Jason,

I'd like to hear your informal description of what a session or story of Little Fears might be like. What might a GM be presenting to a group of players? What kind of choices or options do the characters have, in play? What sorts of resolutions might be possible?

Also, I assume you've checked out Eight, at http://www.memento-mori.com. I'm interested to see how Little Fears and Eight compare, not in terms of "who's best," but in terms of the games' goals, options, and general take on the issue.

Best,
Ron

Great question (and one I happen to be dealing with currently as I spiff up the Stories section). I'll post a proper reply tonight (since I currently have a pile of material I have to get through on my desk right now).

Wow, it is so past "later tonight." I am in a mad rush to finish Little Fears and, I swear, I promise, you may beat me if I don't, I will post a sample scenario as well as what paths, decisions, etc. characters can make.

I have 5 days to finish Little Fears or it won't be at Origins... I will but with no book. Ack, my heart.

Hi Jason,

I'm patient, and I'm also on your side. I also know what it takes to get a book printed.

So let me know when you can.

Best,
Ron

At last, a reply! I've been thinking on this for a bit now but anything extra you want to know or want clarified, don't hesitate to ask (not that I think any of the regular Forgers would). I'm not very scientifically-minded (meaning, thinking in stages and linear causation is not my forte) so when I design I go by what feels right and I go where the game wants to go. This limits the amount of actual say I have in game design since the game becomes an entity on its own and I but the man behind the curtain. So what's below may ramble, contradict itself, and skirt around points that you want addressed which is why very specific, very direct questions (such as, do the PCs all have arms and legs?) will always get the best response from me. Anyway, here we go.

Little Fears is set up with the GM as instigator and perpetuator. With horror, I think two things are necessary: the GM knowing things the players don't and PC immersion. Thus Little Fears was filtered through me with that in mind. So the GM is responsible for presenting a basic scenario to the players (children are disappearing in the local woods and authorities have no idea why) as well as getting the players involved (Okay, Susie, your little brother, Jimmy, has been acting really funny lately. His personality has drastically changed and at times you swear his eye color changes). When I run Little Fears (or any horror game) I am the adversary of the players in that I am attempting to fuck them up. I am there to put them face to face with things they would rather not see and force them to confront monsters (both internally and externally), so Little Fears was initially designed from that POV. But, while I am their adversary, the overriding goal of working toward creating an overall horrific experience for both the GM and the PC. Though I did try to open Little Fears up to accomodate three different styles of play (which are talked about in the main book): Dark Faery Tales (more fantastical stories whose inherent detachment from reality allows the gamers less immersion and more "fun"), Scary Stories (campfire tales, if you will, that are less fantastical than DFTs though still possess more convenient coincidences and whatnot than True Horror), and True Horror (terror founded in reality. Pederast rings, cannibalistic serial killers, etc. My preferred mode).

Which mode the GM chooses is what really determines the GM's (and PC's) role after the initial footwork (as detailed above) is taken care of.

Resolution was the hardest thing to design in Little Fears since giving monsters stats always felt icky. Outlining specific resolutions not only did not appeal to me, it seemed to run right against the grain of what LF was about. But that exact question hung over my head: how would children defeat the monsters? The answer finally came in that for a monster to be defeated, the children would have to figure out how. The monsters in Little Fears are manifestations of fear and though they may be temporarily housed in flesh and blood shells, cutting one to ribbons simply would not destroy it. The players will have to come up with a way to destroy the monster. The GM can, obviously, decide beforehand how a certain monster can be killed (and some, such as the werewolf, have vulnerabilities, such as silver bullets, that destroy monsters for good) but LF was designed so the responsiblity of ridding the world of a monster rested on the players' shoulders.

Of course, monsters in Little Fears can also not be monsters. The Seven Kings of Closetland possess our own bodies and make us their puppets, which means that sometimes cutting the monster to ribbons would work. The problem being, the monster is a person that is unwillingly perpetrating these crimes against childhood and being a 10-year old murderer in the eyes of the local authority is not exactly the best resolution to aim for.

Also, I assume you've checked out Eight, at http://www.memento-mori.com. I'm interested to see how Little Fears and Eight compare, not in terms of "who's best," but in terms of the games' goals, options, and general take on the issue.

Heya, just to chime in...the biggest difference is that the characters in 8 aren't little kids.

the player is the character (the adult) and decides what the character does (actor and author stance)
the character is the persona (the kid) and decides what the persona does and what the world is like (author and director stance)