TALES OF THE LITTLE ADVENTURERS

AUTHOR
Richard Woolcock

SYSTEM
In recent months, the once-peaceful town of Summerford and its surrounding farms have had to Tricube Tales <
deal with fierce monsters, greedy bandits, and other unsavory intruders. There is more work than
STORY SYMBOLS
the local adventurers can manage, so it falls to the next generation of heroes to pick up the slack. Delapouite, Lorc,
Many feel these whippersnappers aren’t yet ready for the life of an adventurer, but they’re brave and Caro Asercion
resourceful, and they have been trained well by their parents. Besides, there is nobody else—the guards Game-icons.net <

have other problems to deal with, chasing rumors of an evil villain hiding somewhere in town, and the ILLUSTRATIONS
rest of the townsfolk are far too timid to visit dragons or talk to ogres. Colorful Characters
© 2020 by Mikoarc
You are young adventurers, trained by your parents in the skills of the trade, yet still children in the Studio is licensed
eyes of most. But your town needs you, and you are determined to make your parents proud! under CC BY 4.0.

C HARACTER CREATION RESOLVING C HALLENGES ADVENTURE OBJECTIVES

Each player creates a character as follows: If a player attempts something risky, they roll 1-3 Roll on the following tables to generate the latest
1. Choose a trait: Agile (used for reflexes, dexterity, six-sided dice and must equal or beat a difficulty adventure (see the next page for examples):
stealth, and ranged combat), brawny (covers strength, of 4-6 on at least one die. Succeed on multiple dice The young adventurers decide to...
vitality, athletics, and melee combat), or crafty (covers for an exceptional success (narrate an additional A Protect the town D Recover something
smarts, charm, alertness, and mental/social combat). benefit). Rolling “1” on all dice is a critical failure B Rescue a creature E Find someone
2. Select a concept: Warrior, rogue, mage, cleric, (introduce a complication to the scene). C Defeat a fearsome foe F Hunt for treasure
ranger, bard, or druid. The GM picks a trait and assigns a difficulty of From somewhere in or near...
3. Pick a perk: Perceptive, bold, quick, dextrous, 4-6 for each challenge (most should be difficulty A A wizard’s tower D A farm outside town
friendly, arcane item (describe it), or magic (select 5). Combat challenges use effort tokens—remove B A temple or guildhall E A workshop or smithy
either “divine,” “nature,” or “arcane energy”). 1 effort token for each die that succeeds. C An old watchtower F The nearby forest
4. Select a quirk: Compassionate, heroic, curious, Players usually roll 2 dice, but roll 3 dice if the While dealing with...
impulsive, prankster, chivalrous, or headstrong. challenge matches their trait. If a challenge falls A A spreading fire D An injured creature
5. Grab 3 karma tokens and 3 resolve tokens. completely outside the scope of their concept (e.g., B Thieves or bandits E A local troublemaker
6. Make up a name, and introduce yourself to the a mage tracking an animal), they lose 1 die. C A potential threat F A dangerous monster
group (e.g., “I’m Sarah, a crafty mage who uses fire
magic and is often rather impulsive”).
KARMA AND RESOLVE RUNNING THE GAME
Each player has 3 karma and 3 resolve. Spend 1 The GM should describe the opening scene, react
karma after rolling to reduce the difficulty by 1, if to the players’ decisions, and assign the traits and
you can justify how your perk helps you. Recover difficulties for challenges. Offer players karma in
1 karma if you increase the difficulty by 1 before return for complications based on their quirks!
rolling, narrating how your quirk hinders you. For combat encounters, assign the challenge 2-
If you use a quirk and succeed at the challenge, 3 effort tokens per player. The enemy is defeated
you may recover 1 resolve instead of 1 karma. when all their effort tokens have been removed.
For dangerous actions (such as combat), failure The players should make all the rolls, narrate
costs 1 resolve (or 2 on a critical failure). If a PC the outcome of their actions, and drive the story
runs out of resolve, they are eliminated from the forward whenever possible. They can also spend
scene—but death is primarily a narrative conceit, 1 karma to influence the story or discover a clue
and the PC usually returns later at full resolve. through their perk, at the GM’s discretion.
 OBJECTIVES LOCATIONS COMPLICATIONS
Described here are examples of objectives for the Described here are examples of locations for the Described here are example complications for the
adventure generator (first table): adventure generator (second table): adventure generator (third table):

1. REVENGE OF THE PLANTS 1. WIZZO THE WEIRD 1. DRAGON FIRE

A dryad becomes furious after woodcutters chop A strange old wizard lives in a tower at the edge A hungry dragon flies over a farm and sets a barn
down a tree near her sacred grove. She animates of town. Wizzo is upbeat and friendly but rather on fire while attempting to steal a cow. The kids
some plants and sends them into town to destroy forgetful—his spells sometimes escape through a must tackle the flames before they spread.
a building as retribution. Can the kids stop her? window or up the chimney, causing mischief!
2. GOBLIN GANG
2. BACK HOME TO MOTHER 2. ADVENTURER’S GUILD A gang of goblins lurks near the edge of town. It’s
A dragon hatchling wanders into town and gets The Adventurer’s Guild owns a large building in unusual for the little fellows to travel so far from
stuck in a building. The kids better take him back town. But there’s nobody there at the moment, as their caves. They’re not usually a threat, but they
to his mother before she starts looking for him! all the adventurers are away on quests. often steal trash and occasionally livestock.

3. BATTLE ARMOR 3. STONEGATE TOWER 3. THORNY CUSTOMER

A wizard’s spell goes awry and ends up animating This old watchtower stands on the northern wall, A tall ogre limps into town. The townsfolk flee in
several suits of armor. The young heroes need to a reminder of the many threats the town faced in fear, but the kids soon realize he’s just looking for
defeat them before anyone gets hurt. the past. The door is always locked, but the kids help—the ogre has a thorn stuck in his toe!
know where the key is kept hidden.
4. ENCHANTED BLADE 4. B ROKEN WING
One of the local adventurers has lost her magical 4. FREDRICK’S APPLE FARM The kids come across an injured hippogriff while
sword! Can the kids find and return it? The kids used to come here for a little scrumping on their adventure. The poor creature has broken
when they were younger—the farmer would turn a wing and needs the help of a healer.
5. LOST C HILD a blind eye as he enjoyed watching their antics!
A worried unicorn seeks out the kids, begging for 5. TINY TROUBLE
their help—her foal has gotten lost! Where could 5. DRASARD’S ALCHEMY SHOP A wizard’s familiar sneaks into town, and it starts
the curious youngster have gone? Could someone This alchemist is a nasty man who is always up to playing mean pranks on the populace.
have kidnapped the poor thing? no good. Worse still, he hates children!
6. PETRIFYING PERIL
6. THE BANDIT KING’S TREASURE 6. GREENLEAF FOREST The kids discover a few realistic-looking statues.
A bard passes through town and tells the kids the The kids sometimes play at the edge of the forest. Could it be the dreaded cockatrice? They will need
tale of the wayward Bandit King, who supposedly There’s a water-powered sawmill and several big a mirror (or perhaps a rooster) to defeat it and a
hid his vast fortune somewhere in town. storage sheds used by the local woodcutters. magical potion to restore its victims.

ADDING A TWIST TO THE STORY

For further inspiration, roll two dice on the table below and use the symbol as an improvisational prompt (you don’t need to interpret it literally). For example,
A D might indicate warmth, light, illumination, a beacon, or a literal candle, while rolling E B could symbolize a sheep or other livestock, a shepherd, a farm,
or woolen clothing, and F C might represent a knight or soldier, a helmet, a concealed face, or a suit of armor.
AA AB AC AD AE AF BA BB BC BD BE BF CA CB CC CD CE CF DA DB DC DD DE DF EA EB EC ED EE EF FA FB FC FD FE FF