake a quest to check on them). 
• Maybe the deity will accomplish new divine feats while undertaking a quest to transition. 
• Maybe their dysphoria will spawn monsters, cursed items or calamities. 
• Maybe their gender euphoria will spawn new servitors, artifacts and miracles. 
• Maybe their transition will influence their sphere of influence. 
• Maybe their transition will influence the elements they rule over. 
• Maybe their transition will reshape their spirit servitors. 
• Maybe they will lose the support of some allies while old adversaries will welcome their new identity. 
• Their divine parents could cast them out in the mortal world or even imprison them in the underworld. 
• Strife could emerge between accepting and non accepting divine parents. 
• Their non accepting divine parent could craft a simulacrum of their old identity to replace them. 
• The divine parents could continue to maintain their parent-children relationship but in a very passive-aggressive way, you know by hindering their heroes or pestering their followers with monsters and calamities. 
• Splinter cults could emerge between those who try to preserve the old identity of their divinity and those who embrace the new one. 
• Mortal trans people could seek out the divinity to gain their support. 
• Mortal social order could change or the divine transition could create a conservative backlash. 
• Some minor deities will dare to come out too... 

Now imagine that a divinity that his currently very relevant to what is currently happening in the mortal world transition. How all of these consequences will impact the current situation? 

Like let say that the god of war transition during a major conflict between nations, or that people depend on a divinity to protect them against undeads or other kinds of menaces. Or that a divinity that rule over a very gendered institution or occupation transition. There could be all sort of interesting consequences that bleed over into the mortal world.