New RP game I came up with - Adventure Kids

As some of you may know, I have been looking around for a rules-lite RPG. The main reason I have been doing this is because I want to introduce my 6 year old daughter and 5 year old son to roleplaying someday. In a non-violent game setting I think there are great moral lessons and teamwork skills to be learned through roleplaying. Plus I think it will be fun and they will get a kick out of it.

But so far the games I have found didn't feel right to play with the kids. D&D is too battle oriented and "scary" at their age for instance. Even the rules-lite systems I found didn't seem to give the players much to do when you take away the swords and spells. I wanted a game system where even without all those lethal attack forms, the players can still do interesting things and engage in battles of wills and wits of sorts.

So I brainstormed for a couple of days and came up with Adventure Kids. Two more days of typing and I now have the rules available in the link below.

http://www.box.net/public/xzp07ut3q9

I value the opinion of you guys here so feel free to tell me how crazy I am with all this. But cut me some slack! This is a first draft and I am sure it will need more tweaking by the time I take the kids through it in a year or so.

Anyway, enjoy...

This looks really cool, and an interesting diversion from the normal dungeon we are all used to. Good job!

I like the idea, A LOT. I think it is a hole in the current market which needs to be filled. Seriously, how many role players have kids these days.

I've only given the system a quick look but I think the task resolution system is overly complex. Maybe some sort of % system would be better. I'm basing this on kids not only playing the game but also running the game.

Thanks for the kind words from both of you.

Drawmack, when I designed the game I didn't even think of the kids running the game themselves. Hmmmm...thats interesting. I am not sure the age group I have in mind can do that. I was thinking more along the lines of coming up with rules that I, as the Storyteller, do all the work. All they have to do is react to what I tell them is happening in the story ... and occasionally roll some dice.

In fact, I would go so far as to say the the game's mechanics are easier, for the players, then many other systems I have seen. D&D included. Once the Storyteller tells the kids what die type to roll, they just roll it. No math needed on their part other than seeing if they rolled below the Talent written on their sheet.

Another thing about the system that I think will be a hit with the kids is that they will get to roll all the different types of neat dice they love handling so much. What I mean is if you use a D20 or a D6 based game, that is the die they will be rolling more often than not. I can just imagine them asking me "How come we never get to roll this one here, daddy?"

With the Ratio system every die will be used at one point or another. Maybe more than any other system I have seen.

So, I am hoping that with this system a Challenge roll will go like this:

Daughter: "Dad, I want to talk him into giving me that key."

Me: "Ok, what do you say to him then?"

Her: "Please, Eddie. I really need that key. Can I have it?"

Me: "That's good. What's your CUTE number again?"

Her: "It's a 5 now that I had Polly brush her hair, remember?"

Me: (knowing that Eddie's SMART is 2, I quickly add 2 plus 5 in my head) "Oh guess what? You get to roll the red die this time...the one with 8 sides!"

Her: (happy) "Oh yay, I like that one! I rolled... a 4! Thats less than my CUTE, I did it!"

And so on. See how she didnt even need to do any math?

BTW, I posted a version 1.57 at the link above. I expanded the introduction and added a sample character. Also some other changes here and there. Something tells me I am going to be constantly tweaking this for a while to come... good thing it's fun.

I would like to make the list of magical items in the game longer. Can someone help me with some ideas for silly made-up items that might be useful to kids in an urban setting?

Here is the list I already have...

~~~~~~~~~

Examples of magical items:
• A backpack that holds a LOT of stuff, but takes forever for you to find anything in it.
• A book that answers simple questions for you, but has a strange sense of humor.
• A pair of bunny slippers that adds 4 to your FAST. However they are pink and make you crave carrots.
• A dog collar that lets your dog talk with a “Rubie-rubie-roo!” type of accent, and makes people think that that is perfectly normal. The dog also gets a ravenous appetite for yummy food and eats any it finds, even yours.
• A statue of a frog that croaks when danger is near, sometimes a bit too loudly.
• A psychedelically colored van that seems to always lead the kids where they need to be.
• A wand that zaps away 2 points of TOUGH from a target a short distance away, but you have to make a SMART 4 roll to activate it.
• Food seasoning that lets you eat anything you cook with it and survive on it. The smell remains the same.
• An ascot that gives you +4 to TOUGH. Go figure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks!

This looks pretty good.

FYI: There are two RPGs I know of that are for kids and adults. The first is Meddling kids which is basically Scooby Doo the RPG. The other is Fairy Tale. Good luck!!

Larcen said:

So how she didnt even need to do any math?

Click to expand...

Math is hard!

-Hyp.

other cool magic items...

•A ring that gets warm whenever somebody tells you a lie.
•A really universal remote, that can control all sorts of electronics.
•A potion that adds to cute, but only until the stroke of midnight

Crothian said:

This looks pretty good.

FYI: There are two RPGs I know of that are for kids and adults. The first is Meddling kids which is basically Scooby Doo the RPG. The other is Fairy Tale. Good luck!!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. Meddling Kids sounds like the sort of thing I have in mind! I'll look into those.

Hypersmurf said:

Math is hard!

-Hyp.

Click to expand...

LOL. This is funny. First I had to defend that the system isn't too complex, now you are implying that it seems too easy. Sometimes you just can't win. But seriously, the point of my post was to show that from a young player's point of view, there really isnt much number crunching involved. Not that my daughter couldn't do it if pressed.

P.S. She does like Barbie.

arscott said:

other cool magic items...

•A ring that gets warm whenever somebody tells you a lie.
•A really universal remote, that can control all sorts of electronics.
•A potion that adds to cute, but only until the stroke of midnight

Click to expand...

Awesome, just the sort of stuff I was looking for. Swiped! I have added it to the latest version at the link above. Thanks.

Pilsnerquest said:

Hey Larcen, Adventure Kids looks like fun. I call dibs on the schoolyard bully.


Pilsnerquest

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The above was from another thread, but I thought it best to answer it here.

Here ya go, Pilsner:

~~~~~~~~

Brian “Goose” Pilsner (moody schoolyard bully)
Age: 10

STRONG 5
SMART 1
FAST 3
TOUGH 1 (2)
CUTE 2

LUCK 2

+1 to STRONG on a successful Sneak (“Atomic Wedgie”)

Goose likes being stronger than the other kids.
He likes the feeling he gets when they act nervous around him.
Goose looks tough and he acts it. However what the others
don’t know is that he doesn’t talk much because he usually
don’t have anything to say and most times he doesn’t even
know what they are talking about. He dislikes that he was
left back a year in school due to bad grades and disinterest
in his studies. He inwardly admires some of the bright kids he
pushes around and takes money from. But he would never admit
it to anybody, least of all himself. Being a loner, he wishes
he can find someone who he can relate to and who actually likes
him. Maybe if he could do something that would make him
popular and well known in a positive way..

Possessions Carried:
Sleeveless leather jacket (TOUGH +1)
Switchblade comb from the 60s his dad gave him
MP3 player w/earbuds (mostly hiphop, but secretly has some disco on it)
Trucker wallet on a chain
Some other kid’s lunchmoney
List of kids who “owe” him money

~~~~~~~~

I gotta tell you, writing that short background was tough! I have created countless PCs over the last 25 years but for some reason I couldn't easily come up with the rationale for a bully. Weird...

Anyway, I made his TOUGH sort of low...all bullies are really whimps when it comes down to it, right? At least I made him a LUCK 2 character (read: level 2).