Character Creation: Knights of Underbed

It's a really cool concept, anyway. 

The Game: Knights of Underbed
The Publisher: Gallant Knight Games, I guess?
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

So, this game was initially Kickstarted as Nighty Knights, which is a much better title (and the PDF was delivered before the name changed, which is why the cover pic there has the old title), but then Gallant Knight apparently got hit with a C&D from someone. I did some light googling and the term "nighty knights" shows up in a couple of places; TV shows, webcomics, so it's not immediately clear who made the claim, but whatever. But then there's a Kickstarter update that says that the author isn't able to continue working on it due to "personal reasons" (which could mean anything), and now it's being sold on GKG's DriveThru page, but it's not mentioned on their website. 

None of which matters for purposes of making a character. The basic premise - you're a toy venturing into the dark places to protect your kid from nightmares and monsters - is so obviously rich and cool I can't believe this is the first time anyone's done it (there are other games that kinda-sorta approach the idea, but this is the only one I'm aware of that takes the premise and puts it center stage). 

Reading the book, though...I dunno, I don't think it lives up to the promise of the idea. All the pieces are there, I guess, but the system is roll 2d6 and look for a 5 or 6 on either die. If you have Advantage, you get a third die, if you have Disadvantage, you only get one die, but unlike Shadow of the Demon Lord's boons and banes, here if you have Disadvantage for any reason, it doesn't matter if you have Advantage, too, you get just the one die. Bleah. I like games that favor the player in their core system, and I don't think this does it.

Not to mention that a game in which you're playing toys defending a kid just cries out for something a bit more narrative-focused, rather than a more trad "roll the dice to hit the thing," but that's just a personal feeling. Anywhichway, let's make a damn toy. 

First thing is to Choose a Kid. If I were in a group, we could all be defending the same kid, or we could all be defending different ones, but a Knight can only defend one kid. Sounds reasonable enough. Kids are broken down into archetypes (Imaginative Kid, Prepared Kid, etc.), so I just pick one and make the rest up.

I believe I would like an Imaginative Kid, actually. When I was a wee lad I used to bring stuffed animals in to show and tell, and rather than just say "this is a stuffed animal, it is an animal in shape, but it is also a soft toy," I would tell stories about them. As was often the case, this got me bullied, which sucks, but such is life. Anyway, my kid's name is Butch (it's a nickname, obviously), he's an Imaginative Kid, which gives me a choice of Traits. I will take Beast-Speaker, so my Knight can talk with animals as well as toys.

Next I Pick a Heritage, which is basically "what kind of toy are you." Hmm. I'm intrigued by Bird or Good Monster. I think I'll go with bird, and say my Knight is a snowy owl. I start with the Flight Trait (rather, I start with Focused, which gives me either Flight or a Prestige Trait, but I have no idea why you couldn't just say that rather than bring "Focused" into it, which means nothing in context) and 4 Hit Points. 

Select two unique Traits. Hokay, then. I have Beast-Speaker and Flight already. I shall take Dark Fighter (which means I can see in the dark, which is appropriate for an owl) and...OMG, the "p. XXs" are still here, in the PDFs and the print book. That's pretty pathetic. 

Anyway, second Trait. I feel like Educated is kind of on the nose (beak), but I also feel like it's what a kid would imagine an owl to be like, so I'll take it.

Right, so, next we Select a Weapon Group. I'll say my owl is proficient in ranged weapons, and he's Mastered a bow (he has to fire it with his claws, not his wings, but that just means he can fire in flight). 

I get 10 Play Money and a Knight's Kit, and I can be wearing armor if I like, but I dunno, seems like it'd be hard to fly. Maybe a mail shirt. I fly by magic anyway, I'm sure. 

Select Family Trade. So, this is actually kind of weird. The idea here is that my character has a family, and we did something before I was knighted, so that gives me a Family Trade and an area of expertise. But like...I'm a stuffed animal. Presumably I was purchased from a store and then came to "life" to protect Butch? I went looking for setting info to try and clear this up a bit, and there's maybe 4 pages (perhaps 1000 words, maybe a little more?) of setting info. It's basically "Knights protect kids, Captain Snuggles the bear is their leader, he lives in Underbed," but there's not much about what that really means, and certainly nothing concrete about how a stuffed animal has family or how said stuffed animal becomes a Knight. Alas.

Anyfrickinway, I think my owl (let's call him Ferron) comes from a family of scribes and scholars, so he'd have Advantage in matters of literacy and law. No idea if that's helpful in fighting monsters, but like, probably could be. 

Finally, I need a Belief. This is a statement of the guiding principle of my Knight. Hmm. I think Ferron's Belief is "Wait, watch, learn, strike." He feels that if you go into battle without knowing what you're facing, you're just doing the monsters' work for them.

And I think that's it! Ferron is a stuffed snowy owl and looks a little too rotund to fly, but he manages. His quiver is belted to his leg, not around his chest, which looks a little silly when he's walking but he can't fly if it's hitched too high up. Ferron is highly knowledgeable, but keeps quiet unless asked; it's been his experience that folks don't tend to remember information they don't deliberately seek. 

And that'll do it!