Kids on Bikes

Kids on Bikes

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Kids on Bikes takes place in small towns at any point in history before everyone had a mobile phone in their pocket. So, when things get weird, you can't call your big brother for help ("Bring the fire extinguisher, and please hurry!"), do a quick search for "how to do an exorcism" or "alien abduction", or snap an image of the werewolf to document for later. You and your friends are on your own.

The game is strongly inspired by Stranger Things, E.T., Buffy, etc. PCs are typically kids or teens who investigate weird events.

There's a free version available with a summary of the rules and some pregenerated characters.

It's good it if you want:

  • Low effort to get started. Very easy to learn, few pages to read, very little system info to keep track of
  • Very fast character generation, so people can do it on club nights if they want their own character
  • A fairly open system, leaving more decisions to GM discretion
  • A very light combat system (basically: decide if you want to fight, run, or take it on the chin, and then make a single die roll)

The main drawback is that there's no system for character advancement.

Hilde's plans

The game takes place in the small town Krakenstad. We'll spend a bit of time at the beginning of each scenario on collaborative worldbuilding — deciding things about the town where the game takes place.

  • Which teacher is easy to fool or manipulate, and do they control access to the science lab, the craft workshop, the school kitchen, or the gym equipment?
  • Who's the grownup most kids are afraid of, and why?
  • What's that place you're not allowed to go, and what are the rumours about what happened there when your parents were kids?
  • …and so on

Everyone are (of course!) welcome to add to the description here on the wiki, and use it in other scenarios and games, if they like.

If others want to use it, it can be a klubbsaga light, where you can play the same(ish) character in several games, in the same setting, but without any coordinated story arch. (If others prefer other systems, your character will not be the same, of course, but you might create someone similar.) There will be inconsistencies between games, but this is a town where weird things happen. Sure, that old antique shop on the corner has always been there, but (in the words of the immortal Terry Pratchett): You're not completely sure it had always been there yesterday.

Differences between the game as described in the book, and how Hilde will be running it:

  • All PCs will be 12-15 years old, so they can all be assumed to be friends or friends-of-friends and hang out together when the scenario starts. (The game allows characters from young kids to adults.)
  • In the game, it's assumed that all scenarios are supernatural, but they (obviously) don't need to be. Sometimes, the ghost really is a prankster in a bed sheet.
  • In the game, there's assumed to be a "powered character", a powerful friendly NPC with supernatural powers, which they players (partly) control. This may be used in some scenarios, but not all.

Characters

There will be pregenerated characters available (we'll use the ones in the free version), but you can also create a character yourself. It's very simple:

  1. Choose a trope and age group, and take the corresponding character sheet from the playbook (PDF attachment).
    • Kids (13 or younger) get the Quick Healing strength and +1 to Flight and Charm. Teens (14 or older) get the Rebellious strength and +1 to Fight and Brawn. These are listed on the character sheets.
    • Available tropes for kids and teens:
      • Brilliant mathlete (kid, teen)
      • Brutish jock (teen)
      • Bully (kid, teen)
      • Conspiracy theorist (teen)
      • Funny sidekick (kid, teen)
      • Laid-back slacker (teen)
      • Loner weirdo (kid, teen)
      • Plastic beauty (teen)
      • Popular kid (kid, teen)
      • Scout (kid, teen)
      • Wannabe (teen)
      • Young provider (teen)
  2. Make trope selections:
    • Age
    • 2 strengths (these have mechanical game consequences)
    • 2 flaws (these are roleplayed)
    • First name
  3. Think about the questions on the character sheet, and a bit about the kind of person your character is.

And that's it!

Before we start playing, we'll determine the relationship between characters, and you'll pick a last name after you've determined if any of you are siblings.

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