Skinned Knees and Faeries: Genre Conventions

I read through the Kids on Bikes core rule-book, and while I found myself inspired and nostalgic, I was also sadly disappointed. The book provided so much to whet my appetite, yet so little substance to sate it. I wanted to see a toolbox to play The Goonies, Stranger Things, or Super 8. Instead, I got a book full of gorgeous period artwork, and a hastily-slapped-together story game. To be fair, I am often in the mood to play a character in this kind of game, but if I wanted to actually run it at my table, I'd be left doing all the heavy lifting myself.

I won't be reviewing Kids on Bikes--other people have already done so.  Instead, I want to break down the genre rules that could let this concept flourish under the Player-driven sandbox style of OSR games. Maybe I'll do all the heavy lifting too.

Core Genre "Rules"

 

Let's peel this bandage right off.

DEATH is right off the table (as a consequence for failure). There are many other repercussions to choose from, and they can all be devastating in the right circumstance. Instead, try:

• Lose an item
• Lose a lead
• Lose an ally
• Lose a power
• Make an enemy
• Miss a crucial timing
• Gain a curse/wound/other lingering nasty nonsense

However, the finality of death also leads to strong player attachment to specific, beloved characters. Just ask anyone who plays Rogue-like video games to tell you how they felt when their longest-lived character died. (RIP: Gorkanator2)

This presents an issue for a game emulating the Kids Save the Suburb genre. However, I think we can make the aging of the characters a suitable substitute--or at least the aging out of imaginative play. (More on this in the next article, The Heavy Lifting)

VIOLENCE should be PG-13 at maximum, to respect the genre. If in Home Alone we watched Kevin pierce the internal organs, peel the skin, and destroy the bones of the dopey burglars Harry and Marv, it would have been branded a gore horror film. As the GM of a Kids Save the Suburbs game, we should only describe violence in detail for either comedic effect, or to intentionally give the Players tone whiplash (caution! TV Tropes). 

For many of us coming from the survival-horror background so common in the OSR, this can be a big challenge. I know it has been so far for me. I can't prescribe a solution for this, but what's helped me immensely has been to re-narrate scenes of TV violence in a campy, action-adventure style. For example, I recently re-watched The Raid, and paused after incredible action sequences (like this one) to describe them out loud and drastically lighten the tone. If you can describe even a single fight from this movie in a kid-friendly way, you're more than capable of describing a fist fight between a plucky preteen hero and the neighborhood bully.

Fights should be problem solving challenges at best (think luring the Monster through traps), or incredibly rapid at worst (does the Bully rattle you senseless or not?). This is not a genre about fighting, and it should really feel like a bunch of powerless kids trying to keep themselves whole.

POWER FANTASY: this game ain't about it. Luckily, this is a familiar concept for anyone who plays an OSR TTRPG. As the Kids adventure, they probably won't be gaining super strength, telekinesis, or mastery over shadows (unless you like that stuff). Instead, they will be gaining resources in the form of age, friends, knowledge, and particularly cool bikes. A grizzled Kid of 4 or 5 seasons of adventure might be 16 years old, with a car, a romantic interest, a full knowledge of the maze-like passages behind the DYNAGAMES Arcade, and a friendship with the garden gnomes that live around town.

 It should be easy to see how every obstacle might require cool problem solving. Just spitballing ideas, now:

•  Lucas and Jenny need to find a way into the office of Principal Lardy of Avettown High before school opens tomorrow morning, so they can keep the photo evidence of their favorite teacher's weird behavior out of the hands of the authorities. (Wouldn't the FBI just love to probe his alien anatomy?) Jenny bribes a Sophomore in the A/V club to keep the cafeteria window open when he leaves after the janitors, and Lucas conducts an elaborate distraction from detention to enable Jenny to steal the master key. Then, just after dark the two sneak in, grab the photos and run! But wait, these aren't the right photos! They show Principal Lardy and Secretary Rose shaking hands with some men in black suits, and their hands have too many knuckles...
• The Bleak House sits atop Red Ridge, overlooking the town forest. Even though nobody has seen the old lady inside since '76, rumors say her mastiffs are still well fed behind the wrought iron fence. Pauline's dad is the mailman, so she crushes some sleeping pills she snatched from her parents' medicine cabinet into his bag of dog treats before he leaves in the morning. When the Gnomes tell her the dogs are sleeping, the gang bikes out through the forest to the Bleak Gate. Using bungie cords, a pool cleaner, and some duct tape, they climb the gate, and sneak through a garden overgrown with thorns...
  
  
  

THE ROLE OF ADULTS is mostly to stay out of the way. I can't remember who said it first, but a core element of this genre is that friendly adults are absentee, and unfriendly adults always have an alibi that keeps the Kids' guardians from being concerned. 

 What keeps the friendly adults from helping out? Often it's Dark Shit™, like addiction, abuse, poverty, schizophrenia, overwhelming work/home responsibilities, or any combination. The guardians are so busy with their own life, and the Kids are just being kids--they just don't have the time to deal with this silliness. 

 In TTRPG, how deep you dive into this darkness in the lives of the friendly adults is a personal choice. Personally, I deal with this mundane darkness too often, so I just hint at it enough to satisfy my players' perception of verisimilitude. That being said, keep these fucked-up guardians within reach of the Kids' adventures just in case. Should your game take a nasty turn towards scary, mature themes, (content warning) like kidnappings, enslavement, true violence, etc... it's time for them to show up with the police and a soccer van, in Bear-Mama mode, ready to do what it takes to get their children back safe

 Unfriendly adults, however, are important and antagonistic organizations. I use them heavily to enforce travel and setting constraints. For instance, during the day any well-to-do neighborhood will be infested with straight-laced NIMBYs, eager to call the truancy officer on unaccompanied children or teens. Similarly, certain areas are effectively gated from the players by conspicuous unmarked vans (Warning: TV Tropes), the dreaded Home-Owners' Associations, or territorial gangs.

In the case of active opposition in the form of Unfriendly Adults, it is crucial that they have a "perfect alibi" to prevent exposure. This can be serious or comical, as long as all friendly adults believe it by default. For example, the government-hired paramilitary organization that infiltrated Springville as a new milk delivery service--complete with company vans with giant satellite dishes on their roofs. With a strong disguise, insidious Unfriendly Adult organizations can only be dealt with or exposed by the Kids, who aren't fooled. (More on this in the next article, The Heavy Lifting)

THE BAD GUY is the final piece of this genre-puzzle. However, since I've exceeded my own attention span in the course of this piece, I'll be jamming that into my next post!

Next: The Heavy Lifting

Now that these genre-conventions are clear, I'll be putting together the basic setting details of my own Suburban Town in need of saving, Lichfield.