Psi-Kids: A Dark Coming of Age Science Fiction RPG

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FULLY FUNDED IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES!

(No additional levels will be unlocked during the late pledges.)

Psi-kids is a tabletop role-playing game. It is a coming-of-age story set far in the future on the multi-generational ship, Elysium. Elysium and its half-million passengers have searched for a new home world for over 300 years.

You and your friends play a group of kids living in "The Below," Elysium's lowest, grittiest, toughest levels. Life for "corridor kids" like you is hard enough. Living on your own. Scrounging to survive. But suddenly, a few kids begin developing strange abilities! Some kids can move things with their minds, some can read and send thoughts, and others can do more amazing things.

Hey, maybe for once, you are going to get a break! A little "leg up" from the Universe. Yeah, that's not going to happen. Because now, kids are disappearing. And kids with these new Psionic Abilities are snatched up first by The Dark Ones. (They wear dark uniforms, cloaks, and helmets, and that's what you get when you let a nine-year-old name the enemy.)

Can you survive? Can you control your new abilities? Can you escape the Dark Ones? Can you uncover Elysium's secrets?

Psi-Kids is inspired by movies like Firestarter, Carrie, Push, Stranger Things, and Scanners, and books like Escape to Witch Mountain, Maximum Ride, and The Psionic Pentalogy.

When kids are left to fend for themselves, they must overcome incredible obstacles just to survive. But that's only the beginning. They also have to worry about mysterious organizations that want to study and even abuse their newfound abilities. However, you and your friends are resourceful, determined, and have a bit of an edge with your new Psionic Abilities. So you're not going down without a fight.

Psi-Kids uses Lester Smith's bestselling Bookmark HP RPG rules (a pdf copy of the core rules is included at every level.) Bookmark HP RPG is explicitly designed for fast-paced, role-playing heavy, action RPGs. Like everything in this campaign, the system fits on a playing card.

Characters can be created in just a matter of minutes! While the system is simple to learn, its mechanics are amazingly flexible yet easy to use. All you need, in addition to a copy of Lester's main rules (did I mention that a PDF copy is included with all levels?!), the Psi-Kids RPG Core Deck, some gaming dice, and a few friends (but check out the videos for solo options.)

While the rules for Psionics have been updated since these videos, you can get a feel for what it's like playing with the Bookmark HP RPG, Mythic GME, and Game Master's Apprentice.

• Everything you need to play is included at all levels
• Play solo using an oracle like Mythic GME or Game Master's Apprentice
• Play with your group - this is a full tabletop role-playing game presented in a compact playing card format!

I am so excited to be able to share my tabletop role-playing game set in my Psi-Kids universe! Since I'd been using so many card-based tools in my games, even replacing dice, I wanted to make a portable RPG that included everything I needed to play solo or with my friends, nearly anywhere.

It had to be compact. Since I was already using so many playing card tools, creating the game on playing cards made sense, too. Creating Psi-Kids and the Playing Card Adventure Log (PCAL) worked great with other card-based oracles and tools like Mythic's "Game Master Emulator" (GME) decks and Nathan Rockwell's "Game Masters Apprentice" (GMA) cards, as well as Lester's BHPRPG.

After experimenting with this system solo, during cons, and when running games with my friends, I learned that cards fulfilled all the requirements I had in mind. They are customizable and modular. You may quickly generate an adventure for your solo game or a game to play with friends by using a mix of random cards. As new Booster Decks are released (such as the ones that can be unlocked during this campaign), you'll be able to expand your games with additional resources.

The hidden gem of this project though is the PCAL system which allows you to record everything from PCs/NPCs, Foes, locations, events, game summaries, lists, maps, and more in a convenient and compact way. But, of course, this is also the size of a deck of playing cards.

You may not know me, but I have a few past RPG projects under my belt. While this is my first crowdfunding project, more on this in a minute, it's not my first time creating an RPG setting from scratch. Of course, like many of you that end up here, I'm a lifelong game that's written many games for my friends and me over the years.

But here are a few projects I've worked on.

• Dr. Cushing's Chamber of Horrors - RPG Adaptation of Stephen Sullivan's novel by the same name.
• 4 complete boxed games (rules, adventures, maps, etc.) Also based on Bookmark HP RPG. These four games were produced over four months as a personal challenge to see if I could.
• I've written three non-fiction books on IT and cybersecurity.
• I've ghostwritten a cybersecurity book.
• I've published two settings for Lester Smith's D6xD6 game. Noir Vigilantes - The Justice Chamber! and Tales from the Terror Tomb which will be featured in Lester's 2nd edition release of the game.

I love to game with my friends and solo! I love these kids and the setting and I hope you enjoy playing in their world as much as I have writing it.

If I had a Psionic ability it would be Telekinesis. Which I would use mostly to close cupboard doors.

First, when I decided (at my friends' prodding) to crowdsource my game, I knew I needed to make my first project one that was accomplishable. Something that I knew I could deliver. For me, this originally ruled out a physical product because I had seen so many horror stories about shipping and printing issues, mainly due to the pandemic.

However, by being able to offer you the Print On Demand at near cost*and allowing you to fulfill your order, I can still create these great digital and physical versions of my game for you without incurring the anxiety that would keep me from even doing this in the first place. Plus, I have a great mentor in Lester Smith, who has successfully launched multiple crowdfunding in the past, and my other friends in the gaming industry.

The real challenge is going to be printing the PCAL product. This may actually have to come from a specialty printer. Standard playing cards have a coating on them, making it challenging to write on character notes, character sheets, etc. Of course, for the Core Setting and Booster decks, this won't matter, but the hidden gem in this project is the Playing Card Adventure Log system. And, for this, it's ideal to have cards that are easier to write on, like paper stock.However, I am already working on sourcing the cards through a specialty card publisher. The PCAL, however, will always be available as a print-n-play product. PDF.

The Psi-Kids core deck is in layout and editing right now! As we unlock Levels and more of Derek's artwork, the project will be updated and released to backers in PDF format! Since funding the artwork is my main goal with this project, once that is done and the text is edited, it will just need to get prepped for the printers. However, the Psi-Kids RPG Core Deck is about halfway completed and ready to print and play at home!

The PCAL is also in layout mode, and I consider 95% done. It just needs some tweaking and proofing. The challenge (discussed elsewhere) will be whether or not we can get it printed in decks with the appropriate paper.

Prototype cards

It's funny how life works sometimes. Derek is a local artist. We met at a Farmer's Market where Derek showed off his artwork. Of course, I stopped to have a look, drawn (pun intended) to some of his Eberron work, shown below. I mentioned it's a small world in that Derek and my wife know each other from a previous job. Derek and I started emailing about his project, and I think his vision and mine mesh well together. The best part is that Derek is local to me. This will make collaborating during this project all that much easier, especially for my first crowdfunding project!

I've always wanted to be an artist, and I pursued that dream by attending The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design for my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. After college, I got a job as a lead artist at an apparel screen printing company and spent 10 years creating designs printed on t-shirts and other apparel. Then, in 2015, I decided to attend The Kubert School in Dover, NJ, where I learned new skills in cartooning and comic book illustration.

Since graduating from the school in 2018, I've illustrated characters for a podcast called Rather Peculiar Gals and my 24-page book called Devil in the Detail. I also collaborated with Noble Hero Press to illustrate their superhero d20 sourcebook game called Beyond Mere Mortals. I enjoy what I do, plain and simple, I am my own boss so this is the career that I have chosen.

I would enjoy having the Psionic Ability of Telekinesis to aid me in moving objects in my everyday life. An extremely helpful skill to add to my repertoire of creative absurdities.

Gowri Re-envisioned:

I asked Dreck to start with some rough sketches of Gowri to see if we were on the same page. We are!

Eberron Samples

Here are some samples of the style that Derek will be using to re-envision the characters.

Lester Smith is a veteran designer and editor of role-playing, board, and card games. He has worked for major game companies such as GDW, FASA, West End Games, Flying Buffalo, TSR, and SFR Inc.

Lester and I became acquainted at Gary Con several years back and have kept in contact ever since. My love of Lester's work started with the game "Dark Conspiracy." I'm honored to have him as my mentor for this project and his Bookmark No HP RPG rules.

Bookmark HP RPG is a distillation of 37 years of professional game design and 5 Origins awards. Its mechanics are precise, and it's easy to understand and use. The system is underpinned with a tight little "One Role to Rule Them All™" dice system, with meticulous odds on a 1-10 scale. This system captures success or failure, degree, and character growth without HP or XP. Hence the ridiculous name.

I believe you'll find it's like no rules-lite system you've ever seen before. Welcome to the world of Bookmark HP RPG adventuring!

A copy of the Bookmark Core Rules will be made available via PDF to every backer level. Every supporter will have a complete role-playing game that fits in the palm of your hand (the size of a deck of cards.)

As a special treat, if we reach my funding goal of The Below: Escaped the Dark Ones or higher, backers will be the first to view and receive a copy of Lester's take on supernatural abilities. As we discussed our approaches to supernatural powers, I lean more towards sci-fi & horror, and the system presented in Psi-Kids emulates the feeling I wanted for the game. Of course, there's enough flexibility to adapt the rules to any Bookmark HP RPG game! Lester's Paranormal Wordbookmark is a unique take on powers based on his D13 RPG game. You can use it in your games or add these powers to your Psi-Kids adventures!