You are a Transgender Deathmatch Legend! You built your legend with a tapestry of broken glass, bloody fists and banging slams. You put the HRT in hurt and put the hurt on anyone who tries you. 

You’re someone who’s been pushed around, screwed over, and badmouthed. They say you’re too much, they say you’re out of control. The world says you’re too loud and too violent. You should show them what it really means to be loud, to be violent, if they wanna knock you for being the wrong way, let them know you hit back.

Transgender Deathmatch Legend II is a hexcrawling beat-em-up designed for two players, using a deck of  playing cards. Play out brutal street fights resolved via a trick-taking game with individuals tricks zooming in on the beat-by-beat of violence.

The sequel to the acclaimed original game will feature six new scenarios and hexmaps, revised rules, new fighting styles, alternative modes of play, and a series of personal essays. This will be laid out in an A4 landscape book with horizontal wiro-binding, full of grungy and stylish photography of trans fighters. Available as both for the core book or a deluxe box set.

One player will act as the Face, responsible for creating and playing the titular transgender deathmatch legend, while another player will act as the Promotor, who'll frame scenes, fill in the world, and take on the role of opponents for any fight.

The Face moves across the hexmap and the Promotor introduces challenges, different weapons to be grabbed, allies of the Face, and a series of dangerous enemies. When a fight hex is entered the fight commences.

In a fight players run through a trick taking game, with an individual trick zooming in on a singular beat of a fight. Played cards correspond to the attempted maneuvers. The four fighting styles of the game include different flavouring of moves as well as unique trump effects reflecting their individual style of attack. Will you be relying on strength and fighting spirit, technical knowhow, a desire to break all limits, or a bag of dirty tricks?

The rules of a fight are freely available on the Rat Wave Blog. If you'd like to listen to how the game plays you can listen to an actual play of the original game on episode 329 of the Party of One podcast. (Note the rules have been revised for the sequel, but the core thrust of how the game play remains.)

The book will include seven scenarios with their own premises, maps, encounters and opponents. As well as a remastered edition of the scenario from Transgender Deathmatch Legend 1 the book features:

Transgender Deathmatch Legend will include templates for running the game across a voice call via PlayingCards.io

Templates will be included for each individual scenario (including the hexmap a a character token as part of the template) as well as for additional game modes.

Transgender Deathmatch Legend has been written and designed by Kayla Dice. The book will be edited by Jo Winter. The photography used throughout the book was taken and modelled by Kayla and a friend.

Kayla Dice is an award winning TTRPG creator (Diana Jones Award Emerging Designer 2023), dormant comedian, begrudging podcaster and unleashed oddball living in London. She releases games often focusing on themes of alienation and connection with evocative flavour and straightforward-to-grasp rules. She is the heart and soul behind cult classics such as Terminal, PSYCHODUNGEON and Fear the Taste of Blood.

In a former life in the squared circle Kayla did battle as the Unbreakable Heart Kayla Fizz. Donning a red skirt and multi-coloured facepaint this heavy-hitting hero stood up against bullies in Burning Hearts Fighting Entertainment. She was the Trans Torpedo, a defender of the downtrodden. But that was a long time ago.

Jo Winter is an organiser and alleged game designer hailing from the blighted lands of South East London. You might remember he from such works as The Fall of Home or YOU ARE A BEAST. For this project she'll be begrudgingly removing her (comically large) design hat and turning her gaze upon the words Kayla writes to ensure they adhere to the conventions of English grammar, but in a cool and vibes based ways, because she's not a cop.

This campaign is aiming for an initial goal of £2500, covering production costs and ensuring I'm paid for my work. 

Pledge levels for the campaign include the core book, for £20, or a deluxe box set (featuring cards for fighting styles, a deck of playing cards, a token for tracking movement and potentially more) for £40. In addition you can pledge at levels offering signed copies of the game, boosting the initial community copy, or a special chance to name a wrestler featured on a match card in the game.

The text for the book is already finished and with the editor, the books photoshoot has already taken place. In all likelihood the core book will be ready to release in December, depending on the exact timing though the physical fulfilment might delay into January due to holiday closures. Shipping fees will be collected via BackerKit pledge manager after the campaign. Fulfilment will be done by Kayla Dice using Royal Mail.

There are a series of exciting stretch goals planned once the initial target has been hit.

The Hot Rising Talents zine will be a small supplement of twelve pre-written player characters for Transgender Deathmatch Legend II, with art from the brilliant Hodag RPG. When this target is hit the supplement will be added to all box set orders and available as an add-on for everyone else.

Most of the following stretch goals are going to involve bringing on guest writers to craft unique fighters for the zine. 

Jay Dragon (she/her) is a queer TTRPG designer and creative in Philadelphia, USA. She's the editorial director of Possum Creek Games and author of Wanderhome, Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, Sleepaway, and many others. Her games are about the power of community, the true cost of violence, and the magic of the playground.

MacGuffin & Co. is a tabletop RPG publisher run by Sasha Sienna and Jonathan Sims, the minds behind the award-winning micro-setting collection Odd Jobs and the newly-released two-player fantasy RPG Pitcrawler. They've officially never been involved in any sort of deathmatch or fatality-based sports competition, so you can just go ahead and ignore those rumours.

(Jonny and Sasha will be adding a character each to the roster)

Jeff Stormer is an award-winning podcaster, author, and game designer living in Philadelphia, PA. Since 2015, he has hosted Party of One, a TTRPG actual play podcast focused on two-player RPGs. He has additionally co-produced shows including All My Fantasy Children and Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, which won Best of the Best in Fiction Podcasting at the 2022 New Jersey Web Fest. As a designer, he has published Anyone Can Wear the Mask won a Judge's Spotlight Award at the 2021 ENnies (and also he wrote that Olive Garden LARP). When not podcasting, he is a hardcore fan of deathmatch wrestling and Dramatic Dream Team (and has received a kiss from Danshoku Dieno, a high point of his entire life).

Jess Levine is an author, TTRPG designer, kindergarten teacher, and communist organizer. Her diverse creative interests are united by one theme: lesbians. She is the creator of the CRIT Awards 2023 Best GMless Game of the Year going rogue 2e, along with I Have the High Ground—her tabletop roleplaying game of banter, posturing, and capes—and her satirical scifi skirmish storytelling game PLANET FIST. You can find her on Twitter as @jessfromonline, and all her work on her website jessfrom.online.

Alison Cybe is a fantasy and horror author with multiple books/short story publications under their belt. They work as a freelance writer for tabletop RPG publishers, with other work featured in numerous horror and sci-fi/fantasy publications. They have a degree in Film & Media with a minor in sociology and media, they are non-binary with pronouns they/them. They were born in Scotland and has written extensively on inclusion and positive representation within gaming communities in particular with relation to LGBTQ+ and transgender visibility in gaming publications and blogs. Their interests include celtic mythology, transhumanism, model kits and pet rats.

There will be bonus payment to all of the freelancers who are helping to bring the project to life.

There is a mystery plan Kayla has for the stretch goal if we make it to 10k. It'll stay secret for the time being, but if we start closing in prepare to see it unveiled.