Nobody wants to play urban fantasy as a bunch of kids?

TLDR: Is it that alien an idea to play a bunch of kids in an d20 modern urban fantasy game? (Best game times: Thursdays and Fridays whenever. Less optimal game times: about 4 hours on weekends, depending on which shift I'm working) So I am completely bored of the same old conventions and thought I'd see if anyone wanted to do something new and play a bunch of child protagonists in an urban arcana environment. I figured I probably wasn't the only one who thought that might be fun to make a story like that. Sort of BTVS meets Gravity Falls. Was I? (Just random ranting below) A month later and I realize that I was wrong. I had maybe a dozen takers across three different locations. Some, true, didn't find the time I was available to consistently GM a match. 1 vanished mysteriously. Two decided to drop out once it became clear that I meant children when I said children. An... anime enthusiast... that used the word "loli" a lot whom I was disinclined to play with. The rest were the usual online appliers who decided they'd rather do something else after-all. Oh and one person who thought twenty point buy and level one in a d20 modern game was too low power to bother with. (Despite me using the words "rapid advancement", gestalt and "waive most advance class requirements on the magic side"to describe how the play would evolve. ) Is it really that alien to play something other than fantasy adventurers and vampires?

I dunno, it might be an overlap thing. I think the concept is cool as hell, but I* would be turned off by d20 modern. Nothing wrong with d20, but I just prefer lighter systems. Maybe running the idea in something like PtbA's Monster of the Week, or something in Fate (maybe hack in some stuff from its Dresden Files book). Maybe there's an audience mismatch between your setting and your system? *Edit: Forgot a word.

Arcosus said: I dunno, it might be an overlap thing. I think the concept is cool as hell, but would be turned off by d20 modern. Nothing wrong with d20, but I just prefer lighter systems. Maybe running the idea in something like PtbA's Monster of the Week, or something in Fate (maybe hack in some stuff from its Dresden Files book). Maybe there's an audience mismatch between your setting and your system? Hm... I wasn't aware of that. d20 systems are considered... complicated these days? Does this mean I'm an old antiquated dinosaur, like those Ancient Ones that still play AD&D? Poor THAC0 addled sods. *presses X to pay respects* Also: I thought Urban Arcana would have been prefect for the setting?

Not really complicated. I think the assumption is though when people see the system is that you're playing decently powered people. Not kids, who quite logically would be not as powerful. Urban Arcana probably would work but I am in agreement that something more rules lite and or role play focused would work better. Really though it is up to you as GM. Trouble is finding players. Roll20 can be weird that way. Not always easy to pick up people. And no shows seem to come on a lot.

Danijel R. said: Hm... I wasn't aware of that. d20 systems are considered... complicated these days? Does this mean I'm an old antiquated dinosaur, like those Ancient Ones that still play AD&D? Poor THAC0 addled sods. *presses X to pay respects* Also: I thought Urban Arcana would have been prefect for the setting? I wouldn't say that it's complicated, per se. But after a couple of decades of D&D (I was back there in the era of THAC0 with you), I'm personally just kind of burnt out on dealing with the fiddly bits. Most of the systems I play these days can put everything you need to know on a couple of pages at most. Personally, I also generally don't think d20 systems do anything non-combat very well (or at least, I don't enjoy the way they do them). It's a fine system for what it does and the roots it has grown out of, but my personal experience is that I'm more interested in the stories being told and all the mechanical details of d20 that make for that fun, detail oriented tactical combat just end up getting in the way of the stories I want to focus on, or at best, stay out of the way but don't contribute to it. And it's probably personal bias, but when I hear "Kids dealing with the supernatural", what I envision is not that tactical toe-to-toe combat that is, I think, what d20 does well.

I agree with Arcosus. D20 is a good gateway game, but not a good system for what you want to do. I would look at Cypher or FATE. Those rules do a great job of helping with the story of the game. FATE is perhaps the best system for it. There could be other narrative systems out there but in my opinion; Cypher and FATE are the best.

If you do decide to go the Cypher route, the book Expanded Worlds has a section on playing children.

There are also a few of games already out in which the sole premise is playing children/teens in a modern fantasy world: Tales from the Loop, Little Fears, and Grimm come to mind, but there might be more. They are all rules-lite systems compared to D20 as well, which I think makes them more appealing since the fun of playing children/young adults in an rpg is in the RP side of things, and the D20 ruleset is generally combat oriented with little to no actual gameplay mechanics for RP. In my experience with D20 based systems (and I am one of those old ThAc0 adddled sods), the RP side of things is generally freeform RP conversations with no rolls, or, in some games, a simple Charisma roll and no RP. In the case of the roll-free RP, you're not really playing a game. In the case of the Charisma based roll-play, it seems to negate the fun part of playing the child protagonists.

Also, from the description of your previous problems, be sure to post an age range that you're looking for characters to be.  It sounds that you probably mean preteens (up to 12 years old) but a lot of people hear "children" and just think "underage" so teens would be included in their mindset. I took a bit to think about the system, and D20 probably isn't the best for it, I agree.  It's very mechanics-driven, and children don't fit well into its confines.  Fate Core is much more open, and it suits a narrative game, which a story about children is likely to focus on.