Kickstarter for Stranger Mysteries: Kids on Bikes

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This game offers a respite from the usual fantasy setting for something a bit closer to home; a small town somewhere in America. Beyond that, the players and the GM collaboratively create the setting together by taking turns answering questions about local landmarks and even the mascot of the local sports team. Kids on Bikes can be set during any point in the last century or the modern day, and even encourages groups to not get too wrapped up in specific historical detail should the game be set in the past. The point of the game is to get players into the adventure as soon as possible, which is aided by the Playbook, which contains several different archetypes for these types of stories. They range from Adults to Kids, and include favorites like the Reclusive Eccentric, Young Provider or the Loner Weirdo. For those fans who want to crank their game up to eleven, rules are also provided to play kids with strange powers, though the often come at a heavy narrative cost like being hunted or unable to fully control those abilities.

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The system is built to be fast in creation and play. Even players making their own characters only have to spend a few minutes making choices. Each character has six traits, with a die type assigned to each trait. The higher the die type, the better a character is. A character rolls the corresponding die when they want to do something risky, like Flight to run away from government agents or Charm to ask their crush to dance. The character’s age offers bonuses for certain rolls, as do a character’s Strengths. Failure isn’t all bad either; characters earn Adversity Tokens when they miss to bump up later rolls to make sure to succeed when the chips are down.

Backers can get digital rewards or a hardcover copy of the book. Backers willing to put some big cash toward the game will earn a custom-built setting that Jon and Doug will Skype in to help turn into a reality. They’ve also lined up some amazing creators to add settings that are ready to make things even faster. Creators like Jim Zub, Elisa Teague, Matt Colville and more have already been unlocked to make the book better with more stretch goals on the way. Kids on Bikes is an excellent game for folks who love the genre, and it’s simple enough that it can be used as a great hook for people curious about tabletop RPGs thanks to their resurgence in popular geek media. The Kickstarter ends on November 28th, so make sure to back it before it’s too late!