Play@YSDC

We aren't going to roll characters. I have a list of pre-gens and once you've chosen them I'll post their stats for you to copy and post in another thread for finished characters that I'm going to make later. This is so you can do your own bookkeeping (mark off sanity etc). Feel free to amend/embellish any backstory, change the name etc. Characters should have a portrait, you can find one yourself of the scenario comes with a set of pictures you can pick. They include their own equipment but if there's anything else you're burning to have in your possession we can discuss it. There are slight anomalies around DB but just don't worry about them (I've just added +1 so that the kids don't have too many -1s to their attacks - fairs fair). It's a one-shot so we probably won't be advancing characters but hell, just in case I'd mark down passed skill checks in case we decide to do a sequel.

Changed my mind about the damage bonuses as I've looked at the weapons more closely and I think they're designed to counteract this. If you roll a 1 on a 1d3-1 then that's zero damage.

The archetypes are:
- The Bookworm
- The Athlete
- The Tough
- The Side Kick
- The Prankster
- The Snob
- The Poor Kid
- The Boy/Girl Scout
- The Weirdo
- The Know It All

You've all snuck out, made excuses, or pretended to be having sleep overs at each other's houses for Halloween. Have a think about your cover story and what Halloween costume you're wearing. I'm already feeling nostalgic for those horrible plastic masks.

Hmmm... I think the Girl Scout is the one that interests me the most.

Name: Shirley Kent
Player: LiviaBlue
Age: 12
Gender: Female
Archetype: The Girl Scout

STR 35
CON 55
SIZ 35
DEX 65
APP 65
INT 55 Idea 55%
POW 65
EDU 30 Know 30%
Luck 65
SAN 65 (Max 99)
HP 9/9
MP 13/13
MOV 8
DB -1

Skills (passed skill tests preceded by *):
Be a Pal (10%): 10%
Be Bossy (10%): 15%
Be Sneaky (20%): 40%
Dodge (1/2DEX): 33%
Fighting (25%): 30%
First Aid (30%): 60%
Fix Stuff (10%): 40%
Gym Class (20%): 40%
Nature (10%): 80%
Notice Stuff (25%): 60%
Play with Matches (0%): 5%
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (20%): 30%
Science Class (10%): 10%
Spooky Stuff (5%): 5%
Taunt (0%): 5%

Who are you?
You are Shirley Kent and you are a loyal Scout. You've loved camping since you were little and your whole family spent a week in the woods. Every night under the stars, every meal over a campfire...it was amazing. You have learned a lot since then, about wildlife plants, survival, and scouting life. More than skills, scouting has taught you to be disciplined, organised, and prepared.

Other kids don't always get you. They think you are too serious, too sincere, too excitable. There aren't a lot of adults who would be excited to see a Pileated Woodpecker, let alone some 6th grader, You don't care if other kids don't think you are cool. You've got a row of merit badges that prove you're pretty awesome.

What do others know about you?
Shirley is a walking ad for the Scouts. She wears her scouting uniform to school as much as possible and talks about camping all the time. Some kids make fun of her for it - she never misses a chance to talk all about woodpeckers or whatever. It is hard to dislike her, merit badge sash excluded.

Attacks
Unarmed 30% (15/6) 1d3-1
BB Gun 50% (25/10) 1d3

Equipment
Swiss Army Knife
BB Gun
Trail Mix
Canteen

I'm also looking for a volunteer to have a kid brother.

I'd like to play the Know It All. I'll be wearing a Ghostbusters costume (Egon, of course).

I'm playing the bookworm.
He will be using a blank sheet as a ghost with 2 holes for his eyes.

Name: Harry Enslin
Player: Mr Handy
Age: 10 until next week
Gender: Male
Archetype: The Know It All

STR 35
CON 35
SIZ 55
DEX 35
APP 50
INT 75 Idea 75%
POW 40
EDU 35 Know 35%
Luck 40
SAN 40 (Max 99)
HP 9/9
MP 8/8
MOV 7
DB +0

Skills (passed skill tests preceded by *):
Be a Pal (10%): 10%
Be Bossy (10%): 15%
Be Sneaky (20%): 20%
Dodge (1/2DEX): 18%
Fighting (25%): 25%
First Aid (30%): 40%
Fix Stuff (10%): 60%
Gym Class (20%): 20%
Nature (10%): 10%
Notice Stuff (25%): 40%
Play with Matches (0%): 5%
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (20%): 60%
Science Class (10%): 80%
Spooky Stuff (5%): 5%
Taunt (0%): 5%

Who are you?
You are Harry Enslin and you are the smartest kid at your school. You are more than a little insufferable on that point since you think every class is the perfect opportunity to show off how many facts you know. Teachers like you, at least, since you are probably raising the school's Iowa Testing average by a whole point all on your own.

Not wanting to get beaten by Roger, you've decided to turn this idiotic Halloween dare into a research opportunity - to study how morons react to a non-haunted house. Ghosts and other supernatural stuff isn't real, it is just dumb stories for babies.

What do others know about you?
Harry is probably the smartest kid at school; he is certainly the most likely to tell you how smart they are...even if you didn't ask. It gets annoying sometimes, but at least they are as smart as they claim to be.

Attacks
Unarmed 25% (12/5) 1d3

Equipment
Microcassette recorder

Name: Kyle Robards
Player: Kabukiman
Age: 11
Gender: Male
Archetype: The Bookworm

STR 35
CON 45
SIZ 35
DEX 35
APP 45
INT 60 Idea 60%
POW 55
EDU 35 Know 35%
Luck 55
SAN 55 (Max 99)
HP 8/8
MP 11/11
MOV 8
DB -1

Skills (passed skill tests preceded by *):
Be a Pal (10%): 40%
Be Bossy (10%): 15%
Be Sneaky (20%): 20%
Dodge (1/2DEX): 18%
Fighting (25%): 25%
First Aid (30%): 30%
Fix Stuff (10%): 40%
Gym Class (20%): 20%
Nature (10%): 10%
Notice Stuff (25%): 40%
Play with Matches (0%): 5%
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (20%): 80%
Science Class (10%): 60%
Spooky Stuff (5%): 60%
Taunt (0%): 5%

Who are you?
You are Kyle Robards. You are what other kids like to call a nerd or a bookworm, but you just think of yourself as a normal kid who just really loves to read. You are a voracious reader and are a regular fixture at the public library where you're allowed the check out whatever you would like by the librarians. You've read a little of verything, from cowboy adventures and travelogues to hard sci-fi and Sherlock Holmes. Your abiding interest is in monsters, ghosts, and horror stories and secretly have been trying to write your own.

Schoolwork is generally easy but navigating the ever more complex social rules your classmates all seem to know instinctively has been tough. While you aren't athletic or interested in all the boy-girl stuff an increasing number of your classmates are, you're generally well liked and have a reputation for being willing to help out classmates who are having trouble in a particular subject. The one exception is that...jerk (mom says swearing is for sailors) Roger who has been mercilessly bullying you this year. Hopefully he will lay off you if you can just get through his stupid haunted house prank. If you've learned anything about ghosts from books is that, while they make a great story, they aren't real.

What do others know about you?
Kyle is a small, quiet, studious kid. He wears glasses and is known as a bookworm who would rather read than play sports. he also likes dinosaurs, monsters, and ghost stories, and such, and is always telling scary stories to the other kids. He is also one of the smartest kids in your grade but doesn't get too snobby about it. In fact, if you ask, he will often help you on a hard problem or to study for a test.

Attacks
Unarmed 25% (12/5) 1d3-1

Equipment
Flashlight
Backpack
Notepad and pencil
A couple of horror comics

I have a picture for Harry Enslin:

Could I be the Athelete?

For my cover story, I could claim that there's an all-night sleepover event at the local planetarium (if there is one). Otherwise, I could always say I'm sleeping over at Kyle's house.

Name: Darren Pickett
Player: BoyBlunder78
Age: 11
Gender: Male
Archetype: The Athlete

STR 55
CON 65
SIZ 45
DEX 85
APP 65
INT 50 Idea 50%
POW 65
EDU 30 Know 30%
Luck 65
SAN 65 (Max 99)
HP 11/11
MP 13/13
MOV 9
DB +0

Skills (passed skill tests preceded by *):
Be a Pal (10%): 60%
Be Bossy (10%): 15%
Be Sneaky (20%): 20%
Dodge (1/2DEX): 60%
Fighting (25%): 40%
First Aid (30%): 40%
Fix Stuff (10%): 40%
Gym Class (20%): 80%
Nature (10%): 10%
Notice Stuff (25%): 40%
Play with Matches (0%): 5%
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (20%): 30%
Science Class (10%): 10%
Spooky Stuff (5%): 5%
Taunt (0%): 5%

Who are you?
Your are Darren Pickett and you are a jock. You're the best player on your Little League team and are already plotting out which team sports to pick in Middle and High School. Mom and dad have drilled into you the value of teamwork and leadership; however good you are you are better as part of a team. You're often picked to be captain or the like when you play games at school. Most of the time it is fine, but lately you've noticed people just assume you want the job, even when they don't ask you first. Nevertheless, if you are picked to be the leader, you do your darnedest to lead the team to victory.

What do others know about you?
Darren is probably the best athlete in your grade and well liked by everyone in the neighbourhood, kids and adults alike. They are a natural leader and good motivator, always pushing their friends to do their best, be it in a ball game, gym class or wherever. Darren is a loyal friend, if a little pushy sometimes, but people tend to assume he is in charge of a group, even without asking or telling him.

Attacks
Unarmed 40% (20/8) 1d3
Bat 40% (20/8) 1d8
Baseball 40% (20/8) 1d6 (if hit with bat)

Equipment
Thermos of soup
Aluminium baseball bat and baseball

Mr. Handy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 01, 2022 7:35 pm For my cover story, I could claim that there's an all-night sleepover event at the local planetarium (if there is one). Otherwise, I could always say I'm sleeping over at Kyle's house.

Sounds like a good cover story - and nice picture, he very much captures the archetype!

So, let me know if you want any additional gear (nothing too outrageous), choose a portrait, make any amendments to your backstory, finalise your Halloween outfit and cover story, let me know if you're willing to have a little brother/sister, and then post your character sheet in the Finished Characters thread.

Could I have the portrait that's is 7th from the top on the second column please. Item wise could I have a baseball to.go with the bat. I'm always playing with it, chucking un the air, fainting swings with my bat. I'm also OK with being an over protective big brother.

BoyBlunder78 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 8:30 pm Could I have the portrait that's is 7th from the top on the second column please. Item wise could I have a baseball to.go with the bat. I'm always playing with it, chucking un the air, fainting swings with my bat. I'm also OK with being an over protective big brother.

This the picture?



I've added that in, and some rules for whacking the ball at people as a ranged weapon (you'll have to go and pick it back up again though).

We'll give you a little brother, Ian. He's nine and always tagging along, either by himself or because your mom sends him out with you and your friends.

Cheers, an annoying lil brother that I love to bits

BoyBlunder78 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:33 pm Cheers, an annoying lil brother that I love to bits :)

Great, I've added the character to your post in finished characters.

I'd also like to have a flashlight, as well as props that go with my costume: a PKE meter, a ghost zapper connected to a proton pack, and a ghost trap. They don't work, of course.

Mr. Handy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:29 am I'd also like to have a flashlight, as well as props that go with my costume: a PKE meter, a ghost zapper connected to a proton pack, and a ghost trap. They don't work, of course.

Sure, add them in.

Well, I disn't like any of the portraits, can I use this instead?
I'l take also a flashlight, some salt ("to repel ghosts, I read in a book, serious!") and some food.

Halloween costume
Sewn, cut, glued, and painted all by her hands, Shirley's trumpeter swan costume is a walking embodiment of her personality.

Composed of a white, hooded cape made out of an old, repurposed tablecloth, over a white, wool, cable knit dress that is sure to keep her warm in the chilly night of late October, and completed with a pair of thick, black leggings and black, knee-high rain boots. The distinctive black beak and face of the swan rest atop her head on the peak of the hood, while the wings are decorated with countless paper feathers.

Whenever someone brings up her costume, Shirley doesn't miss the opportunity to educate them about this beautiful, endangered bird of Indiana.

(The image inspiration for the costume
)

Cover story
One of her favorite nights of the year, Halloween is the one time a girl scout gets to knock on doors and receive sweets rather than distribute them. Not to mention the horror movies marathon slumber party she can finally attend as a new cadette that takes place after the trick or treating. And she will miss it all thanks to Roger Simmons!

But she is not one to back down from a challenge, and if he stops making inaccurate bird calls every time they pass eachother in the school's hallways, well, that is only a bonus.

Very independent from a young age and with numerous camping trips under her belt, her parents tend to allow her a lot of freedom without too many questions. While pretending to become too sick to attend the rest of the night's activities was a cheap trick, it was believable enough to allow her to sneak out to the Old Barnaker House. The girls will surely understand that she just had to do it!

Spooky as the stories about the house might be, Shirley is sure all the strange noises and mysterious sightings are just a bunch of rats, squirrels, and probably a very fat family of raccoons living a lavish life. Tonight will be a walk in the park compared with a primitive camping trip in the Rockies with nothing but the thin canvas of your tent between yourself and a black bear.

Extra equipment
Flashlight!!!
A couple of extra sandwiches - it will be a long night!

kabukiman wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:03 am Well, I disn't like any of the portraits, can I use this instead?
I'l take also a flashlight, some salt ("to repel ghosts, I read in a book, serious!") and some food.

No problem.

Cover story.
Darren loves this time of year. It's the one day when he can wear a mask and blend in with the crowd. Although he loves being the star of the team, loving the attention, being the big brother.....to a point. All that comes with added pressure and expectations, from his team mates, coach to his parents and his brother. Halloween he can get into costume and pull his mask on. No one recognising him, he cam just be himself.
Tonight he's sneaking out his bedroom window, quietly without waking his lil brother. He's going to the haunted house with some other neighbourhood kids. His new team for tonight. With a flask of chicken soup ( long night, gonna need to keep his strength up. And his trusty baseball bat 'Thunder' and his lucky baseball 'Lightening'.

LiviaBlue wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:08 pm Extra equipment
Fleshlight

I really hope that's a typo!

...
*fixed*

I'll play the poor kid please. Portrait is the boy in camouflage and army hat on the first page.
He could have a younger brother if you still need one.

Name: Louis Ravensburger.

He lives at the trailer park on the edge of town with his older brother Lyle (20) and (maybe younger brother, Luke). No parents - Mum left when Luke was a baby and Dad disappeared last year for some, as yet, unknown reason. Lyle is just about keeping things afloat but takes it out on his younger brothers a lot. He often drops Luke off at Maureen's (trailer -incessant smoker) and goes 'hunting' for days at a time.
Tonight, Lyle’s late for his own Halloween party because the dogs worked their way out of their corral. Louis got the brunt of Lyle's anger but now Louis has the whole night free.
Louis pulls out his cobbled- together costume from its hiding place and walk/runs, just like they do in the army. to meet up with the others.

Name: Louis Ravensburger
Player: Aine
Age: 12
Gender: Male
Archetype: The Poor Kid

STR 40
CON 75
SIZ 30
DEX 45
APP 40
INT 60 Idea 60%
POW 65
EDU 25 Know 25%
Luck 65
SAN 65 (Max 99; 1/5th 13)
HP 11/11
MP 13/13
MOV 9
DB -1

Skills (passed skill tests preceded by *):
Be a Pal (10%): 10%
Be Bossy (10%): 15%
Be Sneaky (20%): 40%
Dodge (1/2DEX): 23%
Fighting (25%): 30%
First Aid (30%): 40%
Fix Stuff (10%): 60%
Gym Class (20%): 40%
Nature (10%): 60%
Notice Stuff (25%): 80%
Play with Matches (0%): 5%
Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic (20%): 25%
Science Class (10%): 10%
Spooky Stuff (5%): 5%
Taunt (0%): 5%

Who are you?
You are Louis Ravensburger, and while no one calls you it to your face, you are "the poor kid." You live at the trailer park on the edge of town with your older brother Lyle (20) and your younger brother Luke (9). You've got no parents - Mum left when Luke was a baby and Dad disappeared last year for some, as yet, unknown reason. Lyle is just about keeping things afloat but takes it out on his younger brothers a lot. He often drops Luke off at Maureen's (trailer -incessant smoker) and goes 'hunting' for days at a time.

Nevertheless, you will knock anyone flat who mocks your family, or your threadbare clothes, or your haircuts done at the kitchen table. One thing you know for sure is that you've got to study hard so you can become a doctor or lawyer or astronaut and get out of Northfield.

What do others know about you?
Louis is probably the poorest kid at school, other than perhaps his brother Luke. Those kids who get past his notable poverty find Louos to be a loyal friend and an unexpectedly good student.

Attacks
Unarmed 30% (15/6) 1d3-1

Equipment
None