Little Fears?

[Jason L Blair]

This is the question you might be asking yourself. Well, let me clear that up. Little Fears ~ the role-playing game of childhood terror is my company's (Key 20 Publishing's) first role-playing release. It's set to debut at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio on July 5th (the con runs from the 5th through 8th). For more info, you can either email me (mailto:jason@key20.com">jason@key20.com) or visit the website (http://www.key20.com/lfrpginfo.html">http://www.key20.com/lfrpginfo.html).



_________________
Jason L Blair
Editor-in-Chief
Key 20 Publishing
http://www.key20.com

[ This Message was edited by: Key20Jason on 2001-04-11 20:41 ]

[Ron Edwards]

Jason,

I gather that you are planning to release Little Fears as a book.

Why?

Why not sell it as a PDF for a while? Get a following, generate lots of buzz, have people play the game all over the world? And furthermore, make as much money per copy, or more, as you would from a book?

If I'm jumping the gun here, or misconstruing your publishing plans, please correct me.

Best,
Ron

[Jason L Blair]

Why a book?

Simple, really. When I work on a project, I think about what final form I want it to take. Little Fears came to me as a physical book. More control over the aesthetic (weight of the paper, binding, etc.) and, frankly, I like books. While PDF and web-publishing are viable options (and future endeavors may call out to be presented as such), Little Fears wanted to be a book.

[Ron Edwards]

OK! That's a legitimate answer.

What concerns me, of course, is an RPG author in this day and age who considers the book-publishing route to be the DEFAULT. That would be the point-of-view that I might discourage (insofar as my opinion was desired at all).

Best,
Ron

P.S. I like the site - how 'bout more information regarding any "system" stuff?

[Jason L Blair]

RE: the site

In two weeks (after Little Fears is all nice-and-shiny for the printer), I'll be overhauling the website to combine the "pretty but vacant" version you see now with something more substantive... and a lot more easily updatable (nothing like having to remake and redivide an image everytime you need to update).

[Tashum]

Hey Jason, what ideas influenced the creation of Little Fears? Also, it seems to me like it would be tough to get my group to play children, primarily because of the difficulty in going back and remembering what we were like as kids. I'm assuming you've playtested this, so what kind of advice can you offer when it comes to playing the role of a child? A lot of solutions to problems (in RPGs) that players come up with aren't the kind of ones that kids would (realistically) take. Playing kids seems like adding even more difficulty to keep from using player knowledge in-game. I really like the idea behind Little Fears, I just don't know how well it would work with my group.

[Jason L Blair]

Hey, Tashum. Thanks for your interest and support. I'll see what I can do to help you out.

Hey Jason, what ideas influenced the creation of Little Fears?

People have been asking this quite a bit, so I finally decided to try and pinpoint specific influences. The initial idea stemmed from movies such as The Monster Squad and Lost Boys. But as the game progressed, real world events started to influence its design. More horrific things than are normally presented in film and tv shows (though, Little Fears can certainly be adapted to those as I detail in the book).

Also, it seems to me like it would be tough to get my group to play children, primarily because of the difficulty in going back and remembering what we were like as kids. I'm assuming you've playtested this, so what kind of advice can you offer when it comes to playing the role of a child?

You just nailed my number one concern, there, Tashum. I expect players to have a healthy amount of hesitance playing children and to help my players out I cited some examples of popular media with children as the focus: Haley Joel Osment plays a  9-year old boy in The Sixth Sense, Linda Blair (no relation :wink: ) portrays a 12-year old girl in The Exorcist, and Hollison Coleman plays a 6-year old in Bless the Child. In all three examples, you have three very playable personalities. Just look at how Hollison acts as Cody or how mature Haley is as Cole Sear. Granted, the actors were a little older than their characters and the parts were written by adults, but these three movies alone can give players a sense of how playable children can be. If any of the players have children, cousins, nieces/nephews, etc. just by watching them you can see how advanced and insightful they really are. Most hesitance comes from underestimating children. Personally, I watched a lot of kids' programming to get a feel for what they're being taught and how well they pick up certain concepts (and, frankly, because I love kids' shows... but don't spread that around. :wink: ). Aside from those sources though, look at how kids act in any movie (Jonathan Lipnicki was 6 in Jerry Maguire). Observation is key when trying to picture a child as a role. Most were playing their 10 year olds as 2 year olds until I gave them something they could reference (like a movie, tv show, etc.). IME, that's the best thing to give your players.

A lot of solutions to problems (in RPGs) that players come up with aren't the kind of ones that kids would (realistically) take. Playing kids seems like adding even more difficulty to keep from using player knowledge in-game.

Very good point. I think it will be difficult for a lot of players. Part of the trick of playing a kid is "capping" yourself off. Put some of your inhibitions, quirks, book learning, etc. aside and, if you can keep the mood serious and consistent, then the players will be less tempted to slip out of character, and thus, less tempted to draw on their own knowledge. At least, that's what I do as a player and a GM.

I really like the idea behind Little Fears, I just don't know how well it would work with my group.

Hopefully, very well. Little Fears is niche to a fault but I truly hope that people will be able to have a tell some really horrific stories with it and maybe learn something about themselves in the process. (Yes, I'm one of those designers. :wink: )


Thanks for the questions, Tashum. If you have any more or want any clarification, don't hesitate to post up or email me.


_________________
Jason L Blair
Editor-in-Chief
Key 20 Publishing
http://www.key20.com


[ This Message was edited by: Key20Jason on 2001-04-20 19:49 ]