Character Creation: Little Fears - Nightmare Edition

I'd say "let's make a kid," but that means something else.

The Game: Little Fears: Nightmare Edition
The Publisher: FunSized Games
Degree of Familiarity: None with this edition, some with Little Fears, and a considerable amount with child-based horror games.
Books Required: Just the one.

Oh, and Michelle is right here along with me. Expect character cross-contamination. :)

Anyway, Little Fears and World of Darkness: Innocents share a lot of themes and so on, but, y'know, they're both about playing kids in a horror setting. One big difference is that in Little Fears, kids can do magic and even give monsters weaknesses simply by Belief.

So, the first step is concept. Michelle and I decided that our characters are 8. We were in the same second grade classroom last year, but this year we're getting split up. This is a big deal for my character because he likes Rachel's freckles.

Strictly speaking, he has a crush, but he doesn't really see it that way. He just gets all fluttery when he gets to sit next to Rachel in class. (My character's name is Hunter.) He wants to be in her class, or have her back in his with Ms. Williams.

I could pick a Concept from the list, but eh. I think I have a sense of Hunter. Let's do Abilities!

I get my age in points (8), and I get a free point in each one, so I put an extra into each one, and then a third point in Think, Speak and Care.

For my Good Quality, I say "I can Fight well when Rachel is in trouble." For the Bad, "It's hard for me to Speak when adults raise their voices."

My Belief is 5, because it's 13-age, my Wits is 7 (Think + 4). My Spirit starts at 10.

Now, Qualities! I get one main one at +2, and then two related ones at +3, and then my choice of two +1 or one +2. So for the main one, I take "I am the teacher's pet." For the relateds, then, I'll take "My teacher trusts me" and "I know the school inside and out."

And then for my other Qualities, I take "I'm good at roller blading" and "I have an honest face." I picture Hunter as a pretty serious kids.

Then I get two negative Qualities (the book says three, but the sheet and the example indicate otherwise). I take "I don't get jokes" - Hunter doesn't have much of a sense of humor. And then I also take "I have asthma." Makes sense for Hunter.

7 Health (Care + 4). And then on to Stuff!

I get 5 points of Stuff, which then has effects. I take a valentine from Rachel (two points) which lets me always find her, and reduces damage from Monsters by one (bolstered by the power of awkward crushes). I take my awesome roller blades (+1 Move, duh). I take my inhaler (+1 Think, as using it gives me time to collect my thoughts). And finally I have an unsharpened pencil that Ms. Williams gave me. When I carry it, I'm braver (monsters have -1 Scare).

Right, now on to the questionnaire side of things.

• My best friend is... Rachel. No question.
  
• The one grown-up I can trust is... Ms. Williams. She might not always believe the weird stories, but she doesn't shut me down, either.
  
• Once I lost... my homework folder.
  
• It was special because... it had all the stickers and notes from my teacher from the whole year.
  
• The one place monsters can't get me is... the bench outside the movie theater (because cops drive by a lot).
  
• The one thing monsters can't touch is... my textbooks (because they belong to the school).
  
• I don't go near... the high school.
  
• ...because... big kids don't look out when they're driving.
  
• My biggest fear is... Rachel and I growing apart (even at this age, Hunter has friends that he used to be close to and now isn't).
  
• The thing I like least about myself is... I tattle on other kids sometimes.
  
• The thing that always gets me into trouble is... I try to help kids with their work when I should be doing mine.
  
• When I get scared I... reach out and start pushing at what's scaring me.
• My family: Hunter lives with his parents and his little brother, Taylor (5 years old). Taylor just started kindergarten and is reading already. Hunter didn't start reading well until the middle of first grade. They don't have any pets because his mom is allergic to animals, but they might get a dog if they can find one that's hyper-allergic or something.
• And finally, a secret. Normally this gets written on a scrap of paper and only the GM sees it, but since I haven't got a GM, I'll just put it here: Hunter lost Rachel's necklace. He picked it up after gym class and thought he'd give it to her later as a joke (making her think she lost it)...and then he really lost it. He's never told her and he's completely mortified about it.