League of Extraordinary Children and Slavelords of Cydonia...


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I've got an exhaustive list of my favorite characters for this time period for my upcoming Thrilling Passages. Two of my favorite children characters are: Mowgli from The Jungle Book and Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island.
 

I thought about Jim Hawkins, but I decided not to include him my list because, even though Treasure Island is Victorian literature, he is not himself a Victorian-era character. The story is set 200 years or so earlier.
 

Lots of good suggestions here-- so many so I am blanking on anything to add. Except to say that opening up the time period, and instead allowing your kids to play ANY child hero, gives you a whole lot more creative room.

With regards to the subject matter of Slavelords, I think if you portray the sli'ess as monsters/slavemasters more in the "Cinderella" mode, you'll be ok. There are some other icky parts of the adventure that should/could be glossed over or hand-waived. It is not so much that Fairy Tales do not have adult situations, but simply the manner of presentation. How may children's stories involve monsters willing to torture, kill, and eat small children, after all? As an adult, I'd turn up my nose at an adventure that put children in danger-- it's just not the sort of thing I care to play at. But as a child? Could I get into that? Of course-- most of my youth was spent reading stories of just such peril.

Honestly, I don't think it's as much any particularly adult subject matter in the book that will be troublesome, but rather the VERY political nature of the whole thing. I don't know your kids, of course, but I think some parts of the adventure will require them to think in ways beyond their years (or ability). Some adult authority figure NPC might be important to help them along.

I don't own Grimm and have never seen it, but I do believe it's d20 based and it might be a ruleset you could use in lieu of Grim Tales; depending on exactly how much it's d20 based, it should still work with the adventure laid out in Slavelords.

I have to say I'm flattered that you are enjoying your read of Slavelords enough to shanghai your kids into playing through it. ;)
 

Wulf Ratbane said:
Lots of good suggestions here-- so many so I am blanking on anything to add. Except to say that opening up the time period, and instead allowing your kids to play ANY child hero, gives you a whole lot more creative room.

With regards to the subject matter of Slavelords, I think if you portray the sli'ess as monsters/slavemasters more in the "Cinderella" mode, you'll be ok. There are some other icky parts of the adventure that should/could be glossed over or hand-waived. It is not so much that Fairy Tales do not have adult situations, but simply the manner of presentation. How may children's stories involve monsters willing to torture, kill, and eat small children, after all? As an adult, I'd turn up my nose at an adventure that put children in danger-- it's just not the sort of thing I care to play at. But as a child? Could I get into that? Of course-- most of my youth was spent reading stories of just such peril.

I'm struggling with this now. I know at the 8-12 year old range was when I started reading ER Burroughs, but actually having a kid character in mortal danger, and exposing my kids to various slave/torture weirdness isn't what I'm going for. And I'm also planning on opening up the kid character concepts to any time period, though shoehorned into a Victorian setting.


Wulf Ratbane said:
Honestly, I don't think it's as much any particularly adult subject matter in the book that will be troublesome, but rather the VERY political nature of the whole thing. I don't know your kids, of course, but I think some parts of the adventure will require them to think in ways beyond their years (or ability). Some adult authority figure NPC might be important to help them along.

I'm just getting that now, in reading the sli'ess background. That may doom the whole expedition. Though, I can probably come up with some replacement politics that won't strain them too much. They've surprised me in solving some of my more twisted plots, so who knows...

I'm definitely using Grim Tales. All three of my kids are pretty well versed in d20, and I've been itching to use GT, since it opens up character concepts beyond the standard fighter/mage/cleric/thief stuff. I think they'll respond well to that...especially when they can build steamworks robots, and fight Captain Jack Sparrow...etc. I think GT may be more kid-friendly than not. There are tons of options, but at the same time the system seems to be more streamlined.

Wulf Ratbane said:
I have to say I'm flattered that you are enjoying your read of Slavelords enough to shanghai your kids into playing through it..

Well, all I can say right now is 'nice opening Book, and cool snake-dudes." I usually judge RPG material by how much it inspires me...so far consider me inspired. I'll report later if we actually get to play. We're running a straight D&D campaign and an Eberron campaign that's just starting. My wife is about ready to kick us all out of the house. The last straw will be the next time my 4 year old pokes her with a stick and yells, "I stung you! You have to fall asleep!" (he plays a pseudodragon when he sticks around at the table long enough).
 

LXG includes fictional characters with a bit of Xtraordinary to them. Have you considered the possibility of some more extraordinary children? Peter Pan? Barry Dotter?

The children from a Series of Unfortunate Events (Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire) would also seem to be tailor made for such an adventure.
 

GlassJaw said:
What about Young Sherlock Holmes?

Or more appropriate for the period, the Baker Street Irregulars.

In addition to the other suggestions, Kipling might provide some inspiration - Mowgli (from The Jungle Book), Kimball O'Hara (Kim), etc. Of course, you can also look up the historical exploits of people like Winston Churchill or Robert Baden-Powell - they were probably a little above the age range you want in their younger adventures, but you can always do a bit of historical editing.
 

Any time period? With a little digging, you could find stories from other cultures involving child heroes.

What about a 6 yr old with a hyperactive imagination and his stuffed tiger (Calvin and Hobbes)?

Son Goku. Yes, before Dragonball he existed in "A Journey to the West" and had a few animal companions. AKA Sun Wukong and possibly Hanuman.

Ditto for Momotaro (Peach Boy). He fought some ogres with the help of a dog, monkey and pheasant. Hey, it was mentioned in a "Lone Wolf and Cub" type story in Samurai Jack.

Tom Thumb.

Jack the Giant Killer.

Heck, what about King Arthur? A little hand waving and he might've awakened early from his healing sleep, which had the side effect of making him MUCH younger.

Again with a Wong Fei Hong plug. ;) He was alive around the turn of the century (1847 - 1924) so who's to say he didn't have disciples to pass his knowledge on to? Maybe something like the kids from Xiaolin Showdown.
 

Sally Salt, from the movie "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen".

Little Orphan Annie. The fact that the comic strip first appeared in 1924 is a mere technicality.

If I understand the Harry Potter timeline correctly, Albus Dumbledore was a student at Hogwarts in the 1860s.

Non-fictional extraordinary children:

Annie Oakley
born 1860
began shooting game at age nine to support her impoverished family
beat Frank Butler, a nationally known celebrity, in a marksmanship contest at age sixteen

Elsie Leslie Lyde
Actress
born 1881
chosen for starring roles in "Little Lord Fauntleroy" at age seven, and "The Prince and the Pauper" at age nine

child villains:

Wilbur Whately
born about 1912, died 1927 age fifteen
only half-human, he was raised from birth to help exterminate humanity
"The Dunwich Horror" by H. P. Lovecraft

Fah Lo Suee
daughter of Dr. Fu Manchu
an adult by 1931
 
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