Street Kids campaign - modern day

[SionEwig]

I've been thinking on this concept for a campaign for a couple weeks now and have worked out some of what I want and thought I'd throw it out to the folks here to see if anyone had any ideas that might help (or more probably things I'd missed). I'll probably be doing this as a PbP game on one of the PbP specific sites (I have a hard time getting my local group to play Gurps at all).

The basic idea is that the characters all all kids living on the street. The setting is Chicago in the Dresdenverse. The game would start somewhere between just prior to the start of Summer Knight to just prior to the start of Dead Beat. For specific date I'm going with Between April 2012 to April 2015 (even though the series is around a decade earlier than this). The characters will all be humans, between 7 and 15 years old. No changelings, half anything, etc. Magery will be possible, but completely untrained and probably no spells known yet. The characters should be generally without any practical knowledge of the paranormal world.

The characters will have to work to provide themselves with all necessities (resource management here) to survival. General adventures and problems will include other street people (adult and kids), street gangs, the criminal elements, the cops, social services, human predators, and of course some of the more ability appropriate supernatural beings.

Point levels for the characters at the start will go from -50 for 7 year-olds to +20 points for 15 year-olds. Points for reduced stats due to age will not count against the Disadvantage total of -30 (that includes Quirks). I plan on using only the material from the basic book with the exception of the Dabbler Perk (which is very appropriate for kids).

In addition to the negative points for reduced stats due to age, I have also come up with a package that I consider very appropriate for the campaign. Some are required, some are optional, but if they take any of them, these will also not count against the total.

(-5) Social Stigma - Minor (required)
(-5 or -10) Status - either Poor or Street Person (required)
(-25) Wealth - Dead Broke (required)
(-5 to -15) Pacifism - Reluctant Killer or greater
(-5 or -1) Sense of Duty - the group or Humble
(-10) Enemy - Social Services/hunter/6 or less

Status needs a special note. In Chicago (and probably many other cities), there are a number of things that are easier to do with valid IDs, like discounts on public transport, admission to various city facilities, and things like that. If Poor, then they will still have some valid form of ID, at least for a while even if the address is not correct. While if Street Person, then they will not have anything that will be accepted. Also, to my way of thinking (for the purposes of this game), someone who classes as a Street Person has a certain level of appearance. They are generally grimy as are their clothing, which is probably also in bad repair and quite worn. Someone who is Poor is at least generally clean, and while their clothing may be worn and not the latest fashion, it will be much cleaner. If the characters will be able to keep grooming standards up, but they will have to devote time and some money to do so.

There are other disadvantages that I will allow, but some are going to require a good reason/story to be accepted.

There are quite a few Advantages that could be of a lot of use (Mundane only for the most part) but with the exception of Resistant, none really stand out. However, I will allow (and suggest) that one or two characters may spend 1 point only for cash ($2000) and use that bankroll to at least somewhat outfit themselves and probably have a bit of savings.

Skills of special note that I spotted are - Area Knowledge (Local), Brawling, Climbing, Current Affairs (Local), Fast Talk*, Filch, First Aid*, Hiking, Panhandling*, Pickpocket, Running, Scrounging*, Slight of Hand, Stealth, Streetwise*, Throwing, Urban Survival*, and Wrestling. Those marked with an (*) are ones I consider especially important. I will be using the no more than twice your age in starting skill points (basically 14 to 30). As I mentioned above, I will be allowing the use of the Dabbler Perk.

Well, what am I forgetting or overlooking?

[dcarson]

Earthstone has/had a campaign with streetkids in a fantasy world. http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=144303

One thing he did was make a list of skills by age for stuff that a young enough kid just wouldn't have training in period.

You should read that thread, lots of good stuff. I like his combat options that kids can use without a will roll vs ones that need a roll.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

Skills of special note that I spotted are ...

Panhandling? It may not be good for pride, but it's safer than crime. Acting can also be useful.

[Donny Brook]

Why would someone play a 7 year old when they could play a 15 year old?

[The Colonel]

This (link to the ArcanaWiki, which goes on to a Miami newspaper) may be of interest, discussing street kids and their relationship to the Supernatural. It's presented as an example of mythopoesis ... but could easily be genuine.

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by dcarson

Earthstone has/had a campaign with streetkids in a fantasy world. http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=144303

One thing he did was make a list of skills by age for stuff that a young enough kid just wouldn't have training in period.

You should read that thread, lots of good stuff. I like his combat options that kids can use without a will roll vs ones that need a roll.

Thanks for that one. I had remembered Earthstone's campaign, but had not hunted it down yet to borrow ideas. Some of the material mentioned there will be of lesser use since I'm only using the Basic set, but some is great and very useful. I'm adding Heraldry (Gang Signs) and Savoir-Faire (Street Gangs) to the Skills of Note list.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Panhandling? It may not be good for pride, but it's safer than crime. Acting can also be useful.

Corrected that. Panhandling is actually on the Skills of Note list and marked as especially important, I just skipped right over it when I typed up the post. Thanks for the catch.

Originally Posted by The Colonel

This (link to the ArcanaWiki, which goes on to a Miami newspaper) may be of interest, discussing street kids and their relationship to the Supernatural. It's presented as an example of mythopoesis ... but could easily be genuine.

Ohhhh, I remember reading that article years ago, but had completely forgotten about it. Change it from Chicago to Miami and I can use it pretty much as is. Thanks very much for that one, it will be very useful and it gave me a whole new area to research that I wouldn't have thought about.

Great stuff folks, any more ideas or thoughts?

[Michele]

Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5] seems likely for street kids who have always lived there.

OTOH, an Advantage might be a possibility: Zeroed [10].

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by Michele

Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5] seems likely for street kids who have always lived there.

OTOH, an Advantage might be a possibility: Zeroed [10].

Thanks, I hadn't thought of either of those. Good ideas, especially Zeroed.

[SionEwig]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Why would someone play a 7 year old when they could play a 15 year old?

A couple of reasons come to mind pretty quickly.

First, some players don't worry about the difference in points when they've got a particular character concept in mind.

Second, by playing a younger character you can get a lot of points to use in other areas. Let's say that both the 7yo and 15yo will have average stats when they are adults. Going by the guidelines on p.20 (Basic Set - Characters) the 15yo would then have ST 10, IQ 10, DX 10, and HT 10. No points spent but none gained. The 7yo would have reduced stats due to age - 68% ST, 78% IQ and DX, and a -1 on HT, which would give you ST 7 (-20cp), IQ 8 (-40cp), DX 8 (-40cp), and HT 9 (-10cp) for a total of (-120cp). That's 120 points to spend. Even setting aside 50 points so you end up at -50cps, that still leaves you 70 points to use on upping Secondary Characteristics and buying advantages. Both would still have another possible 60 points from the Disadvantage package plus 30 more possible points from other Disadvantages. I don't know about you, but I can do a heck of a lot with 70 points to spend on Advantages.

One example that comes to mind is taking Talent (Smooth Operator) +4 (60 points) and Voice (10 points) and you would have the foundation of one heck of a frontman/conman.

Another example would be to take Magery 5 (55 points), use (14 points) for skills, and (1 point) spent on money ($2000). Looks like the start of a possibly powerful mage type.

Basically, I think that with some thought, you could come up with a capable 7yo, just capable in different areas.

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by SionEwig

A couple of reasons come to mind pretty quickly.

First, some players don't worry about the difference in points when they've got a particular character concept in mind.

Second, by playing a younger character you can get a lot of points to use in other areas. Let's say that both the 7yo and 15yo will have average stats when they are adults. Going by the guidelines on p.20 (Basic Set - Characters) the 15yo would then have ST 10, IQ 10, DX 10, and HT 10. No points spent but none gained. The 7yo would have reduced stats due to age - 68% ST, 78% IQ and DX, and a -1 on HT, which would give you ST 7 (-20cp), IQ 8 (-40cp), DX 8 (-40cp), and HT 9 (-10cp) for a total of (-120cp). That's 120 points to spend. Even setting aside 50 points so you end up at -50cps, that still leaves you 70 points to use on upping Secondary Characteristics and buying advantages. Both would still have another possible 60 points from the Disadvantage package plus 30 more possible points from other Disadvantages. I don't know about you, but I can do a heck of a lot with 70 points to spend on Advantages.

One example that comes to mind is taking Talent (Smooth Operator) +4 (60 points) and Voice (10 points) and you would have the foundation of one heck of a frontman/conman.

Another example would be to take Magery 5 (55 points), use (14 points) for skills, and (1 point) spent on money ($2000). Looks like the start of a possibly powerful mage type.

Basically, I think that with some thought, you could come up with a capable 7yo, just capable in different areas.

Interesting reply. Thanks. I agree you can come up with capable characters --even monstrous with enough disads selected, at either age limit.