TEXT: 1
  
  Guide book
  
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  editions or derivations of FirstFable may not 
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  Credits
  Written by Matthew McFarland
  Art by Charlie Bates
  Developed by Sean Patrick Fannon
  Edited by Carinn Seabolt
  Art Direction by Pauline Benney and Katie McCaskill  
  Design by Pauline Benney
  Additional Material by Stephan Wieck
  
  1
  Table Of contents
  Introduction......................................................................... 3
  Character Creation............................................................... 7
  Rules...................................................................................11
  Running the Game..................................................................17
  Adventure: The Hunt for the Wild Guffin.................................21
  
  2
  
  3
  Introduction
  Welcome to FirstFable! If you’re reading this, odds 
  are you’re doing it because you want to introduce your 
  children to the joy of roleplaying games. As roleplayers 
  get older, have kids and see them grow, it’s only natural 
  that we’d want to introduce the people we love most 
  to the hobby we love most. But is it really that simple?
  It can be. Children are natural roleplayers because they 
  play pretend intuitively. The benefits of free play — that 
  is, play with no rules or expectations — are indisputable. 
  Free play helps children work through anxiety, practice 
  (rehearse, even) social situations, and perhaps most 
  important, it helps them communicate. Young children 
  should — must — be given opportunities to engage in 
  free play, which is one reason that adults that fill their 
  children’s schedules with lessons and activities of all 
  kinds are overdoing it a bit. (Not to say that signing 
  your kids up for piano lessons or a painting class or 
  summer camp is a bad idea — far from it! Just make 
  sure they get some unstructured time, too.) 
  A What-Playing Game?
  While FirstFable is written on the 
  assumption that you’re a roleplayer 
  hoping to introduce the hobby to your 
  children, it’s also possible that you’ve 
  picked this game up in hopes of sharing 
  a fun activity with your kids, but that 
  you’ve never actually done any gaming. 
  Don’t fret. Here’s the quick version of 
  what you need to know.
  First, in a roleplaying game, the players 
  take on the roles of characters in a story. 
  They try to accomplish goals as defined 
  by the kind of story you’re all telling. 
  In “The Hunt for the Wild Guffin,” for 
  instance (which is found at the end of 
  this book), the goal of the story is to 
  track down a mythical animal that no 
  living person has ever seen before. 
  Second, 
  most 
  roleplaying 
  games 
  (including FirstFable) have a way to 
  resolve 
  challenges 
  involving 
  some 
  random elements. Many such games use 
  dice, though some use cards. The system 
  for how the dice or cards are read and 
  interpreted varies widely, but FirstFable 
  is pretty simple — roll six-sided dice 
  (which are the cube-shaped dice you find 
  in most board games) and count up any 
  dice that come up as 4, 5 or 6. 
  Finally, the roleplaying community is 
  large and diverse. If you go online, you 
  will find websites devoted to gaming as 
  a hobby, and if you look you’ll find a lot 
  of parents who will be happy to discuss 
  their experiences gaming with their kids. 
  It’s a wonderful way to play with your 
  children, to introduce them to books 
  and reading (by encouraging a love of 
  stories), to introduce some basic math 
  skills and, most important, to help them 
  be creative and communicate. Welcome!
  As kids get older, their desire for play doesn’t abate, 
  but it does grow more sophisticated. As children of 
  roleplayers, they’ve probably watched their moms and 
  dads roll odd, sparkly dice on big tables or move what 
  look like little toys around a map, and they’ve probably 
  been intrigued. But the sad truth is, a lot of roleplaying 
  games, especially the older ones that are closest to the 
  war games that gave rise to the hobby, are complex, 
  arcane and, to a child, a bit tedious. And the newer 
  story-based games, though easier in terms of rules, don’t 
  provide enough of a structure. For a typically developing 
  child, someone with a decent vocabulary and an age-
  appropriate grasp of numbers, is there a game on the 
  market that will work? 
  Well, yes, there are actually several. This is one of 
  them. FirstFable is specifically designed to be played 
  with children ages 8 to 12, but you could probably go 
  as young as 6 (there’s no upper age limit on an RPG, 
  as we know). Stories in FirstFable are meant to be 
  
  4
  played in two hours or so, and the game is designed 
  for the “Game Master” to be an adult while the 
  players are children. The title for the Game Master 
  in FirstFable, in fact, is simply “the Grown-Up” 
  (GU, if you like).
  FirstFable, like most roleplaying games, doesn’t 
  have a way to “win.” The game is cooperative, not 
  competitive, and everyone “wins” by having fun. 
  In this way, roleplaying games bear much more 
  resemblance to the unstructured free play that I 
  mentioned above that to board or even playground 
  games that have defined rules. 
  The rest of this book explains how to customize 
  characters and how the game system works. We also 
  provide advice for running the game, keeping the 
  players engaged, and making sure everyone has fun. 
  Finally, we finish off with “The Hunt for the Wild 
  Guffin,” a quest for four players involving the discovery 
  of a mythical beast. To run a game of FirstFable, you’ll 
  need this book, a handful of six-sided dice (you can get 
  these at many “big box” stores for very little money, or 
  you can buy cool-looking colored dice from game stores 
  — the love of multicolored dice starts early!), copies of 
  the Character Book, and the Handouts.
  
  5
  
  6
  
  7
  Character Creation
  What if I want to play a Ninja (or some other Type 
  that isn’t represented here)? Hopefully, we’ll be 
  producing new character Types for FirstFable in the 
  near future. Until then, though, choose the Type that 
  closest to what you want to play (“Ninja” is probably 
  closest to “Knight,” though you could also make an 
  argument for “Pirate”) and have the GU help you 
  change any rules that don’t make sense. 
  What if I want to play a smarter Knight or a faster 
  Animal Keeper? One way to make up the difference 
  for a low Stat is with Shines (below). But if you want 
  to adjust the numbers, go ahead. The three Stats total 
  nine points, just don’t go over that, and don’t go below 
  2 in any Stat.
  Step Two: Where Does Your Character Shine?
  Each player gets to pick three things that his or her 
  character is great at. These are skills that the character 
  is known for. These “Shines” should be things that 
  the player wants to see happen in play. For example, 
  a Pirate might be really great at swabbing the decks of 
  a ship, but that probably isn’t something that a player 
  should take as a Shine, because it’s not something that’s 
  going to come up in the context of a story. 
  On that subject, does a Pirate need to take “Knows 
  All About Boats” as a Shine? Or even “Swinging from 
  Ropes,” for that matter? The character is a Pirate, after 
  all, so don’t all Pirates know how to do those things? 
  Yes and no; a character can do anything that, based 
  on the character’s Type, the player and the GU would 
  agree that the character should know how to do. A 
  Pirate knows how a boat works, an Animal Keeper 
  knows how to recognize bird calls, a Knight knows how 
  to ride a horse and a Faerie Princess knows her way 
  around the forest. But if that Knight can stand on a 
  charging horse and leap into a surging mass of enemies, 
  or if that Animal Keeper can cock an ear and know 
  exactly what kinds of birds are nearby and what they’re 
  chirping about, that’s a degree of skill that probably 
  demands a Shine. 
  Shines are attached to Stats. “Ride a Horse” is probably 
  under Fast or Strong, while “Knows about Birds” goes 
  In order to play FirstFable, every player needs a character 
  (the GU doesn’t have his or her own character; instead, 
  the GU gets to play all of the supporting characters, 
  including allies, enemies, passers-by and even animals). 
  Making a character is quick and easy, and has four steps. 
  Under each step, we explain what to do, and address 
  any questions that are likely to come up.
  FirstFable includes Character Book, which help the 
  players through the steps of character creation. The 
  Character Book include questions and character-
  building steps that aren’t covered here in the Grown-
  Up book, because they don’t have any immediate 
  bearing on the game system (they’re to help the players 
  flesh out characters a bit more). The Grown-Up should 
  definitely read the Character Book, though, and help 
  the players out answering questions as necessary. 
  Step One: Choose Character Type
  This book includes four character types: the Knight, 
  the Faerie Princess, the Animal Keeper and the 
  Pirate. Every player chooses a Type. A character’s 
  Type determines his or her ratings in Strong, Fast 
  and Smart.
     Type  
          Strong        Fast        Smart
     Animal Keeper 
  3 
        2            4
     Faerie Princess 
  2 
        4            3
     Knight 
   
  4 
        3            2
     Pirate 
   
  3 
        3            3
  What if there are more than four of us? Multiple 
  people can have the same type. In fact, it might be 
  fun for two players to create Knights who grew up and 
  trained together, or Pirates ashore from the same ship. 
  Type is just a starting place.
  What if I want to play a girl Knight, or a boy Faerie? 
  Girls can absolutely be Knights or Pirates, and boys can 
  certainly be Faerie Princes or Animal Keepers. We just 
  presented them this way in the book because they’re 
  easy to recognize, but you should absolutely make the 
  characters you want to play!
  
  8
  under Smart. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use 
  those Shines with the other Stats, though. We’ll get to 
  using Shines in Rules. For now, just write them where 
  they make the most sense. 
  Can I Shine at fighting? Of course! But be specific. 
  Does your Knight Shine at Jousting, or Sword-Fighting, 
  or Wrestling? Does your Faerie Princess use a rope to 
  ensnare her enemies, or an enchanted rapier (that’s 
  a thin sword, in case you didn’t know)? Fighting isn’t 
  necessarily the best way to get what you want, though, 
  so be careful about picking it as a Shine!
  What if I can’t think of three? No problem! Just 
  decide on one or two right now, and then when the 
  game starts, and you play your character a little, you 
  can figure out where your characters Shines. It might 
  be that your character hasn’t even discovered where 
  he or she Shines yet, and it would be a lot of fun to 
  discover that!
  Step Three: Where is Your Character Slow?
  No one’s good at everything. Our favorite characters 
  in movies, books and TV shows are fun not because 
  they’re always good, fast, strong and clever, but because 
  they get the job done and do the right thing even when 
  they’re scared, weak, silly or confused. Each player 
  picks one Weakness for the character. 
  A Weakness is something that the character might be 
  called upon to do, but that she or he just isn’t very good 
  at. Almost anything that can be a Shine can also be a 
  Weakness. For example, a Knight be Weak in Horse-
  Riding. He can do all the other things a Knight can do 
  — fight, behave well in court, and so on — but when 
  he gets on a horse he has trouble staying on. 
  Characters don’t have to know about their Weaknesses. 
  Players do, of course, but the character in question might 
  think that he or she is great at something, when in fact, 
  it’s really a Weakness. An Animal Keeper might love to 
  sew and make clothes, but all the clothes she makes are 
  too small or too big or have an extra armhole. Or, the 
  character might be very much aware of the Weakness, 
  and be ashamed of it or scared that other characters will 
  find out. How the character responds to the Weakness is 
  just as important as the Weakness itself. 
  Why do I have to have a Weakness? Because no one 
  is perfect. Everyone has something that they just don’t 
  do well. It might never come up in play, but then, it 
  might, and then your character has a chance to beat 
  the Weakness and save the day. 
  Can my Weakness be that I’m allergic to cats? It’s 
  better if Weaknesses are skills that your character 
  just doesn’t have, rather than physical problems or 
  personality traits. But that said, if the GU agrees and 
  you want to apply a penalty whenever a Weakness 
  like an allergy would occur, then sure, you can take an 
  allergy (or something similar) as a Weakness. 
  Step Four: Pick One Special Thing
  All characters get one Special Thing. It might be 
  a magic item, an animal companion, a spell or a 
  guardian angel of some kind. Special Things have 
  limits on how often they can be used to help with 
  Challenges, but they can be part of the action any 
  time. For example, a Faerie Princess might have 
  Faerie Magic as a Special Thing. Her magic might 
  make things light as feathers, and that might help 
  the characters out of a Challenge if they’re trapped 
  in a cave by a heavy rock. But using the magic to lift 
  another character a few feet off the ground (because 
  it’s funny) or to help the Knight’s grandmother move 
  some furniture (because it’s not a Challenge) doesn’t 
  count against the uses of the Special Thing for the 
  adventure. Special Things that players pick during 
  character creation have five Stars (you can read 
  about what this means in the Rules section).
  Can I have more than one? Your character only starts 
  with one Special Thing, but you can get more during 
  play. Some Special Things will only be around for one 
  adventure, others stay with you. 
  Can I have an animal companion if I’m a Pirate, or 
  a Magic Spell if I’m a Knight? Of course! It’s easy 
  enough to imagine a Pirate with a pet monkey or 
  parrot, and maybe the Knight studied under a wizard 
  for a while when he was young, but only learned one 
  spell. Or maybe the Knight has just always been able to 
  cast the spell and doesn’t know why — that would be a 
  fun thing to discover in an Adventure!
  Example Character: Ruby
  Teagan is going to play a game of FirstFable, so she 
  needs to make a character. She sits down with her dad 
  (the GU for the game) to create one.
  
  9
  Step One — Choose Character Type: Teagan picks 
  the Animal Keeper. She wants her character to have 
  a big, tiger-like cat to be her friend. The GU tells her 
  to remember that, because she’ll get to pick a Special 
  Thing later. Teagan names her character “Ruby.” She 
  writes down the numbers on her sheet: Strong 3, Fast 2, 
  Smart 4. Teagan isn’t crazy about the low score in Fast, 
  but the GU tells her to wait until the next step. 
  Step Two — Where Does Your Character Shine? 
  Teagan decides that her character is really fast, 
  even when running through the woods. She takes 
  “Scampering” as a Shine. She also wants Ruby to be 
  good with animals. The GU asks what she means by 
  that — what does she want to do with animals? Train 
  them? Talk to them? Take care of them? Teagan thinks 
  about this (remember, Ruby can actually do any of those 
  things, since they make sense for an Animal Keeper), 
  and decides Ruby really Shines at Taking Care of Hurt 
  Animals. For her last Shine, Teagan wants Ruby to be 
  able to Throw Things. That sounds fine to the GU, 
  so he helps Teagan write all of this down in the right 
  spaces on the character sheet. 
  Step Three — Where Is Your Character Slow? 
  Teagan thinks for a while about where Ruby might 
  have trouble. She decides that Ruby just can’t get the 
  hang of Camping. She always gets splinters when she 
  tries to build a fire, that sort of thing. 
  Step Four — Choose One Special Thing. Teagan has 
  already chosen her character’s Special Thing. Ruby has 
  a pet forest cat, like a tiger only with pretty gray and 
  black fur, named Blaze. Blaze is a big softie, but she can 
  roar loudly and scare people off. 
  Teagan finishes filling in the character sheet, and she’s 
  ready to go!
  
  10
  
  11
  Rules
  it’s a race; see below), but the GU decides that all 
  Ruby is trying to do right now is keep the boy in sight. 
  Therefore, it’s just a normal Challenge.
  Result #1 — Failure: Teagan rolls 2, 2, 3. That’s no 
  Stars. She runs into the woods, but the boy is already 
  hiding. Now she’ll probably have to make a Smart roll 
  to find him.
  Result #2 — Success: Teagan rolls 4, 1, 5. That’s two 
  Stars, so she succeeds. The boy runs into the woods, 
  and Ruby is close on his heels. She can now yell for 
  him to stop and keep him in sight. He might actually 
  stop, depending on what kind of Adventure the GU 
  has planned.
  Result #3 — Teaching Moment: Teagan rolls 6, 6, 
  4. That’s three Stars, so Ruby keeps up with the 
  boy, but it’s also a Star on every die! Teagan gets to 
  add a Shine. Since this action was pretty clearly a 
  result of her Scampering Shine, she adds one point 
  to that. From now on she’ll add two dice to rolls 
  involving Scampering. 
  Contest Challenges
  Contests are Challenges in which one character is 
  directly competing against another. In this case, both 
  players roll their dice, and whoever has the most Stars 
  wins (remember a Star is any die showing a 4, 5, or 
  6). Count up how many Stars each side has, and then 
  subtract the lower number from the higher to figure out 
  how great the victory is. 
  Example Contest Challenge
  Blake, a Pirate, gets into an argument with Roland, a 
  Knight, over who is stronger. They decide to see who 
  can hold a heavy rock over his head longest to prove 
  the point. Roland’s player rolls Strong 4 + Mighty Arms 
  1 (5 dice) against Blake’s Strong 3 + Sneaky 1 (Blake’s 
  player tells the GU that Blake is going to pick up a 
  slightly smaller rock but hold it like it’s heavier; the GU 
  says that’s good enough to let the Sneaky Shine work). 
  Blake’s player therefore has 4 dice. Both players roll:
  Result #1: Blake’s player rolls 3, 2, 4, 5. Roland’s player 
  rolls 1, 1, 4, 4, 6. Roland’s player wins by one Star, and 
  so he holds onto the rock a little longer than Blake. 
  The rules for FirstFable are simple. Anything that a 
  character might want to do in the game is either a Task or 
  a Challenge. The dice only get involved when a character 
  enters a Challenge, so we’ll talk about Challenges first. 
  Challenges
  A character enters a Challenge when he or she tries 
  to do something important that has the potential to 
  change how the story goes, and that has a reasonable 
  chance of going wrong. 
  When the character enters a Challenge, the GU 
  decides which Stat is involved. The player decides if 
  any Shines or Weaknesses apply (though the GU can 
  overrule the player), and the player totals the Stat + 
  Shines – Weakness and rolls that many dice. Every die 
  that comes up 4 or more is a Star. The more Stars a 
  player rolls, the better the result. So if the player rolls 
  one Star, the character succeeds on the Challenge, but 
  just barely. If the player rolls three Stars, the character 
  succeeded completely. If the player rolls five or more 
  Stars, the character really amazed everybody. 
  There’s another rule about Stars that is very important. 
  It’s called the Teaching Moment rule. If you roll a Star 
  on all of your dice, you get to add a Shine. You can add 
  a point to a Shine you already have, or you can add a 
  new Shine at 1 point. 
  If the player rolled no Stars, though, the character does 
  not achieve what she or he is trying to accomplish, and 
  something goes wrong, making the situation a little 
  harder on the character. 
  Example Challenge
  Teagan is playing her Animal Keeper, Ruby. She is 
  chasing a naughty little boy into the woods at the 
  request of the boy’s mother (who can’t manage to keep 
  up with the little scamp). Teagan says that Ruby is going 
  to run after the boy as fast as she can. This is, obviously, 
  a Fast roll. Ruby also has a Shine in Scampering, which 
  applies, so Teagan adds a die from that. Her dice pool, 
  then, is 3: Stat (Fast) 2 + Shine (Scampering) 1 = 3. 
  Teagan rolls the dice. She can’t do better than 
  three Stars, of course, but she’s got a good chance of 
  succeeding. This would normally be a Contest (since 
  
  12
  Result #2: Blake’s player rolls 4, 4, 2, 3. Roland’s player 
  rolls 3, 2, 4, 1, 5. Both players rolled two successes, so 
  they both drop the rock at the same time. They’ll need 
  to have another Contest if they want to determine a 
  winner, or they could just keep arguing about who’s 
  stronger, which sounds like more fun. 
  Result #3: Blake’s player rolls 4, 4, 5, 4. Roland’s player 
  rolls 3, 4, 4, 5, 6. Both players rolled four Stars, so they 
  tie, but Blake’s player also rolled a Teaching Moment! 
  Blake holds that rock up there for a long time, even 
  though it’s clear that Roland is stronger and having an 
  easier time of it. When they finally drop their rocks, 
  everyone watching congratulates them and they’re 
  amazed at Blake’s stamina. Blake’s player adds Won’t 
  Give Up 1 as a Shine under Strong. 
  Tasks
  A Task is a simple action that pushes the story forward, 
  but that is something that the character could do pretty 
  easily. Since no dice are being rolled, the character 
  does not generate Stars and has no chance to increase 
  a Shine. Tasks can set up Challenges, and they can 
  even help a character with a Challenge. If a character 
  performs a Task that makes a Challenge easier, the 
  player of the character performing the Challenge gets 
  an extra die to roll. 
  Example Tasks
  Sela, a Faerie Princess, has joined with Blake, Roland 
  and Ruby on their quest to rescue the lost little boy from 
  his goblin captors. The party, in venturing through the 
  Goblin Wood, comes to a patch of briars. Sela is tiny, 
  and can get through easily, but the other characters 
  will need to make Challenges (either Strong to push 
  through, or Fast to slip through deftly). Sela’s player 
  asks if she can help guide the characters, taking a Task 
  to find the places where the thorns are lightest. This 
  allows an extra die to either roll to get through the 
  thorns. If the characters were being pursued by a goblin 
  raiding party at the time, that extra few moments while 
  Sela takes her Task might make a difference!
  Special Things
  Special Things are versatile, and they’re a lot of fun. 
  That means that players might want to fall back on 
  them as often as they can. It’s fine to use Special Things 
  to help with Tasks, and a player has no limit on how 
  many times he or she can do that. 
  Using a Special Thing to resolve a Challenge, though, 
  is a little different. Every Special Thing has a Star 
  rating. The ones that players pick during character 
  creation have five Stars. When the player decides to use 
  a Special Thing in a Challenge, he or she can decide 
  how many of those Stars to use, depending on how 
  much help the Special Thing contributes. The player 
  can decide to roll the dice and add any Stars she or he 
  gets to the Challenge, or just let the Stars from the 
  Special Thing do all the work (sometimes there might 
  not be a choice, and the character can’t take direct part 
  in the Challenge). 
  Once a Special Thing’s Stars have run out, the player 
  can’t use that Special Thing for Challenges during the 
  Adventure. The player can continue using the Special 
  Thing for Tasks, though, and sometimes the character 
  might find a way to “recharge” some of the Special 
  Thing’s Stars. 
  Some Special Things go away entirely once their Stars 
  are gone. Potions are a good example of this; once the 
  character drinks a potion, it’s gone and can’t be reused. 
  Examples of Special Things
  Example #1: Ruby is out in the woods, looking for 
  the lost child, when a hungry bear approaches. She is 
  afraid, but she knows that the bear won’t attack her if 
  she can make herself look scary. She pulls herself up 
  to her full height and screams at the bear. The GU 
  decides this is a Strong Contest. The bear has Strong 
  5, and Teagan, worried because Ruby only has Strong 
  3, decides to use Ruby’s Special Thing — Blaze, the 
  forest cat with the mighty roar. Blaze has five Stars for 
  the whole Adventure, and Teagan doesn’t want to use 
  them all here, but she also really doesn’t want to fight 
  this bear. She uses two of Blaze’s Stars, and rolls her 
  Strong. She winds up beating the bear’s total by one 
  Star, and the bear retreats. Blaze now has three Stars 
  for the remainder of the Adventure. 
  Example #2: Roland, the Knight, is riding through a 
  meadow, carrying a message for his liege. He hears a 
  child crying, and since he is a noble Knight, decides 
  to try to help. He draws his Magic Sword (his Special 
  Thing) and points it at the nearby Goblin Wood, 
  saying “Show me the crying kid!” The GU decides that 
  since the boy is only a short distance into the Wood, 
  and Roland could see him easily if he rode his horse 
  past the trees, that this is a Task. The Magic Sword 
  glows and the branches move slightly, allowing Roland 
  
  13
  to see the boy. Roland’s player hasn’t used any Stars 
  from the Magic Sword.
  Example #3: Blake, the Pirate, is ashore visiting his 
  mother when his little cousin goes missing in the 
  Goblin Wood. Blake figures he’ll find his way back, 
  but his mother warns him that the Goblin Wood is a 
  dangerous and mysterious place. Blake’s Special Thing 
  is the Eye of the Sea, a magical pearl that lets Blake 
  see things from far away. Blake holds up the pearl and 
  looks into it, wanting to see the boy’s fate if Blake 
  doesn’t help. 
  This isn’t something that Blake can do on his own, so 
  he can only use Stars from the Special Thing. Blake’s 
  player decides that one Star is probably enough for this. 
  The GU describes the little boy slowly turning into a 
  goblin. Blake, horrified, grabs his dagger and yanks on 
  his boots, and runs out toward the Wood.
  Example #4: It’s been a long and difficult journey for the 
  party, and Sela, the Faerie Princess, has become tangled 
  in the web of a giant spider. She doesn’t have any Stars 
  left in her Special Thing (her Faerie Magic), but she 
  found some Flash Paper when the party defeated the 
  Goblin Wizard. This Flash Paper only has two Stars 
  and it burns when used, so when it’s gone, it’s gone. 
  Sela pulls the Flash Paper out of her pouch and tosses 
  it at the web. Sela’s player rolls Strong (2 dice) and 
  adds two Stars from the Flash Paper. A blinding flash 
  of light, a poof of smoke, and the web burns up, freeing 
  Sela. The Flash Paper, though, is gone, and it can’t be 
  used even for Tasks anymore. 
  Fight
  A Fight is a special type of Challenge. A Fight happens 
  when a character is trying to hurt someone or protect 
  him- or herself from being hurt. 
  Real Fights
  As we know, in real fights, people get 
  hurt or get dead. In movies and TV, 
  a little bonk on the head and people 
  get “knocked out,” only to wake up 
  later with no problem at all. People 
  swordfight or knife fight or magic-fight 
  and, unless it’s suitably dramatic, no one 
  gets really hurt. 
  Things like this are what we call a trope 
  of fantasy. That’s not the way it really 
  is, and it’s a good idea to make sure the 
  players know that. But on the other 
  hand, playing through fight scenes can 
  be fun. Why shy away from that?
  We talk a little more about running 
  fights in the Grown-Up Section, below, 
  but for now, just know that our Fight 
  rules are less about doing damage and 
  more about resolving a Challenge. 
  Fights are almost always Contests. They normally 
  use Strong or Fast (it’s not impossible for someone 
  to use Smart in a Fight, especially when using magic, 
  but it’s kind of uncommon; usually Fights are about 
  bodies, not minds). Characters in Fights can be either 
  attackers or defenders. 
  An attacker uses Strong if he or she is using a club, a 
  huge ax, or some other big unwieldy weapon, throwing 
  a big rock, or trying to bash or wrestle an opponent. 
  A defender uses Strong if she or he is trying to ignore 
  damage and shrug off the hurt, rather than avoid it. 
  An attacker uses Fast if he or she is making quick, 
  targeted strikes, throwing small objects, or using a 
  lightweight weapon like a dagger or a whip. A defender 
  uses Fast to dodge out of the way of an incoming attack. 
  At the start of the Fight, every character involved 
  decides how many Stars they’ll take in damage before 
  they’re out of the fight. This number is called Damage. 
  Each player writes down that number on a piece of 
  paper (the top of the character sheet works nicely). 
  During the Fight, if the attacker wins, the defender 
  marks off Damage equal to the Stars that the attacker 
  rolls (after subtracting any that the defender rolled). 
  Once the defender has taken a number of Stars equal 
  to Damage, the defender is Out. That means that 
  characters is knocked unconscious, scared away, 
  gives up, or whatever other reason the player decides 
  is appropriate. 
  Players can set Damage equal to the value of all of their 
  Stats + all of their Shines. So for a new character, the 
  maximum Stars that can be taken in a Fight is 12 (9 
  in Stats + 3 Shines). But setting the Damage this high 
  is risky, because if a character takes Damage greater 
  than the value of his or her highest Stat or Shine, that 
  character becomes Hurt. 
  
  14
  Hurt characters take a -1 die to all Challenges, and 
  they gain a new Weakness based on how they got hurt. 
  Characters can avoid being Hurt, though. If the player 
  sets Damage at 3 (lower than the highest Stat), then 
  the character will drop Out of a Fight after taking 3 
  Damage. Since that’s lower than the highest Stat for a 
  starting character, it’s not enough to become Hurt.
  A character can choose to drop Out of a fight at any 
  time, but once the dice are rolled the results apply. So 
  a player can’t roll the dice to defend, get no Stars and 
  then drop Out with no consequences. 
  Characters can defend against all incoming attacks, but 
  they can only make one attack per round. A round ends 
  when every character in the Fight has made one attack, 
  and any Damage has been figured out and applied. A 
  character with a Special Thing capable of attacking 
  on its own (like an Animal Companion) can make a 
  second attack or have the Special Thing add Stars to 
  the character’s attack. If the Special Thing makes its 
  own attack, though, the defender gets a roll to avoid it. 
  Example Fight
  Roland, Sela, Ruby and Blake have found each other in 
  the Goblin Wood and are looking for the runaway little 
  boy (who has been revealed to be Blake’s cousin). They 
  discovered that the boy has been stolen by goblins, and the 
  characters must find him quickly before the boy becomes a 
  goblin! As they push their way through a briar, they come 
  face to face with a hunched-over goblin in robes — a 
  Goblin Wizard. He waggles his fingers at the characters, 
  and warns them to begone. “The boy is ours now!”
  “Ha!” says Roland, charging forward, drawing his 
  sword. The GU asks if Roland is just trying to scare the 
  Goblin Wizard, or if he wants to Fight. Roland’s player 
  says that he wants to Fight, so the GU tells the players 
  to decide on their Damage.
  
  15
  Roland’s player sets his Damage at 6. That’s risky, since 
  Roland could be Hurt. Ruby’s player sets her Damage at 
  3, Blake’s player sets his damage at 4 and Sela’s player 
  sets her Damage at 1. The GU sets the Goblin Wizard’s 
  Damage at 5.
  In the first round, Roland attacks the Wizard. He rolls 
  Strong 4 + Sword-Fighting 1 (5 dice). The GU rolls 
  the Wizard’s Fast 4 + Distracting Magic 2 (6 dice). 
  Roland’s player rolls 3 Stars, the GU rolls 2. The 
  Wizard takes a Star of Damage. If he takes 4 more, he’s 
  Out. Roland slices at the Wizard with his sword and 
  the GU describes the tip of the blade cutting through 
  the Wizard’s robes. “Now, villain,” says Roland, “where 
  is the boy?”
  The Wizard snarls “chetz wubba!” (none of the 
  characters speak Goblin, but it sounds unpleasant) and 
  tosses a ball of fire at the party. Because the Wizard is 
  using a Special Thing (Goblin Magic), the GU tells 
  the group that he can attack them all at once. The GU 
  rolls the Wizard’s Fast 4, and adds three Stars from his 
  Goblin Magic. 
  The players defend. Roland decides to stand there and 
  take it, hoping his armor will save him (his player rolls 
  Strong 4). Blake, Sela and Ruby choose to jump out 
  of the way, rolling Fast. Everyone rolls their dice, and 
  compares results. The GU rolls only once, by the way, 
  and compares his result to the players’. 
  Sela takes one Star of Damage, and so she’s Out, since 
  that’s all she can take. Her player decides her wings are 
  singed and she falls to the ground, dazed. 
  Blake rolls well and takes no Stars. He dodges clear of 
  the fireball and rolls to safety. 
  Ruby takes two Stars of Damage, but she can take 
  one more before she’s Out. The fire scorches her shirt 
  a little, but she calls Blaze to her side and prepares 
  to attack. 
  Poor Roland’s player, though, rolled no Stars at all on 
  his defense roll. The fireball catches Roland full force, 
  knocking him down and burning off his armor! He 
  takes four Stars of Damage. He’s Out, and he’s Hurt. 
  He’ll take a -1 to all Challenges until something can 
  heal him, and he takes a new Weakness until the end 
  of the Adventure. The GU decides that his Weakness 
  is in Seeing; the fire scorched his face and his eyes 
  aren’t working well. 
  The Fight rages on, but now it’s just Blake and Ruby 
  against the Wizard. The Wizard only has two more 
  Stars left in his Goblin Magic, though, and both Blake 
  and Ruby are capable fighters. 
  
  16
  
  17
  Running the Game
  a Challenge with one group or character, then switch 
  to another one. If you reach a point with one group 
  or character that feels like it should a dramatic crash 
  of music (DUN-DUN-DUNNNN) or a commercial 
  break, that’s a good point to cut over to someone else. 
  Also, if you see a player start to nod off or look bored or 
  fidgety, switch to that player!
  • Choose Your Words Carefully. When you ask 
  what a player wants his or her character to do, think 
  about word choice and word order. If you say, “What 
  do you want to do?” that puts a great deal of burden 
  on the player. If you say, “Do you want your character 
  to climb up the rope or yell for help?” that helps the 
  player visualize what is happening and lets the player 
  know some of his or her options. Also note that kids 
  will often pick the last option presented, unless your 
  tone of voice indicates the first one. This may seem 
  manipulative, and it is, in a way, but it also helps you 
  guide the story in a way that isn’t obvious and obtrusive. 
  • Learn to Read Your Players. Some children can 
  sit at a table and play a roleplaying game hours. Some 
  teenagers (and some adults, for that matter) get the 
  fidgets after 20 minutes. Some folks need a book to 
  read or something to color or draw while the game is 
  going on, but can still pay attention (the Character 
  Book are designed for doodling and writing during the 
  game). Some can’t pay attention if there’s anything 
  remotely distracting going on. You’ll need to learn how 
  your players respond to the play space and how much 
  attention you need to give an individual player to keep 
  him or her in the game. One suggestion for a hard and 
  fast rule: No gizmos at the table. No phones, tablets, 
  computers or anything else with a screen. They suck 
  attention like a sponge.
  • Help the Players Grow as Roleplayers. One lesson 
  that many players have trouble with is that players 
  and characters don’t always know the same things. 
  A Knight’s player might know that the Pirate stole 
  his helmet, but the Knight doesn’t know that and 
  shouldn’t act as though he does. Again, this can be 
  a hard lesson to learn (especially for young kids), and 
  as the GU, you should help the players learn it. “How 
  does your character know that?” might get a response 
  of “Well, he doesn’t” (in which case, lesson learned) 
  or “Because I can hear it clanking in his backpack” 
  Running FirstFable means taking on the role of the 
  Grown-Up. The choice of title is deliberate, partially 
  because we wanted to avoid the term “Game Master” 
  (which sounds  a little power-trippy) and partially 
  because we wanted the reminder. If you’re running this 
  game, you’re the Grown-Up. That means you need to 
  make sure everyone’s having a good time, you need to 
  make sure that conflicts between players don’t escalate 
  to hurt feelings, and most importantly, you need to 
  remember that it’s not about you. Fortunately, if you’re 
  a parent, you’re probably well familiar with all of that. 
  Other roleplaying games and various online sources 
  have a lot of good advice about running games, and 
  if you’ve run games before (or even played a few), 
  you probably know most of the basics. As such, we’re 
  going to keep this section brief and to the point. Here 
  are the 10 Commandments of BeinG tHe 
  GRoWn-UP… 
  • Keep it moving. Kids spend a lot of their time sitting 
  at desks. Don’t remind them of school. Something 
  should be happening. If something’s not happening, 
  skip to the part where it does. “Walking through the 
  woods” isn’t interesting unless the players are making 
  it interesting (see next point). Feel free to say, “And so 
  you all walk for a while, until you come to…” whatever 
  the next interesting development in the Adventure is. 
  • Let the Characters talk. If the players are talking 
  in character, let them. Don’t bother them. Let it go on 
  as long as it needs to. If the characters start to Fight, 
  try and wrap it up without anything bad happening 
  (no one should be Hurt in a fight between player-
  characters), but if they’re interacting and having 
  fun, you don’t need to be involved unless you need 
  play an Animal Companion or something. If the 
  players are chatting out of character, though, steer 
  things back on track. Don’t let one joke or funny 
  story segue into another. 
  • Learn to Cross-Cut. The party always splits up. 
  That’s not a bad thing — splitting up is away to 
  cover more ground, to let different characters pursue 
  methods that they’re better at, and to make the game 
  more tense and fun. But you can’t ignore one group 
  for an hour while you run the other group through 
  Challenge after Challenge. Good rule of thumb: Finish 
  
  18
  (in which case, maybe do a Challenge to see if that’s 
  the case — reward creativity!). 
  • avoid Violence. Many roleplaying games are 
  extremely violent. The most popular game of all time 
  rewards characters for killing monsters and robbing 
  them of their treasure, but few roleplaying games are 
  completely devoid of violence. FirstFable doesn’t need 
  to be completely non-violent, but do have a look at 
  how Fight rules work. Each player can decide whether 
  to take a real risk in a Fight. Even if a character is Hurt, 
  it’s impossible for a character to die in a Fight. If you 
  really want to include the possibly of violent death, our 
  recommendation would be to say that only if a character 
  puts all possible Stars into Damage and then loses them 
  can the character die. But really, is that necessary? Or 
  can the players be satisfied with driving off the bad 
  guys, knocking them out, capturing them or otherwise 
  incapacitating them, rather than slaughtering them? 
  “Good guys don’t kill” is a perfectly viable lesson to 
  teach players of FirstFable. 
  • avoid stereotypes. Movies and TV frequently give 
  us stock characters. It’s very easy, unfortunately, to fall 
  into some tropes and stereotypes that are downright 
  offensive, and because many gamers are heterosexual, 
  white, and male, it’s easy for us to miss how offensive 
  those stereotypes are. Kids, likewise, probably don’t 
  have the life experience to realize when the GU is 
  playing a goblin thug with a “gangsta” dialect and 
  break down what exactly that means in terms of real-
  world race, but they will certainly take that experience 
  with them. Don’t go for the easy laugh. Don’t make 
  jokes at the expense of other ethnicities, races, or 
  orientations. Don’t make the frail, girly damsel the one 
  that characters have to save. Don’t take the easy way 
  out. Instead, think about your Adventures and how you 
  can build them to challenge these kinds of stereotypes, 
  to surprise the players when things don’t turn out the 
  way they might expect.
  • Just say Yes. The players will have great ideas 
  for how things should go. Sometimes they’ll have 
  
  19
  interesting theories as to the bad guy’s plans or 
  the secret behind the mystery, and sometimes 
  their theories will be more interesting than the 
  Adventure you (or we) put together. Use the 
  players’ ideas. If a player has a suggestion for what 
  should happen or what a failed roll means or who 
  should be hiding behind a locked door, use that 
  suggestion. If the other players at the table hear 
  the idea and say, “Oh, yeah, that’s awesome!” then 
  take the suggestion. Roleplaying games are shared 
  storytelling, and that means everyone should have 
  a voice.
  “Just Say Yes” comes from improv theatre where each 
  actor agrees with what other actors say to keep a 
  story flowing. Agreement rewards participation and 
  creativity. Remember these are kids getting their first 
  taste of roleplaying. You aren’t out to challenge them 
  with fiendish encounters and rack up a total party 
  kill. You don’t have to care if their characters get 
  overpowered when you say “yes” to their wonderful 
  ideas for new Shines or Special Things. Just say yes 
  and let everyone have a good time.
  • teach. Create Adventures about things you know. 
  Use interesting historical facts. Introduce species of 
  animals that are interesting to learn about. Include 
  puzzles that are within the players’ ability to solve. Mix 
  up 1 part water to 2 parts cornstarch, put the mixture 
  in a bowl, and tell the characters that they’ve come to 
  a pit (too big to jump across) filled with this stuff. It’s 
  harmless to touch, but if they stand still on it, they’ll 
  sink (which the players can mimic by pushing on the 
  stuff slowly). If they run across it (which the players 
  can discover by tapping the surface of the stuff), it 
  holds their weight. A few minutes searching online 
  will uncover all sorts of similar tricks that you can 
  put in a fantasy context and use in your FirstFable 
  games. Never pass up the chance to teach the players 
  something interesting.
  
  20
  
  21
  Adventure: The Hunt for the Wild Guffin
  carrying news that the Royal Zoological Gardens will 
  open next month as a birthday gift to the King, and 
  that the Royal Zoologist, Edwina Darton, would love 
  to have a Guffin for the exhibit. The conversation 
  turns to the Guffin, and one of the characters (ask for a 
  volunteer) says, “I heard that the Guffin…” 
  At this point, go around the table and have each player 
  supply one thing that their character has heard about 
  the Guffin. The only rules are that it can’t contradict 
  something that another character says (so if one character 
  says “I heard the Guffin eats only flowers,” the next 
  character can’t say “I heard the Guffin eats people!”). 
  The players don’t know it (though they might suspect), 
  but they are creating the Guffin for you! Write down 
  what they say about the Guffin, and maybe have 
  everyone contribute to a quick sketch of the beast. When 
  everyone has contributed, you’ve created the Guffin, the 
  beast that the characters will find on this Adventure. 
  In this Adventure, the players are hunting down a 
  fantastical beast, one that they’ve never seen, but have 
  heard stories about all their lives. Along the way, they 
  can discover Special Things, undertake Challenges 
  and generally be brave, heroic, and clever. 
  The mythical beast is called the Guffin. The Royal 
  Zoologist, Edwina Darton, wants nothing more than 
  to prove its existence and present a picture (or even 
  a living specimen!) to the King at the opening of the 
  Royal Zoological Gardens next month. But since no 
  one has ever actually seen the Guffin, no one is sure 
  how to catch one. That’s where the characters come in.
  Beginning
  The characters are together near the woods. It’s late in 
  the afternoon, and they’re sitting in a meadow, near a 
  stream, resting while their animals (if any) drink. As 
  the characters chat, a man on a donkey rides by. He’s 
  
  22
  The Quest Begins
  The characters can stay here by the stream as long as 
  they want, but when someone starts to wander off, he 
  or she sees tracks that could only have been made by 
  the Guffin! (Look at the sketch and figure out what 
  the tracks would look like.) Identifying and finding 
  these tracks is not a Challenge, but following them is 
  (Smart). The tracks lead off into the nearby woods. 
  The old man on the donkey is afraid of the woods, so 
  he won’t be going, but he encourages the characters to 
  go. “I’m sure that Dr. Darton would give you a reward, 
  even for a picture of the Guffin!” he says. 
  Challenges in the Woods
  The following four events can happen in any order as 
  the characters search for the Guffin. After each one, 
  one of the characters gets a Handout for a Special 
  Thing. That means you need to make sure that the same 
  character isn’t hogging the spotlight, so make sure that 
  you’re giving everyone a chance to take actions and 
  solve problems. You can put in other Challenges, too, 
  depending on what the characters do and how long you 
  want the Adventure to go on. 
  Beware the Wolf
  The characters are in the woods, following the tracks 
  and looking for the Guffin, when they hear a howl. Is 
  it the beast? The Guffin they’ve searched for? No! It’s 
  a very angry wolf!
  Wolf: Strong 4   Fast 3   Smart 1
  Shines: Knocking People Down 1   Mighty Snarl 1 
  Chasing Things 1
  
  23
  This isn’t a Fight scene, though. If the characters 
  try to make it one, set the wolf’s Damage at 2. The 
  wolf has a toothache, and it’s just angry and cranky. 
  The true Challenge here is to realize that the wolf is 
  hurting (Smart), and then to pull its tooth without 
  harming it (Strong). 
  If the characters manage this, the wolf becomes friendly 
  to the character that pulled the tooth or show it the 
  most compassion. It acts as a five-Star Special Thing, 
  and will do things like knock down enemies, chase 
  things for the characters, and even allow a lightweight 
  character (probably a Faerie Prince or Princess) to ride 
  on it. It will stay with the character when its Stars 
  run out, but it won’t leave the woods (so it doesn’t 
  stay with the character past this Adventure, though it 
  might rejoin the character on future Adventures in this 
  forest). If the characters lead the wolf to the Guffin’s 
  tracks, it can help them track the beast.
  Sneaky Thief
  As the characters are searching for the Guffin, they 
  might hear someone creeping up on them (Smart 
  Contest versus the Thief’s Fast). If the characters win, 
  they hear Renyard, the Thief and can ready themselves. 
  If they lose, the Renyard surprises them and gets to 
  attack first.
  Renyard: Strong 3   Fast 5   Smart 3
  Shines: Picking Pockets 1   Riddles 1 
   
  Using Rope 1
  Weakness: Math 1
  Special Thing: Magic Boots (see below)
  Renyard is slim, with red hair and a devious smile. He 
  plans to rob the characters and then use his boots to 
  escape. His boots allow him to jump incredibly high 
  and run like the wind, and so he will jump into treetops 
  to get away. He doesn’t want to Fight (if the characters 
  attack, set his Damage at 1), so the real Challenge here 
  is catching up to him.
  The secret, here, is that Renyard is actually a fox. He was 
  changed into a person for violating the Law of Foxes (if 
  the characters ask, Renyard tells them he has to keep these 
  laws secret — he’s learned his lesson!). If the characters 
  catch him and remove the boots, the spell is broken, and 
  Renyard turns into a fox again. He tells the characters 
  they can keep the boots. He doesn’t need them anymore, 
  and the curse on them (that prevented him from taking 
  them off) was broken with the spell. If the characters ask, 
  Renyard tells them which way the Guffin is.
  The Jumping Boots are a Special Thing. They only 
  have three Stars to devote to running fast or jumping 
  high, but the character that caught Renyard can keep 
  them, even past this Adventure. 
  Tricky Faeries
  The characters take a wrong turn and wander into a 
  faerie circle. Tiny pixies surround them, dancing and 
  glowing, and tell them that they won’t let them go until 
  they solve a riddle. If the characters try to take a step out 
  of the ring, it looks like the edge of the ring is miles away! 
  (If one of the characters is a Faerie Prince or Princess, 
  then that character can confirm that this kind of illusion 
  is typical of pixies, and it’s better just to play along.) 
  The riddle is this: Summertime, Wintertime, Springtime, 
  Autumn. What was at the top is now at the bottom. Oak 
  tree, maple tree, grass and clover. What do they do when 
  summer is over?
  The answer is: “Leave” or “leaves.” You can let the 
  players talk it out. They can guess as many times as they 
  want. The pixies just giggle when they guess wrong. If 
  they’d rather have hints, have the players roll Smart. 
  For every Star, let them ask a yes-or-no question. 
  When the characters guess the right answer, the pixies 
  twirl about in delight and give the character that 
  guessed the riddle the Circlet of Sight. This circlet is 
  a Special Thing that allows a character to see through 
  solid objects. The circlet stays with the character that 
  pulls it out, even after this Adventure ends. 
  
  24
  The pixies tell the character that this magic item will 
  let him or her see clearly and without obstruction, 
  and then they vanish in a puff of glittery smoke. If the 
  characters ask, they point the way toward the Guffin.
  Sword in the Stump
  As the characters wander in the woods, they come across 
  a sword jammed into a tree stump. The sword is shiny and 
  new, not rusted at all, but it is wedged tightly into the 
  stump. Pulling it out is a Strong Challenge. The character 
  must gain five Stars to do it, but they don’t all have to be 
  on the same roll. The real Challenge is not giving up. 
  If the characters free the sword from the stump, it 
  glows with a magical light, and points the way toward 
  the Guffin. The sword is a three-Star Special Thing. 
  In addition to be sharp enough to cut through almost 
  anything, it can produce light for a few seconds. The 
  sword stays with the character that pulls it out, even 
  after this Adventure ends.
  Finding the Guffin
  When the characters have completed the Challenges 
  in the woods, they find the Guffin. The poor thing is 
  trapped under a fallen tree, and it can’t move. How 
  it behaves depends largely on what the characters 
  decided about it, but it is probably afraid. The Guffin 
  might be able to talk, and if it can, the characters can 
  reason with it and offer to help. Play this part out as a 
  conversation, and hopefully the characters will offer to 
  free the Guffin even if they aren’t sure that it will come 
  with them. If they ask nicely, though, the Guffin will 
  agree to visit the Royal Zoo and meet the King. 
  Getting the tree off of the Guffin should involve all of 
  the characters. It could also involve the Special Things 
  they’ve gained over the Adventure. The boots allow a 
  character to leap up to the top of the trees and see how 
  best to move the tree. The sword could cut away the 
  branches. The wolf can help lift the trunk or dig a trench 
  to free the Guffin. A character can use the circlet to see 
  through the trunk and figure out where to cut it or lift it. 
  In any case, when the Guffin is free, it behaves as appropriate 
  based on what the characters do. They might try to capture 
  it by force, in which case it doesn’t Fight (it’s too weak), but 
  it cries sadly as they tie it up. They might try to lure it back 
  to the zoo with its favorite food, in which case it happily 
  goes with them. An Animal Keeper might try to talk to it, 
  and again, it goes with the characters if they’re polite. 
  The Zoo
  The characters are present at the opening of the Royal 
  Zoological Gardens. They get to meet Dr. Edwina Darton, 
  who thanks them over and over again for bringing a 
  Guffin. If the Guffin is sad to be there, the King hangs 
  his head, not wanting to imprison the magnificent beast, 
  and orders it released into the woods. The characters 
  are given money as a reward, but that doesn’t become a 
  Special Thing. The message here is that they did well, 
  but it would have been better if they can worked harder 
  to make the Guffin come with them willingly.
  If the Guffin agreed to be here or is otherwise pleased, 
  the King is delighted with the Guffin, and thanks 
  the characters. He tells the characters that they are 
  welcome in his Gardens whenever they want to visit. 
  Each character gains a one-Star Special Thing: Friend 
  of the King. Hopefully this is the start of many exciting 
  Adventures for the characters!
  
  25
  What Next?
  1. Spread the word. Use your social media to let others 
  know about FirstFable.
  2. Help us improve the Guide Book and Character 
  Books. Did we have a typo? Was something unclear? 
  Were there words in the Character Books your kids 
  didn’t understand? What do your kids want to see in 
  the Character Books that is missing?
  3. Create a new Character Book. Did your daughter 
  want to play a vampire? Did your son want to play 
  a wizard? All of the templates are downloadable at 
  www.DriveThruRPG.com and/or www.firstfable.com. 
  Create a new Character Book with your kids and then 
  publish it on DriveThruRPG. Talk about a confidence 
  booster to have your first roleplaying book published 
  at a young age! More Character Books give new 
  FirstFable players more options to choose so you’re 
  giving back to the community while teaching kids 
  about creating and publishing.
  4. Create a new adventure. What comes after the hunt 
  for the Guffin? What other stories did you tell with your 
  kids? Write one up, publish it for free on DriveThruRPG 
  and share it with the FirstFable community.
  You may have noticed by now that FirstFable is 
  designed to be super simple. With only three core stats 
  and purposefully ambiguous rules about what can be a 
  Shine or how many Stars a Special Thing should have, 
  FirstFable is meant to be easy to learn for the GU and 
  the kids.
  That simplicity may mean that after your kids enjoy 
  playing several adventures in FirstFable, they will be 
  ready to move on to a larger roleplaying game system. 
  You’ll know best when they are ready to move on and 
  what introductory game to graduate them up to next. 
  We made FirstFable because we felt the roleplaying 
  hobby was missing something for a starter experience 
  for younger kids.
  Give Back
  FirstFable is meant to be owned by the roleplaying 
  game community. We’re releasing it for free under 
  Creative Commons. Our hope is that you might also 
  take a little time to give back to the game however 
  much or little you and your kids feel inspired to help. 
  There’s more information at www.firstfable.com, and 
  here’s a few suggestions:
  
  26
  Handout
  Wolf
  Stars: 
  The Wolf can: 
  • Knock down enemies
  • Dig
  • Chase things
  • Track by scent
  Once its Stars run out, it will stay with the character, 
  but it won’t leave the woods. If your character goes 
  on another Adventure in these woods, though, the 
  Grown-Up might have the Wolf show up to help out!
  Jumping Boots
  Stars: 
  Use the Jumping Boots to:
  • Jump high up into treetops
  • Run fast
  You can add the Jumping Boots to your character sheet 
  — they stay with your character, even after you’ve used 
  their Stars in this Adventure!
  
  27
  Handout
  Circlet of Sight
  Stars: 
  Use the Circlet of Sight to:
  • See in the dark
  • See through solid objects
  You can add the Circlet of Sight to your character sheet 
  — they stay with your character, even after you’ve used 
  their Stars in this Adventure!
  Sword in the Stump
  Stars: 
  Use the Sword to:
  • Cut through anything
  • Produce a magical light
  You can add the Sword to your character sheet — they 
  stay with your character, even after you’ve used their 
  Stars in this Adventure!
  
  28
   
   
     Ruby 
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
  Animal Keeper
   
  3 
   
   
   
   
  2 
   
   
   
   
  4
  Scampering 1
  Taking Care of Hurt Animals 1
  Throw Things 1
  Camping
  Animal Companion-Blaze                   Scary Roar
  Character Sheet
  Character’s Name:  
   
   
  Player’s Name:  
    
  Character Type: 
  Stats:
  Strong:   
   
   
   
  Fast:   
   
   
   
  Smart: 
  Shines:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  Weaknesses:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
   
  Special Things:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  Damage:
   
   
     
  __________________________ 
   
  
  29
  
  30
   
   
     Blake 
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
  Pirate
   
  3 
   
   
   
   
  3 
   
   
   
   
  3
  Sneaky 1
  Fighting With a Dagger 1
  Acrobat 1
  Cooking
  Magical Treasure-Eye of the Sea              Can see long distance or future
  Character Sheet
  Character’s Name:  
   
   
  Player’s Name:  
    
  Character Type: 
  Stats:
  Strong:   
   
   
   
  Fast:   
   
   
   
  Smart: 
  Shines:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  Weaknesses:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
   
  Special Things:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  Damage:
   
   
     
  __________________________ 
   
  
  31
  
  32
   
   
     Sela 
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
  Faerie Princess
   
  2 
   
   
   
   
  4 
   
   
   
   
  3
  Singing 1
  Squeezing Through Small Openings 1
  Knows Everyone in the Faerie Courts 1
  Talking with Birds
  Special Weapon-Faerie Magic             Moving things without touching
  Character Sheet
  Character’s Name:  
   
   
  Player’s Name:  
    
  Character Type: 
  Stats:
  Strong:   
   
   
   
  Fast:   
   
   
   
  Smart: 
  Shines:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  Weaknesses:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
   
  Special Things:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  Damage:
   
   
     
  __________________________ 
   
  
  33
  
  34
  Character Sheet
  Character’s Name:  
   
   
  Player’s Name:  
    
  Character Type: 
  Stats:
  Strong:   
   
   
   
  Fast:   
   
   
   
  Smart: 
  Shines:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  Weaknesses:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
   
  Special Things:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  Damage:
   
   
     
  __________________________ 
   
   
   
     Roland 
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
  Knight
   
  4 
   
   
   
   
  3 
   
   
   
   
  2
  Mighty Arms 1
  Sword-Fighting 1
  Painting 1
  Riding a Horse
  Special Weapon-Magic Sword             Points toward what you want
  
  35
  
  36
  Character Sheet
  Character’s Name:  
   
   
  Player’s Name:  
    
  Character Type: 
  Stats:
  Strong:   
   
   
   
  Fast:   
   
   
   
  Smart: 
  Shines:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  Weaknesses:
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
  ____________________________________________    ____________________________________________
   
  Special Things:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  ________________________________   Effect: _____________________________  Stars:
  Damage:
   
   
     
  __________________________ 
   
  
  37
  Notes
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  38
  When did you realize that roleplaying games 
  were an amazing, magical pastime? Who was your 
  ﬁ rst character - a ﬁ reball slinging wizard, a brave 
  knight, a superhero, or an Old West gunslinger? 
  However you found yourself in the hobby, one 
  thing is true: It’s fun, it’s unforgettable, and it’s 
  best when shared.
  FirstFable is a simple, elegant game designed to 
  help adult gamers introduce young players to the 
  joys of roleplaying. Appropriate for players as 
  young as 6 years old, FirstFable was designed by 
  professionals in both game design and education, 
  and is available, free of charge, to anyone who 
  wishes to use it.
  Grab some dice and some pencils, and start craft-
  ing your own FirstFable!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Kid Friendly/7. RPGs/Ages 6-8 (Attention Span of 1-2 hours, Can count over 20, Understands basic addition & subtraction, Beginning readers)/First Fable/FirstFable.pdf