Got a bit of time before Slipstream, so let's do a quickie.
The Game: Babes in the Wood
The Publisher: World Champ
Degree of Familiarity: Haven't played it, but it's PbtA
Books Required: Just the one
I really like this game. It's about playing kids (and animals, and toys) wandering around the Wood on Halloween night, but really it's about facing your fears. Fits nicely into the kind of coming-of-age narrative that we find in films like Labyrinth and Neverending Story, I think. Also, it's got a nice selection of moves appropriate to a game about child characters that balances tension and stakes of the story with not wanting said kids to actually get hurt. (Some of those moves remind me a lot of the stuff I was doing in Timepeekers, but whatever, that's ancient history.)
SO YEAH let's do a character! First off I need a playbook. I can be a Big Kid, Little Kid, Toy, Critter, or Woodschild. Hmm. These all kinda pass the Chupp test for me, honestly, so I think I'll go with Critter. I think I want my character to be a coyote. We've got coyotes near my house and there's one that likes to hang out under a pavilion, he looks pretty majestic.
My coyote's name is Smiley, because when he pants he looks like he's smiling. He's an adult coyote, but he doesn't know his age and really why does it matter? He's scrawny-looking, so if you have some bacon he'd like that very much.
Well, so that means I get a +1 to Noodle (my dog is thrilled to be included, thanks). Huh. Does that mean my other two stats (Steam and Mush) start at 0? It's weird, because the text says that stats go from -1 to +2, but the sheets don't set them at any value other than +1 or -1.
Well, I don't feel like doing a deep dive looking for an answer to this question, so let's just say the default is 0, but for my coyote, he gets a +1 in Noodle.
(I just realized that there's not really a chargen process in the book. Boooo.)
Let's see, special moves. I get to pick one. I'm gonna take play possum. Smiley can make himself look and act like just a normal coyote, so folks ignore him, which then lets him sneak in and learn stuff or steal food or whatever.
Most characters have a Signature Item, but I don't, on account I'm an animal. Do I get normal items? The book is unclear. I'll assume that I don't. Oh, wait, I want one - he's got a bandana around his neck.
Hope! Smiley hopes to find a pack. He plays like he's really all about the food, but the truth is he's a social animal, and he's lonely for other coyotes.
Friendships would require other players, so I'll skip that.
Fear is, doy, what Smiley fears or dreads. I'll say hunger - Smiley fears starving out here in the Wood.
I start with 1 Wish, no decisions there.
And finally, Questions! Let's see.
You weren't always this way. Are you a kid turned into an animal, an animal granted sentience, or something else? I think Smiley was separated from his family when he was just a kit, and wandered the wood for years (?). As for how he became sentient, well, he's not entirely certain, but he thinks it has something to do with the bandana. Like, he slipped his head into it, and suddenly he's got language and fear and hope all this other human-y stuff.
Choose a trait that came with this change: Smarmy, confused, angsty, or other. I'll pick confused, thanks.
Do you tell the other kids about your origin or keep it secret? That's a really good question. I feel like Smiley probably wouldn't keep it a secret, but might not volunteer that things changed for him when he found the bandana unless asked specifically. He'd probably just say he doesn't know how he changed and leave it at that unless pressed.
There's one more question, but it requires other PCs, so that's about done then!
