Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushing glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men.
Not here, though, because these little guys are OK.
The Game: Fixers from the Floorboards
The Publisher: Wicked Clever Books & Games
Degree of Familiarity: None, but the book is only 48 pages and the system feels very familiar
Books Required: Just the one
I picked this game because I watched There's Something in the Barn last night and "wee folk hiding in the shadows" as a concept was on my mind, but there's not really much similarity. The barn elf in the movie is nasty and murderous, the Korrikin you play in Fixers are dedicated to solving the predicaments of Big Folk.
The system, as I mentioned, is pretty familiar; it's the same math as Blades in the Dark or Wildsea (that is, roll some dice, highest showing determines your result). What it doesn't have is Blades' mission-centered play. It's meant to be a game you play for a session or two, and actually I think it'd be pretty cool. Let's make a Korrikin!
So first we choose a calling. They all appeal in different ways. My impulse is always to make a magic-user (a Skein, here), but perhaps I want something different today? Oh, actually, the first thing we'd normally do is pick a setting. Since it's just me I won't go through that whole rigmarole, but there are a few sample settings presented so I'll just randomly pick one of those. Rolling a d4 gets me...1, New York tenement building, 1942. Neat!
You know, I think I will make a Skein. I see my guy as very old, and he's got a little pocket of the storage lockers in the basement where he keeps his library. The Korrikin youngsters come down to hear stories and see his command of magic sometimes, and he makes a show of not wanting to leave the basement, but the truth of the matter is he's perfectly capable of doing so and likes to keep tabs on the Big Folk, especially the elderly. He's seeing this worrying trend in this city, of people just being...forgotten, and that's not acceptable. His name is Latch.
As a Skein, I get an esoteric affinity, which is an affinity with a concept (as opposed to, say, an animal). I'll say latch has an affinity with wisdom. This also gives him a related boon (+1 to one specific task), so I'll say Latch has a +1 to uncover forgotten secrets.
And then I get two more affinities, and here I can take animal affinities (or object, or room). Oh, man, so many choices. I think I want an animal affinity with spiders (+1 to notice hidden people), and the basement (+1 to scare others).
Skills! There are five of them: Ponder, Skulk, Sway, Tinker, Tussle (or PSSTT!). I get +1 Skulk just because Korrikin are naturally sneaky, and then +1 Ponder for being a Skein, and then four more dots to throw around.
Well, I don't think I want any Tussle (Latch is too old for that nonsense), but I definitely want some Sway because that's what I'd use to scare people. I'll put two there, and then one each into Ponder and Tinker.
I get three items to carry (I can have more in my Stash, but I have to pick three at the start of any given adventure). Let's see if I need anything to do magic.
OK, so the way magic works is that I know a rune for every affinity I have, and I can combine them in any way that makes sense. So if I wanted to, say, make a spider smart enough to follow commands, I could probably do it by combining the runes for Spider and Wisdom. But I do need a way to inscribe the runes, so let's say I have an inkwell & quill (related objects like that count as one). I want a walking stick, and I think a spider-silk rope would be good. His walking stick is a long match, and then flammable stuff has long since been used, but he could probably draw a rune in charcoal at some distance if he needed to.
Latch is, as stated, old. He has a long white beard and is kind of hunched over a lot of the time, but he can stand up straight and walk when he has his stick. His eyes are blue and can go from "playful twinkle" to "what did you just say, young man?" in a hot second.
