The Knights of Pemberton St

THE KNIGHTS OF PEMBERTON ST.
My take on Pearce Shea’s Monsterparts.
Obviously missing is anything about gear and specific Wrongness, because it’s all there in Monsterparts. All I did was change mechanical stuff — not as a negative comment on Monsterparts, but because of my own personal technical aesthetics.

I. INTRODUCTION
You are all children living on Pemberton St. You all know each other, but you didn�t necessarily spend time together or get along. But now you have all been brought and bound together, because Pemberton St. is going Wrong, and you�re the only ones that know it. The grownups can’t or won’t see it, and won’t or can’t listen, even as the Wrongness threatens the entire street. It’s up to you, the Knights of Pemberton St., to sneak out of your rooms at night and battle the forces of Wrong.

II. CHARACTER ARCHETYPES
No two players should choose the same archetype.

1. THE TOUGH KID

Attack rolls are +1 per level.

Saves vs. physical adversity are +1 per level. All other saves are +1 for every three levels.

You get these abilities:
– Choose one thing per level that you are good at using as a weapon. This weapon counts as Special for the purposes of attacks against Wrong things.
– Once per night, you can shrug off physical hurt when it is inflicted. Don’t even write it down; it’s like it never happened.

Choose one or more of your fellow Knights; you used to pick on them a lot. They Get Along -1 with you.

Choose one of your fellow Knights; you secretly respect them. You Get Along +1 with them.

2. THE SMART KID

Attack rolls are +1 for every three levels, except with Special weapons; in that case, +1 for every two levels.

Saves vs. mental adversity are +1 per level. All other saves are +1 for every three levels.

You get these abilities:
– 1 in 6 chance, +1 for every three levels to a max of 5 in 6, that you have read about any given Wrong, weird, or technical thing, or at least something like it. If so, ask the GM any yes/no question about it, and he must give you a true answer. You can try again until you fail, asking a new question for every successful roll, but if you fail then the GM will change things such that one of the facts you learned is not true (without telling you which one).
– if you have suitable materials, you get a 1 in 6 chance, +1 for every three levels to a max of 5 in 6, to fix something that is broken.
– when you have the chance to make maps at your leisure, you may make a mental save to receive verification of their accuracy and corrections from the GM. You choose what room/corridor to apply this to, and may continue to do this until you fail a save or until the other players get tired of waiting for you. Using this ability means that you don’t rest and recover during this leisure time.

Choose one or more of your fellow Knights; you secretly think they’re kind of dumb. You Get Along -1 with them.

3. THE BAD KID

Attack rolls are +1 for every two levels, unless you are in a position to sucker-punch an enemy; in that case, +1 per level.

Saves vs. grownups are +1 per level. All other saves are +1 for every two levels.

You get these abilities:
– 1 in 6 chance, +1 for every three levels to a max of 5 in 6, that you can bring something with you that belongs to your parents when you sneak out for the night.
– When you hide something from somebody, they won’t find it. Except grownups; they have a 1 in 10 chance of finding it by accident.
– once per night, when faced with adversity, you can become Spiteful. While Spiteful, you Get Along -3 with everyone (regardless of how well you normally would) but get +1 for every two levels to all saves and attack rolls. This lasts for 1d6 turns.

Choose one or more of your fellow Knights; you secretly envy them. You Get Along -1 with them.

Choose one or more of your fellow Knights; you think they look down on you. You Get Along -1 with them.

Choose one or more of your fellow Knights; you used to pick on them a lot. They Get Along -1 with you.

4. THE WEIRD KID

Attack rolls are +1 for every three levels, except with Special weapons; in that case, +1 per level.

Saves vs. weird and Wrong things are +1 per level. All other saves are +1 for every two levels.

You get this ability:
When you find something Special, you have a 1 in 6 (+1 for every three levels, to a max of 5 in 6) chance of intuitively knowing what it does and how to use it.

Choose one of your fellow Knights; they are the only one who really understands you. You Get Along +1 with them, and they Get Along +1 with you.

5. THE NICE KID

Attack rolls are +1 for every three levels.

Saves vs. emotional adversity are +1 per level. All other saves are +1 for every three levels.

You get these abilities:
– When you share food, it counts as a full meal for everyone, even if there’s not really enough to go around. You can do this a number of times each night equal to your level.
– When you provide encouragement to someone facing adversity, they get +1 to their rolls that turn. You can do this a number of times each night equal to your level.
– When you provide comfort and sympathy to someone who is hurt, they recover from one point of hurt. You can do this a number of times each night equal to your level.

You Get Along +1 with all of your fellow Knights. Choose one; they are your best friend. You Get Along an extra +1 (for a total of +2) with them, and they Get Along +1 with you.

III. IMAGINARY FRIENDS
Research shows that 65% of kids have imaginary friends, so roll under 65 on a d% to see if you have one. If you do, describe what they look like. They have some special talent or ability; what is it?

Mechanically, imaginary friends function as Special things, except with a mind of their own. The GM roleplays your imaginary friends, and decides whether they do what you tell/ask them to do based on how well you treat them.

IV. FIGHTING
You can only fight things and people that have gone Wrong.

To fight something Wrong, you must make an attack roll. Roll a d20, add your attack roll bonus, and subtract any attack roll penalty that the Wrong thing may have. A result of 11 or higher is a hit.

What happens next depends on what weapon you are using:
– If you don’t have a weapon, the best a hit can do is keep the Wrong thing from hurting you or someone else (one person, by name).
– If you are using a normal thing as a weapon, a hit can prevent the Wrong thing from hurting you or someone else, keep it at bay, prevent it from entering a door/window/etc., or hold it in position.
– If you are using a normal but dangerous thing as a weapon, it can do any of the above, or can drive the Wrong thing away for now.
– If you are using a Special thing as a weapon, it can do any of the above, or can hurt the Wrong thing.

When a Wrong thing attacks, the GM doesn’t roll. Rather, its victim(s) must make a save vs. Wrongness to avoid being hurt. Some Wrong things might add penalties to these saves.

V. SAVES
Anything besides attack rolls that is in question is resolved by a save. If you try to climb a tree, and you might fall out, make a save to not fall out. If you try to pick something up, but it turns out it’s really heavy, make a save to not wimp out and drop it. The GM will have to apply his judgment to whether or not the special save bonuses (vs. physical adversity for the Tough Kid, vs. Wrong/weird stuff for the Weird Kid, etc.) apply, but it should be fairly obvious whether they do or not.

To save, roll a d20, add your save bonus, and subtract any save penalties that may be applied. A result of 11 or higher is a success. This means you avoid the badness that might have happened, or, if it was something that was impossible to avoid, you at least manage to mitigate it.

If you fail a save against something Wrong, you can use a Special thing to protect you. It loses its Specialness in the process, though, and either becomes just normal or is destroyed in some fashion.

VI. HURT
Hurt can be physical, mental, or emotional; it doesn’t matter, and the effect is the same. Hurt can be inflicted by Wrong things, grownups, accidents, and even your fellow Knights, but you can always to save to avoid or mitigate it. Use a track like the following to keep up with it:

Minor [] -> Grievous [] -> Serious [] -> Dead []; Rested? ()

Tick a box (in order) when you get hurt. Tick the circle when you get to rest and recover. When you get hurt again, clear the circle. If you get to rest and recover, and your circle is already ticked, clear one of the boxes.

Ticking the first box requires making a save, or else you suffer some momentary impairment (getting caught in a web, twisting your ankle, falling down, etc.).

Ticking the second one requires making a save, or else you suffer some lasting (until the danger passes) impairment or must become incapacitated (ranging from fainting, to falling into a magical sleep, to curling up in a ball and crying; whatever is appropriate in the moment) you can make the save (you may try again each turn) or the danger passes.

Ticking the third one requires making a save, or else you suffer some persistent (until you manage to do something to remove it) impairment or else must save not to die every turn until rested.

Ticking the fourth one means you are dead, or faded into nothing, or forever disappeared, or otherwise removed from the game in some appropriate and doubtless creepy fashion.

VII. RESTING AND RECOVERING
When you have leisure time — that is, time when you are not being pursued and harried by horrible things — you can rest. If you have some source of shared joy, you get to recover as well. The easiest source of joy is some decent food. Other possibilities include singing songs or telling stories.

VIII. GROWNUPS
You can’t fight or otherwise engage in direct conflict with grownups who haven’t gone Wrong. The best you can do is save to avoid/evade them. Naturally, being caught outside in the night by a grownup is something you want to avoid, because they will take you to your house and then you will be in trouble.

IX. GETTING ALONG
When creating your character, you ended up with some Get Along modifiers with various other characters. Write these down. If more than one applied to the same person, total them (so if you Get Along -1 with a kid for one reason, but also Get Along +1 with that kid for another reason, you Get Along +0 with that kid). There is a difference between how well you Get Along with a kid and how well they Get Along with you; you only need to write down how well you Get Along with the other kids.

When you try to come to the aid of one of the other kids, roll a d10 and add your Get Along bonus/penalty with them. A result of 6 or better is a success. When successful, you can do one of the following:
– suffer hurt/danger in their place
– hand/toss/slip them an item at a crucial moment
– allow them to re-roll a roll they just made

X. EXPERIENCE
When you confront Wrongness and resolve the situation to your benefit or advantage, you gain 1 XP. When you permanently defeat/end/banish/destroy something Wrong, you gain 10 XP. The XP it takes to level up is equal to your current level times 10. So you need 10 XP to make level 2, then 20 more to make level 3, then thirty more to make level 4, and so on.

2013

08/21

POSTED BY

Marshall Burns

CATEGORY

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