Believers and Seers

[shallow15]

Hi, new to the forum posting-wise but I've lurked about for a while.

I came up with what I believe to be two interesting NPC types for GMs to use in the event that players find themselves frustrated that their characters never are believed by grownups about what is REALLY going on in Little Fears...

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It is well known that by age 13, generally speaking, a child has seen enough of the world that his or her Innocence is more or less lost due to the act of ageing (in addition to any influence placed upon them by Closetland and it's denizens). The only known exception to this are those adults who remain childlike in personality and intelligence., regardless of their actual age.

However, there are also two other types of adults which can be of help to the children in a Little Fears campaign: Believers and Seers.


BELIEVERS

Believers are grownups (Teenagers, adults, what have you) which have through observation, come to the conclusion that the stories children tell about the monsters of Closetland may not be flights of fancy after all.

A Believer may be a babysitter in a particular neighborhood who notices a common thread in all the bedtime horrors her charges tell her about when she watches them. Or, it may be the neighbor across the street who has no kids of his own, but always goes out of his way to help keep an eye on the neighborhood kids when they play outside, and starts noticing when some of them start disappearing or acting strangely.

Of course, the main problem with Believers is while they know there is something going on, and eventually may come to believe the stories that the kids are telling them, there isn't really much they can do. Like other grown ups, they cannot see the monsters, cannot feel the influence of Closetland, except in the most vauge ways (an unsettling feeling when a Closetland monster in near, for instance).

Likewise,  Believers who have been believing in Closetland for some time, and are trying to help in anyway they can, tend to be viewed as crackpots and lunatics. The aforementioned babysitter may soon find her clients calling less and less. The friendly neighbor may soon see looks of suspicion from others in the neighborhood..and may, if paranoia runs rampant, or if Closetland decides he's helping too much, find himself the target of an investigation.

PCs should be careful, however. Despite the problems a Believer can cause, Closetland denizens have found them to be useful and in somecases more easily converted to their use. Since they believe in Closetland, it allows it's inhabitants to act more directly than they would otherwise have to withother grownups.

In game terms, Believers can be a friendly face who the PCs can turn to when they need adult influence, or access to adult areas (like say, the adult's reference section of the library). Also, if the PCs make friend with a long-term Believer, the Believer may have acquired one or more of the more mystic and obscure Hand-Me-Downs and provide them when necessary.


SEERS

Even more rare than Believers are Seers. And Seers pose one of the most dire threats that Closetland has: a grownup who can see and act against it.

No one is exactly sure what causes Seers to come into existence. Some believe Seers are created when the Heavenly Host decides to take a direct hand against Closetland. But, all Seers have three things in common; They all were targets of one or more of the Kings of Closetland in their youth, they have a special link to one specific child, and their ability to See is always temporary.

That's right, temporary.  No Seer retains their ability to See forever. Generally speaking, a Seer comes into existence when the child they have a link with is placed into danger by the same King who threatened the Seer when they were young. The link can be as a beloved family member, a older friend who acts as a surrogate sibling, a teacher who takes a special interest in a child, or any other grownup a child forms a bond with.

The Seer's ability to See lasts only as long as the child is still in danger from that King. During that time, the Seer can see all the inhabitants of Closetland, use Hand-Me-Downs, and even enter Closetland if it becomes necessary.  Once the child is removed from danger, however, the ability is lost and will most likely never reappear again in the Seer's lifetime.

If the child extricates himself from the threat or if the Seer rescues him,  then the ability disappears with no after effects. The Seer goes to bed that night able to See, and wakes up the next morning with the world back as they knew it before the ability appeared. (Needless to say, after this point most Seers become Believers.)

However, if the child is removed from danger because they are killed or otherwise "reduced" by the King, then the Seer will be tormented for the rest of their lives by night terrors that allow them glimpses into Closetland to see the poor child being tortured and the former Seer will be cursed with the underlying guilt that they could have done something but didn't. (The guilt allows no mitigating circumstances, such as being on the other side of the country from the child. "I should have BEEN there" is a common lament for guilt-ridden Seers. These Seers tend to become the most vehement Believers out there.)

Of course, to prevent a Seer from acting as a deus ex machina, there are a couple of things to remember:

1. Seers are EXTREMELY rare. A Seer is linked only to one specific child, and unless that child is being directly threatened by the same King who took direct action against the Seer in their youth, the ability to See will not manifest.

2. More often than not, a Seer and the threatened child will not be within close vicinity of each other. The Kings keep track of those who they believe have the potential to be Seers, and do everything they can to prevent the Seer from acting when they make their move against the child. There are far more guilt ridden Seers out there than successful ones.

3. There are a large percentage of Seers who never figure out exactly what it is they are seeing and lose their minds or commit suicide from the horrors they are seeing.

In short, if you include a Seer in your campaign, the Seer should only be around for a single story and never for that long. If you like, a recurring Seer could be used as an NPC who is linked to a child who is not part of the PCs group. They enter, provide some help and move on, continuing on th eir own quest to help the child they are linked to.

An interesting alternative use for Seers would be in a one-on-one game between a player and the GM. The player plays a Seer who is out to help the child they are linked to. Character generation is normal, with slightly higher stats assigned to the grownup Seer. Of course, common sense dictates that the PC Seer be no older than, say, 16 to avoid unbalancing the game.

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Whatcha think?

---Erin M.

[magistrate]

I really like the ideas, they seem to be well thought out and conceived not to mention interesting and usefull. There is a danger that adults with such gifts could go against the spirit of the game or interfere too much but the hinderances that you placed on them more than make up for that. Its also nice to know that, much like in real life sometimes the adults really are there to help children. Good going...