Little Fears – Monster Masque

Once again, disturbing things are afoot in Mt. Pleasant, and it’s up to Tommy and Regina, with their new friends Dawn and Alisa, to set them right.

Kids are getting hurt, in very strange ways. A bully’s bike breaks while he’s riding down a steep hill. A girl has gone missing. And whatever is doing this is just getting started.

This session was written by Nate for the Little Fears scenario contest, and can be found (for free!) on the Little Fears Facebook page. Check it out, but don’t spoil yourself!

Side Chatter

PLAYERS

  • Sean – Dawn Stansbury. 9 years old.  Way into gardening and very nice all-around.
  • Sam – Thomas Clarke, Jr.  12 years old.  The very curious son of a famed photojournalist and best friend (and maybe more?) of Regina Kai.
  • Matt – Alisa Tineo.  9 years old.  Your “best friend.”  She’ll always show up to your house uninvited but with cool stuff to show you.  Way into action shows from Japan, such as the Sentai Rangers.

15 Comments

  1. Spoilers + Thoughts during AP:

    Seeing the AP: Fuck Yea Little Fears!
    Looking at the Players: Hell Yea Sean’s back!

    I like having Sean back his unique form of silliness was missed. Is he going to start showing up in more APs?

    Oh God the tie-ins!

    No Sean don’t go!

    Dawww, Sam’s character was being sweet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. (George is a huge dick, Niklas is a hardass)

    I cheated by reading the synopsis before this recording, but holy shit was that intense. It was a crazy hostage situation.
    It went from fighting (worse ending) to talking down the monster (best ending) in a matter is seconds and I am completly fine with it. In fact it was a better ending than if it had devolved into violence.

    Reactions after listioning:
    1) Why do I enjoy listening to grown people play little kids struggling to survive horrible situations so much?
    2) I cannot wait to play Little Fears again.
    3) Are there anymore Little Fears APs on the way.

    1. We actually are playing a Little Fears campaign at this point. It’s about eleven sessions long thus far. Those will certainly be posted sometime.

    2. Thanks, dude! After I got a promotion at work, I kinda disappeared off the surface of the Earth. Things are a bit less hectic now, so I can’t wait to play in more stuff with this wacky pack. I had been up since 5 AM the day of this session (my work hours are super early), and all of these bastards are night owls and don’t start games until my bedtime, around 9. MY GOD, I’VE BECOME AN OLD MAN. Also, get off my lawn.

  2. In both games you’ve posted, Tommy has been surrounded by ladies. He is a born player. It must be the camera. He and Reggie are just so d’awww.

    And speaking of romantic relationships in games, I think I noticed some sort of extremely subtle pattern. Here, let me just make a quick list of characters and we’ll see if anyone else sees it:

    Emma and George
    Emma and Scott
    Etsu and Nele
    Talia and Max
    Daniel and Everett
    Regina and Tommy
    “Owen” and Leon
    Rene and Niklas
    APOX and AMERICA
    Agnes and Yuso

    I think that’s all of them for what you’ve posted so far. Now, like I said, I noticed an extremely subtle pattern to these things. I will now make that list, only replacing the character names with the players’ names and see what happens.

    Nate and Sam
    Nate and Matt
    Nate and Charlie
    Nate and Sean
    Nate and Mandaz
    Nate and Sam
    Nate and Matt
    Nate and Sam
    Nate and AMERICA
    Nate and Charlie

    1. This is officially my favorite comment.

      1. Its true Nate is the relationship maker and breaker. His characters always end up like this. Its almost like he plans these things out.
        I also like how I’m the clear winner for the person Nate has the most relationships with.

      2. I aim to please.

        And I also forgot Kageko and Eldridge, although I don’t know if that counts. If it does:

        Nate and Zach.

        1. Kageko and Eldridge were the only two that were pre-planned, and didn’t just happen in play. That being said, they are the creepiest couple.

  3. wary after my early impressions of Little Fears as apparently a fairly good chance to kill off some children…

    sample the first 2 minutes of chatter, and that alone makes me buy into it. that and my favorite players in the party. will listen through it at work tomorrow

    1. Yeah, the first Little Fears APs we have posted are of the original edition (published in 2001), which is a wonderful book, but is also incredibly hopeless. There are situations presented where your only real options are “die” or “die slowly.” I equate it a lot to Call of Cthulhu, only with children, as you’ll be hard pressed to go through two or three scenarios without at least one party wipe.

      That being said, Little Fears Nightmare Edition (published in 2009) is a complete reimagining of the original core book and universe. While death is still distinctly possible, the universe itself is much, much more hopeful, and it is as possible, if not more, to ascertain joy for your PC, regardless of how much badness is going on around them.

      I enjoy both editions equally, but I definitely acknowledge that they have two separate places in the world. LFOE is a game that lends itself best to playing children in CoC situations, while LFNE lends itself best to childish horror–ie, “the floor is lava? OH GOD THE FLOOR IS LAVA, GET ON THE COUCH,” and other such children’s games that can be spun in a way that could be frightening.

      1. That’s interesting about the changes in the Nightmare Edition. I knew the update did away with some of the darker elements from the original editions but didn’t know if the “lighter and kinder” approach in your latest Little Fears APs where personal choice or tied to those changes.

        Last time I played Little Fears it must have been the original edition because in all honesty my PC should have been killed, but the GM was nice and I rolled extremely lucky and got away from one of the Bads (A Slenderman Expy took my athletic 14 year old middle schoolkid from fine to 1 point away from cold in 1 attack. He then proceeded hold my character by his lower jaw for about 2-3 hours just for shits and giggles.)

        Like mentioned the feel of that game was CoC kiddie editions. While the atmosphere, so far, in the Nightmare Editions Aps is still dark and creepy but survivable; almost like the old adage “every cloud has a silver lining” just these clouds happen to be storm front.

        1. Author

          Like mentioned the feel of that game was CoC kiddie editions. While the atmosphere, so far, in the Nightmare Editions Aps is still dark and creepy but survivable; almost like the old adage “every cloud has a silver lining” just these clouds happen to be storm front.

          Well, for the most part, the way monsters are written and the way combat plays out, it’s got all of the themes of childhood. Horrible scary monsters that can be hurt by toys or things you believe in. Additionally, while one kid is usually not strong enough to take on a Scary Monster (except in one game I ran where the players rolled fucking hot), a team of kids is typically enough to take down even the Big Bads. You can’t do things alone, but you can through the power of friendship.

  4. Finally catching up!!!
    I’m not posted much on other things but soon!
    Soon I’ll finish this and move on.

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