Girl By Moonlight

Obviously this will vary from table to table, but here are some good places to start! If your game is played in person, most likely you will want to get a set of dice, something to write with, and paper to take notes. If your game is hosted online instead, you will probably need to make accounts on a few sites for things like character sheets, access to the Virtual Tabletop for maps and tokens, and sites like Discord or Zoom for video/voice calls during the session. You won't always need to have the rulebooks to start, but if you want to read through them to make sure you know all the rules, this might also be a good option.

No, anyone can play Girl by Moonlight! The game uses ‘magical girl’ as a shorthand, but your magical girls need not be girls, necessarily, but people whose identities put them at the margins.

If there are specific themes or content that you’re uncomfortable with, let your group and GM know before the game, and have an open conversation about these topics. Any group worth playing with should be respectful and understanding of your concerns and the game can be adjusted so everyone is having fun. All tables on StartPlaying use “Safety Tools.” These tools help ensure that these conversations are handled easily, and everyone has a voice at the table.

Knowing every rule of the game may be helpful to some, but many players will learn the game as they play! If you want to read the rules ahead of time you absolutely can, but if you are a hands-on learner you can also just start playing, and if there is something you don’t understand never be afraid to ask questions, because everyone starts somewhere!

Designer Andrew Gillis took the rules engine used in the highly-acclaimed game Blades In The Dark and re-tuned it for this game to create a unique play experience representing the breadth of the Magical Girl genre.