With the beta release of Twilight Sword drawing ever nearer, I thought I'd share some of my old reviews of "simple" roleplaying games that I really liked... to see if there is any commonality, anything that I might be looking out for in this new game that I'm investing a lot of hope into.
We start with Hero Kids, from 2013.
As the cover states, Hero Kids is a "fantasy role-playing game for kids aged four to 10", and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
The print edition, a compact little digest-sized book, is basically divided in two with the first 40 or so pages explaining the very straight-forward rules and the balance of the book being made up of single-page pre-made player-characters and monsters.
Although the rules are very simple, using only basic math, they are clearly intended to be read by the designated adult who has decided to introduce a group of youngsters to our hobby.
As well as the rules there are some brief pointers on issues to take into account on how running games with young kids are different from the normal 'adult' gaming environment. These are neither patronising nor preachy, just a sensible reminder that some things we take for granted in our games may not be appropriate for youngsters.
After a bit of scene-setting - giving the characters a base of operations and a reason to hang out and adventure together - the book cracks on with explaining how combat works.
The initial level of the game is geared towards combat, to get the players used to the idea of working the dice, co-operating with each other etc
Characters - as well as monsters - have four statistics (melee, ranged, magic and armour) rated on zero to three dice (this game, sensibly, only uses six-sided dice).
These are then rolled in opposed checks.
Characters also have a special ability, some of which are triggered by the actions of friends, other allow multiple attacks etc (for instance, one character, a female hunter, has long hair she can as a lasso to drag monsters closer to her).
All attacks (generally) cause one point of damage, with heroes able to take three strikes before being knocked out (again - kids game: no killing!).
The rules are scaled so that as the players become older, and more confident, additional twists can be brought in to keep gameplay lively and varied (such as introducing skills and exploration).
There's a short section on creating player-characters from scratch - rather than using the pre-made archetypes - and while the allocation of dice for statistics remains straight-forward, the rules are very vague on giving character's special abilities and skills.
The best thing is, obviously, to crib them from the pre-made characters, but then you might as well stick with the pregens.
Written by Justin Halliday, and published by Hero Forge Games, the core rules book of Hero Kids is available in print or PDF format. The PDF comes bundled with an adventure (which includes character cards, stand-up counters to represent the player-characters and their foes, and a grid map to enact the adventure on) and a number of other adventures are available (all with maps and counters, I believe).
The book is gorgeously illustrated with hero and monster art by Eric Quigley, which has a very 'easy-on-the-eye' smooth cartoony/anime style about it.
This eye-candy carries over into the game's great use of props - the stand-up markers (easily cut out and assembled) and the large, gridded maps for movement and combat- which means the players don't have to contest with the "theatre of the mind" elements of the games that some of us older kids play. It gives them something to relate to and means they can see where their characters are and get a better understanding of what's going on in the adventure.
Hero Kids manages to model the core aspects of more adult games in a very simple fashion and looks like the perfect game for young wannabe gamers.
Of course, the most crucial ingredient is finding a patient, and creative, adult to explain the rules and then guide the kids through their first foray into roleplaying.
Justin also has a blog dedicated just to Hero Kids, which sadly doesn't seem to have been updated for several years, but was worth keeping tabs on for the latest developments in the game (e.g. there's an expansion on the way with more heroes, more equipment and the addition of pets for the characters).