Suburban Fairy Tale - Grade School Sorcerers

[Paka]

Suburban Fairy Tale

inspired by a post by Old Scratch over at RPG.net in the thread, Kickers and bangers, how do you use them?

An epic adventure can be had during school recess. The woods behind the school go beyond the sunset if you know the right trails. Wardrobes hold lions and the basement is haunted. The Monster Under the Bed can be bound to your will.

Rather than childhood making something of you, you are making something out of your childhood.

Never trust a grown-up, look both ways before crossing the street and don't talk to Strangers.

Demons are imaginary friends, childbook mythological beings and urban myths. Many Demons allow their Sorcerer to venture into fairy otherwords, bits of nursery rhymes and fantasy novels brought to life. The crossroads of Oz, Narnia, Hogwarts and the land Beyond the Looking Glass.

Odd Idea: Grown-ups are Immenents that can be Pacted with but not bound.

Humanity is a double axis of the cold iron anchor of the adult's reality and and a child's sense of fairy tale wonder. When you reach 0 you either become a grown-up and lose touch with the magical world, fading from the fairy world or disappear into the Otherworld never to be seen by the mundane world again.

They player may choose which option makes more sense for their character. If they become adults, they may have a last temper tantrum, a final bout of righteous anger against the world of fantasy that they will never inhabit again.

If they disappear into fairyland, they may become a magical being of legend and make up a different character with their former character as the Demon.

I'm playing with this idea of a Humanity axis and I'm not sure I've got it straight, any help or ideas are appreciated.
Lore is knowing the in's and out's of the storybook world, knowing the cold iron from moonsilver and knowing Monsters Under the Bed from the Rat King.

Rituals are children's rhymes, bits of occultism whispered on playgrounds and trappings of adulthood twisted to fairy tale ends. The girl next door is tied to an altar of storybooks with her father's silk ties and her head is shaved to summon a Black Unicorn. A complicated pattern is drawn with high school chalk on the sidewalk cracks of the neighborhood in order to Contact the Back-Breaker Spirit. Pan is summoned by referencing your aunt Helen's astrology books, stuffing a pocketwatch into a toy alligator and an empty bottle of wine emptied by your alcholic parent before a drunken beating.

Most of all a Ritual has to have roots in the child's life. The player get's extra dice for telling the GM where their character got the idea, where they learned this ritual and the child-logic that fuels it.

Help

When do you lose or gain Humanity for each example listed above?

[Paka]

Another Odd Idea: You get two Covers, one from the real world and another from the mundane world and one from the other side. You take your Stamina and your Will, add 'em up and those are the points you get to spread between the two.

[Old Scratch]

Hmmm... You know I'm going to have to mull over this, but there's a lot of great ideas in here, but I don't want to read your ideas too closely right away, since I'd rather have the ideas fermenting and go off in my own various directions...

But here's two ideas:

One aspect of the genre: The story within the story: Where the child is being read a story, or an adult is looking back on their childhood. You might be able to play on this and have the Kickers or parts of the one sheet or the mini-supplement be written up as part of a novel or the character as an adult, recounting a strange episode of their childhood. But it could also suggest what the adult has been doing since...

So Kickers could begin like:

"When it starts to rain, I can feel the ache in my bones. Some of the pain is from the injuries when I was shot down over Germany, but some of the pain was from when I was younger, as a child living in Wisconsin. I suppose as children we all experience strange things and forget them, but the scars and the pain have allowed me to remember something magical... and terrible...

It was a early Spring day. I was playing at the well, when I paused... and the hair rose on the back of my neck. I could swore I heard a voice, pleading to me from the well.

The second thing is that Demons could also be toys and family mementos made real by the imagination of the child: think Winnie the Pooh, Tigger or Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes.

I suppose not only could all adults be Immanents that can only be pacted with, but nearly all animals would be immanents as well, many of them pactable only. Imagine if once you wander into the Otherworld, all the animals talk, if they feel like it.

Interested in seeing what other people think, but here's a quick reading list.

For RPG inspiration I suggest that Mr. Bumpy Adventure from Whispering Vault's Dangerous Prey (its covered in a review here). It is a bizarre, whimsical, and grotesque little adventure. In the same vein, Little Fears and the Dark Forest setting in Sorcerer and Sword as well as FFG's Grimm. Of course Alice in Wonderland, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Pooh, Narnia (in particular A Horse and His Boy), Peter Pan, City of Lost Children (movie), and there's that books on the secret world of animals that might give ideas: Watership Down, the Calvino story on cats, the poem about the rats and the Cats, the Great Mouse Detective, Nimh, The Wind in the Willows, and that sort of thing.

But rather than have it be too light and fluffy, I'd really highlight and counter childhood myths of innocence... add a bit of spiked detail to it. Not as extreme as Little Fears, but some of the grotesquerie of Grim's Fiary Tales.

I'm going to mull over these ideas, and I'm excited to see what other people come up with!

[Old Scratch]

How could I forget! The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. It is a Sorcerer story: A demonic house which tempts children, and when their humanity turns to zero they are transformed. Children pact with the house.

I think the tone of that book is what I'd be shooting for. A bit of whimsy, a bit of wonder, and a dark undercurrent of the terrible beneath it.

[Paka]

Originally posted by Old Scratch
How could I forget! The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. It is a Sorcerer story: A demonic house which tempts children, and when their humanity turns to zero they are transformed. Children pact with the house.

I think the tone of that book is what I'd be shooting for. A bit of whimsy, a bit of wonder, and a dark undercurrent of the terrible beneath it.

That book is fantastic.

I've written some descriptors out in crayon. I'm meeting with a group of gamers tomorrow to decide the next one-shot and might end up running this.

[Old Scratch]

Originally posted by Paka
That book is fantastic.

I've written some descriptors out in crayon. I'm meeting with a group of gamers tomorrow to decide the next one-shot and might end up running this.

It sounds like a fun idea. Taking a load of drugs and watching the old Marty Kroft 70's show: H.R. Puff n Stuff might be a good way of getting ideas too. That's a pretty demented show. Obviously the kid's demon is that little talking flute (I should also give a nod to Mr. Show's parody of H.R Puff N Stuff, where they show the lost episode, one all about drugs: the flute is actually a bong, they're in the altered state of Drugachussets. A pretty funny sketch).

If you do play this childhood sorcerer, I'd like to see the Actual Plays! And I do recommend taking a peek at FFG's Grimm. Its a neat book, but it sounds like the Sorcerer system is a much better fit than the d20 system!

[Old Scratch]

I think another example of this sort of play, from a non-Western perspective would be "Spirited Away!". Sen/Chihiro is apparently a sorcerer, she befriends and pacts with all sorts of demons. She banishes the River Dragon (in a sense), summons and binds No Face, and Binds Yubaba's baby as well (As an aside, Nausicaa seems to summon and bind the God Warrior and banish the spirit form of the Emperor's Brother - seems to me like Nausicaaa

Paka, are you going to post any of the descriptors here? I like the Crayon approach. In fact, all the characters sheets should be filled out with Crayon. Have you considered changing the names for Stamina, Will, and Lore?

[Tancred]

Originally posted by Old Scratch
One aspect of the genre: The story within the story: Where the child is being read a story, or an adult is looking back on their childhood. You might be able to play on this and have the Kickers or parts of the one sheet or the mini-supplement be written up as part of a novel or the character as an adult, recounting a strange episode of their childhood. But it could also suggest what the adult has been doing since...

Not the same thing, but this reminded me of 'The Neverending Story' where the kid reading the book is pulled into the world by the process of reading it.

I can see a cool lead-in to the game where the characters are listening to a story, which they play out for a little bit as the story's characters. Then those book characters find something that refers to the 'real' characters, or cross over into the children's world and bring them back with them, the book's characters becoming the childrens' 'demons' in the game proper.

[Paka]

Originally posted by Old Scratch
Paka, are you going to post any of the descriptors here? I like the Crayon approach. In fact, all the characters sheets should be filled out with Crayon. Have you considered changing the names for Stamina, Will, and Lore?

Sure, I'll post 'em. I haven't changed the character sheet.

Stamina Descriptors:

New Sneakers - You're fast, got new sneakers.

Fatty - Scale reads, "Get offa me!"

Skinny - Beanpole!

Captain - You always choose teams.

Cute - Everyone in your grade has a crush on you. Ew.

Last Picked - Not on my team, ya ain't.


Will Descriptors

ADHD - It means you are a spaz.

Shrinked - How was therapy last week?

Beaten - People who are supposed to love you hit you.

Perfect - Angel. Honor Roll. 99th Percentile. Pressure.


Lore

Doolittle - Animals talk to you and taught you magic.

Crayon Pentagrams - You make it up based on stuff you've heard here and there, seen in movies and read in old horror comics.

Satanic Sibling - Big Bro/Big Sis is pure evil and living that close has taught you stuff.

Always Reading - Having a nose always in a book has its advantages.

Overactive Imagination - They tell you magic isn't real and just part of your imagination. Its easiest to believe them.

I'm not crazy about my Lore descriptors at all but such is life, its just a rough draft at this point.

We might make up characters tonight but might not, we'll see what the players choose.

[urbwar]

Paka,

Once again, I am in awe of you taking a seed from someone else, and finding a new way to run Sorcerer.

[Paka]

Urbwar,

Garsh.

Thanks for the kind words. I've been on a definite Sorcerer kick lately, having run 3 games in the past 3 weeks with 3 different groups. Nutty.

And I think I have just begun to scratch the surface of what it can do.

Anyway, thanks again, Old Scratch's idea and implied setting had legs under it, a fun sandbox to play in.

[urbwar]

Originally posted by Paka
Urbwar,

Garsh.

Thanks for the kind words. I've been on a definite Sorcerer kick lately, having run 3 games in the past 3 weeks with 3 different groups. Nutty.

And I think I have just begun to scratch the surface of what it can do.

Anyway, thanks again, Old Scratch's idea and implied setting had legs under it, a fun sandbox to play in.

I should also give kudos to Old Scratch for inspiring you, so let me do so now:

Good job Old Scratch! :D

Yeah, you've been on a kick lately. I hope I can get that Heavenly Kung Fu idea a run soon!

[Old Scratch]

I like your Lore descriptors, but I think they need to be more explicit. They need to hook a bit.

Here's some of my ideas for Lore:

Changeling: You’re one of the fey children, the real child stolen away in the dead of the night and replaced by you. You wonder where your mundane twin has gone…

Fey-Taught: The pixies and nixies and brownies and dryads all take a liking to you. You’ve drank their buttermilk potions and eaten their pixie-sugar-drops and ever since, you’ve experienced things differently. Likewise, their meaningless made up songs, suddenly twist into something that makes sense when you need it, and their little pranks and ploys have given you an irreverence to the grown up world and its stupid rules.

Never Want to Grow Up: You made a promise to yourself that you weren’t going to get any older! And you haven’t aged a day since… and with all those years, you’ve learned a few things or too…

Precocious: You see the world differently than everyone else. You hear things that other people ignore. There’s a world of secrets but most people are too busy to pay attention. You hear what people really mean to say when they talk. You hear what they don’t even want to speak of…

Ghostly Friend: Perhaps your grandmother died, or a parent, or a spirit in the house that you live in, but one of them watches out for you, gives you hints, tells you what streets to avoid when, what people to run away from, and lets you know in advance when the ice cream truck is going to come into the neighborhood.

Animal Hermit: You’ve learned the ways of the wilds from an animal, perhaps a talking mouse living in your wall, the old tired dog on the corner that nobody else ever sees move, or that robin that sits outside on the tree, but the animals have a way of knowing that nobody else does. Other people stopped listening to their wisdom, but you haven’t.

Terrorized! You know there are monsters! One of them lurks in your closet, or under the bed, or in the flesh of your mommy or daddy, but you’ve learned the ways to fight them off. You know about the old man under the bridge, about the old lady at the corner house, and the constant fear has made you wiser…

The Last: You are the last child in the Guf, the Hall of Souls. You’ve sat and waited your time as the hall slowly emptied…

Wish: One time you made a wish for things to be different, for you to be different, and now its come true, and you’re not sure if you like it… All these talking houses and grasping trees and watching animals with their knowing eyes…

Fell Down the Well: You fell down that dark well that seemed to draw you in. You were in the hospital for weeks after, but when you woke, you were different and so was the world. Now if only you could remember what had happened…

[Paka]

Originally posted by Old Scratch
I like your Lore descriptors, but I think they need to be more explicit. They need to hook a bit.


I'm throwing mine in the trash and using these.

Thanks. Wonderful.

If my group chooses this setting to play tonight, I'll write up an Actual Play report and I'll link it off of this thread.

Fantastic Lore Descriptors....wow.

[Paka]

Old Scratch,

Would you mind posting your Lore Descriptors at this thread's twin sister at the Forge?

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11341

So its all complete and tidy?

[Old Scratch]

Originally posted by Paka
Old Scratch,

Would you mind posting your Lore Descriptors at this thread's twin sister at the Forge?

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11341

So its all complete and tidy?

Yeah, I've been meaning to... Just haven't gotten around to it. I was going to wait and develop it a bit more and clear up some of the typos.

Like your ideas! I'm very excited with what you've got so far, I'd like to see it systematically examined a little more. I've also got some additional ideas to complement what you've written already!

Stamina:

Big Bully: Yeah, you’re bigger than the other kids, and you’re meaner too!

Red Hair: You’ve got red-hair, freckles, and a bad attitude to match!

Tomboy: You’re as good as those stupid boys. And you’ll kick ‘em in the shins to remind ‘em of that! <kick!>

Sickly: Maybe you’ve got leg braces or asthma, but you dream of being healthy and playing with the other kids. But until then, you’ll just sit and watch them having fun…

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails: …That’s what little boys are made of!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice… That’s what little girls are made of!

Will:

Little Monster: You always get your way. And if you don’t, you scream until you do!

Cowardly: You may hide it with bluster or be open about it, but you just don’t seem to be able to stand up for yourself when push comes to shove.

Mommy’s Little Angel: You’re sweet, considerate, and well-behaved, the sort of composure and self-discipline that most of your peers lack.

Raisin’ Hell: Things need to be stirred up! If its too quiet, you’ll jump on your bed, run around the neighborhood screaming and waving a toy tomahawk, fly off the roof wearing a cape made out of your bed-spread, and chase every cat, dog, and bird around the neighborhood.

Lore:

Comic Book Education: Yeah, you know all about monsters! You’ve read all about it in Radioactive Man (or watched all the tv shows!)

Little Man/Woman: Everyone just thinks you’re a kid. As long as you don’t drink or smoke, nobody’s any wiser… The kids of course know, but they’re not telling anybody!

I've been thinking a lot about Simon from "Lord of the Flies". You know, the pig talks to him. He gets fainting spells, nosebleeds, the sort of messiah figure in the story - but I've been trying to come up with a Lore thing for that type of character, but I figure "Precocious" might do it... Or perhaps something like "From the Mouth of Babes" or something...

[RobNJ]

Fantastic stuff, Idea Machine.
Originally posted by Paka
New Sneakers - You're fast, got new sneakers.
I'm not loving this one. It seems like it's about "gear" and not the person.
ADHD - It means you are a spaz.
I think this is great, but it's better to call it "Spaz" and have the description invoke ADHD, or any other number of things (borderline autism, etc.).
Always Reading - Having a nose always in a book has its advantages.
Nothing useful to say here other than that I love this.

[Paka]

Originally posted by RobNJ

I think this is great, but it's better to call it "Spaz" and have the description invoke ADHD, or any other number of things (borderline autism, etc.).


Good call, Rob. Thanks.

[Old Scratch]

Instead of "spaz" why not "Ants Down Your Pants"?

Another Stamina:

"He Plays With Dolls": You've got a senstive side that other boys simply can't appreciate.

Will:

"I Know You Are But What Am I?": You've a big mouth and nobody ever gets the better of you!

EDIT:

I added the stuff that I posted to the Forge but didn't post here:

Will:

Got Glasses: Of course you’re smart, everyone knows that! You wear glasses!

Lore:

Abducted by Goblins: They snatched you one day when you were playing under the house and they dragged you off to the underworld, but when you burned them with a silver dollar you were able to escape, but now you know what to look for!

Witch’s Apprentice: You don’t know what your mom was thinking when she sent you off to your Aunt’s. You didn’t like your aunt’s black cat, and you liked your aunt even less! She made you work in the kitchen and collect stinky old herbs, and you got fed up and ran back home!

[RobNJ]

This thread really makes me want to play an autistic kid in a game like this. He'd be ridiculously powerful (but it's not the power associations that daw me to the idea).

I think the science-mind in me rebels at the notion of the purity of childhood and utter credulity and wants to show what living in a fantasy world is really like, then apply that to a place where having an all-consuming fantasy world has some meaning other than being a sad tragedy.

[Paka]

Actual Play begins:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124665

[Drastic]

Very neat stuff. Have you hammered out more firmly what Humanity gain and loss will entail, and what the causes and conditions of it would be?

It seems to me that the stock toolkit answer of banishing increasing Humanity and summonings (sometimes) decreasing it might need to be inverted for this if Humanity 0 is viewed as leaving childhood fancies behind. Having your own demons banished--no longer having that imaginary friend, seing what was once a potent magical tool is really just a cheap plastic toy, etc.--would tend to decrease; gaining more demons would tend to increase.

This ocnflicts with the other idea of Humanity 0 drawing the kid away from this world entirely, though.

[Paka]

Originally posted by Drastic
Very neat stuff. Have you hammered out more firmly what Humanity gain and loss will entail, and what the causes and conditions of it would be?

We are going by a plural Humanity approach, as discussed in Sex and Sorcery.

Maturity vs. Fantasy

Humanity check type 1: shirking responsibilities, destroying trust, breaking set rules

Humanity gain type 1: doing one's agreed on jobs, telling the truth when it is inconvenient to do so, living within the rules when it is inconvenient to do so

Humanity check type 2: neglecting fantasy life, denying its existence, ignoring its existence

Humanity gain type 2: following a fantasy calling to valiant lengths, proclaiming your fantasy's reality, showing a dreary soul a glimpse of another world

[Old Scratch]

Originally posted by Paka
We are going by a plural Humanity approach, as discussed in Sex and Sorcery.

Maturity vs. Fantasy

Humanity check type 1: shirking responsibilities, destroying trust, breaking set rules

Humanity gain type 1: doing one's agreed on jobs, telling the truth when it is inconvenient to do so, living within the rules when it is inconvenient to do so

Humanity check type 2: neglecting fantasy life, denying its existence, ignoring its existence

Humanity gain type 2: following a fantasy calling to valiant lengths, proclaiming your fantasy's reality, showing a dreary soul a glimpse of another world

I'd like to explore this a bit more...

What exactly is maturity? I think it could be broken down to things more relevant and fitting to the humanity.

If upon zero humanity someone loses that sense of wonder and open curiosity about the world that allows them to see things adults don't, then it seems to me that the themes would be:#

Humanity 1:

Wondrous vs the Mundane: Being a child is discovering things for the first time in the world, seeing things with a fresh perspective and an openness that jaded adults cannot attain. It's a sense of being open and aware of a world that others have closed off of.

Humanity 2:

Sincerity vs Insincerity: Being honest to yourself - yes, that rabbit did talk to you, yes, you do have an invisible friend, and yes, there is a monster in your closet. Your parents may tell you that none of the above is true, but if you're going to be sincere and honest with yourself, you have to listen to your perceptions and intuitions. The Adult World wants to isolate you, close you off from this, make the world managable, predictable, and safe. So thus the other axis is about being true to yourself and others, calling it like you see it and not worrying about the masks and facades and appearances adults are so concerned with.

[Paka]

Originally posted by Old Scratch

If upon zero humanity someone loses that sense of wonder and open curiosity about the world that allows them to see things adults don't, then it seems to me that the themes would be:#

I'd like a two possibilities when someone reaches Humanity 0.

One in which they no longer see the fantasy world and cannot react to it.

Another in which they delve into the fantasy world and never return, possibly becoming the Demon for their next character.

Could you give me instances of Humanity checks and gains for your plural Humanity definition. I'm not sure I see how it would work in play but I do like it.

[tetsujin28]

Why do I even bother with coming up with campaign ideas, when there are geniuses like Paka?

BTW, do you have Grimm? It's for d20, but it's chock full of cool ideas for this sort of campaign.

[Paka]

Originally posted by tetsujin28

BTW, do you have Grimm? It's for d20, but it's chock full of cool ideas for this sort of campaign.

A few people have mentioned that and it is by Fantasy Flight Games, so I would pick it up without a worry because they put out good stuff. Right now my wallet won't allow for it, though.

[Pierce]

Originally posted by Paka
A few people have mentioned that and it is by Fantasy Flight Games, so I would pick it up without a worry because they put out good stuff. Right now my wallet won't allow for it, though.

Grimm was my best RPG expense last year. I ended buying a copy for my primary school teacher (of 20 years ago).

[edit:] This teacher is the person who got me to try D&D. He also used to read stories to the class, and for one he replaced the names of all the characters by those of the kids in his class. I wrote my first short story in his class, too. It would take more than 15 years before I could sell one, though!

[Peter K.]

Originally posted by Old Scratch
I think another example of this sort of play, from a non-Western perspective would be "Spirited Away!". Sen/Chihiro is apparently a sorcerer, she befriends and pacts with all sorts of demons. She banishes the River Dragon (in a sense), summons and binds No Face, and Binds Yubaba's baby as well.
As long as you're mentioning Miyazaki don't forget [u]My Neighbor Totoro[/b] either. Very similar elements, though less threatening than Spirited Away.

Also, Neil Gaiman's Coraline (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380977788/qid=1085534291/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-0210346-0415050?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) might make for good inspiration. Though it sounds like you've got enough of that already, and the game under way. :)

[Paka]

Originally posted by Peter K.
Also, Neil Gaiman's Coraline (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380977788/qid=1085534291/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-0210346-0415050?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) might make for good inspiration. Though it sounds like you've got enough of that already, and the game under way. :)

I certainly don't need any gaming excuse to read Gaiman. I haven't read Coraline yet but I gave it as a gift to a young girl who I baby-sat when I was a teenager. Its on my to-read list.

Thanks.

[Paka]

Originally posted by Old Scratch


The Last: You are the last child in the Guf, the Hall of Souls. You’ve sat and waited your time as the hall slowly emptied…

I'm just not sure what this one means. One of my players asked about it and I couldn't explain it.

Clarification?