Game for kids

[Taran]

I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this question but...this is kind of where I hang out, so:

In a few months I'll be on a trip that involves two straight 12 hour drives.

I figure the best way to keep two 9 year old boys busy in a car would be an rpg.

I tried D&D 3.5 with my son (which he loved) and while I kind of like the crunchiness of D&D with all its math (which will appease the other non-gamer parent we'll be driving with) I find that younger gamers have so much imagination that I find D20 games a bit too structured.

"you want to knock him off the ledge with Create Water...uh...that spell doesn't really do that...it just creates water."

So, does anyone have suggestions or recommendations for a game/adventure(s)/system?  Fate accelerated looked pretty straight forward as far as teaching a system.

I'm looking for something easy to teach, easy to organize and run in a car and easy-to-whip-up character creation.  (although, I'm tossing around the idea for pre-gen characters).  I'm also hoping to have lots of problem solving quests and less combat/killing.

Looking at the kickstarter that sanctaphrax posted, I noticed a game called Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Dragon.  It looked cool but seemed more like a story game than an actual rpg - but I might be wrong.  Does anyone have experience with that one?

[Sanctaphrax]

Haven't actually played Do, but I've got the PDF and it's an RPG. Runs on Fate Accelerated. Looks pretty kid-friendly.

[Haru]

It's not my Fault.
http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/162084/Its-Not-My-Fault

It's got everything you need in a deck of cards which serve as character creator and sheets in one. No need to write anything down.

It's based on Fate Accelerated Edition, and the characters you create are for a sort of sword and fantasy / swashbuckling world.

The way it goes is this: Each player gets 3 character cards, 2 of which they choose, the third they get dealt randomly. The character cards include professions like wizard, merchant, warrior, pirate and so on. Each character card contains the profession, a more colorful aspect to describe that profession, +1 to 3 of the approaches and a stunt. The approaches from all 3 cards add up, which more or less adds up to the default FAE skill list (3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0) or sometimes a broader list (2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1).

When I played, I got the diplomat, the merchant and the strategist, which fit quite nicely together. Another player was a sorcerer, barbarian, soldier. It was a bit weird, but he made it work. I should say that, since we were playing over Google Hangout, we decided to just let the DM draw all 3 character cards randomly for us.

Next up, you draw 3 cards to set the scene. First up, it's "Where are you?", then there's "How did you get here?" and lastly "How does it get worse?".
The last step is the fun bit. Each player now has to go "It's not my fault we're in this mess, it's [next player character]'s fault, because..." to set up the situation even more, so you have something to play on.
And then it's off to play. The rules are straight up FAE, which in themselves are very kid-friendly.

We got "miles below the earth", "hungover from last night, everything is a blur" and "the wizard living in his tower without any plausible reason". It got very strange. I tried to reason and talk my way through as the diplomat, but my two companions had rather fight heavy professions and would start a fight rather soon. I ended up knocking out the wizard in the end with my bare fist, after the other two had no luck with sword or magic.

The game comes with cheat sheet cards explaining the FAE basics, so you probably won't need the rules. If you've got them, it won't hurt to take them with you, though. If anything, you can use it's not my fault to start out and maybe switch to FAE standard later for a free game of whatever you like. Though I have to say, the replay value of it's not my fault is quite high, and it's great for both a short game or even a longer campaign. Our last game already had the next game implicit in it, given the way the fight ended (one of us was captured by dark elves).

TL;DR: It's not my fault.
http://walkingmind.evilhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/IMG_3370.jpg

[Taran]

It's Not My Fault looks like it's up my alley.  Thanks.

Haven't actually played Do, but I've got the PDF and it's an RPG. Runs on Fate Accelerated. Looks pretty kid-friendly.

From the samples online, it looks like you draw stones and make a story.  I couldn't find the actual rpg.  Could you add a link?  I want to make sure I'm buying the right product.

[Sanctaphrax]

The version of Do in the Kickstarter is new. It's based off of Fate Accelerated.

There's a previous version that I don't know anything about, which is probably the one you're looking at.

I got my copy of the new Do by backing Fate Core way back when that was running. I think you can get one now by backing Fate More at the $10 level. Dunno if there's any other way to get it.

[Haru]

If your youngsters have fun with superheroes, you might find Venture City to be worth an investment as well. It's based on Fate Core, not FAE, but that doesn't really make it any more complicated. Character creation is a bit more complicated, but if you start without looking at the list of powers and just come up with an idea and then use the list to model it, you should be fine. It's also got quite a few sample characters to choose from.