Character Creation Guidelines

v1.3

WHAT IS MIRARI?

A campaign of "Let's Pretend": the story of a group of kids who stumble upon mysterious adventures in a land that's either just around the corner ... or a very long way off indeed. We aren't telling!

INDEX

• Updates
• Background
• Warming Up
• Ainigton
• Character Background
• Buying Character Abilities and Skills
• Everykid
• Kids and Young Adults
• Abilities
• Skills
• Status
• Equipment
• Disadvantages
• Gaining Experience
• Dying
• Sample Characters
• The Kid's Code
• Notes

UPDATES

changed June 7, 2001: added Slingshots to list of skills.

changed June 6, 2001: shrunk Sherman's Tower to six stories; amended descriptions of some Ainigton locations.

changed June 5, 2001: added bandaids, first-aid kit, purse to equipment list. Revised description to emphasize there is one combined elementary/middle school and one separate high school. Added map, description of locations in Ainigton. Clarified strength's relationship to size.

changed June 4, 2001: added bicycle helmet, cap guns, water guns, rubber-dart guns, fishing pole, tent, rope, string, duct tape, Erector sets, model trains, wagons, jewelry, heavy-duty jackets, baseball cards, sport equipment, Silly Putty, marbles, teddybears, large toys to equipment list.

changed June 3, 2001: added 'warming up' section, added section about character death and taking hits, added 'sports' skill. Converted to HTML.

changed June 2, 2001: changed 'bicycling' skill to 'stunt riding' skill, to be specialized for either bikes or skateboards. Added equipment list, which is to be used to buy gear, instead of using points.

BACKGROUND

All characters are children in the range 10-14-- old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway, as Rowan says. They live with family or guardians in the suburban town of Ainigton, somewhere in the United States. No homeless, lovable (or not) street urchins, please!

Ainigton is a typical rural town, not too big, not too small. There's one sort-of skyscraper in town where many grown-ups work, a colonial-style town hall, a brooding old Gothic library, a Main Street with a bunch of stores including an antique toy store, Kia's Restoration, a shady square near the school (which serves elementary and middle school grades) where tiny marble angels cast shadows across the grass-overgrown cobblestones, and a separate high school with its own campus of buildings. Most homes are around the outskirts of the town.

It's surrounded by grasslands and fields green and blue with cornflowers in vivid health. The weather fares to the hot and sunny, this being summer, with storms that brew out of nowhere with ferocious suddenity, drenching the land and shattering trees with lightning, then disappearing as quickly as they came into friendly white clouds. Nearby Lake Pollux (no one knows where Castor is) provides the traditional watering hole, surrounded by grassy beaches and rocks ideal for jumping from. Such might have been the town of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn.

This is the era pre-computer. Home electronics will not figure into the story; some homes may have TVs or radios but the characters of this story will not be spending appreciable amounts of time glued to these instruments, and newspapers will be the primary source of news (should our precocious prodigies be reading them regularly instead of just the funny pages). In the interest of minimizing GM research and fixing the time and setting of the campaign, there is no movie theater in such a small town. Kids get around on foot or on bicycles or on skateboards and scooters.

Ainigton is not big enough to have a ghetto or slum area of the sort that concentrates poverty into lawless delinquency. That's not to say there are no poor people in Ainigton, but rather, we choose not to focus on gang violence.

So what do our kids do instead of playing Nintendo or whining about being bored all summer? Well, we'll just have to find out...

WARMING UP

The following is the prologue from 'The Secret Country', by Pamela Dean. (an excellent book, but there is no need to read it to prepare for this campaign, since it in no wise reflects what you will find in Mirari)

Edward Fairchild, Prince of the Enchanted Forest, Lord of the Desert's Edge, Friend to the Unicorns, and King of the Secret Country, wished he were somewhere else. Pretending his foot was asleep, he slid closer to the door.

"My lord," said Randolph, his chief counselor. "I beg you--"

"I do more than beg!" said Fence the Wizard. "Edward, keep thy place."

Edward looked at him. "I will not hear these things," he said.

"Thou wilt if I say thou wilt."

"I am king here."

"And I am above kings. I am not thy servant."

"Hey!" said a page.

"Be still!" said Fence. The page scowled.

"Very well, then," said Randolph. "As I was saying. Could vintners or merchants distill this poison? Could butlers, cooks, pages," the page looked up, pleased, "know its secret? Thou," he said to Fence, "taught me the use of my wits. Now where are thine?"

Fence stood up, and as the folds of his robe fell into place, he seemed suddenly to dwarf the room. "If mine are addled," he said. "I must needs make do with thine. Make thine work for me." He fixed Randolph with piercing blue eyes, and the counselor looked suddenly blank.

"I know the truth," whispered the page.

"Silence, varlet!" said Edward, and was pleased to see the page's eyes widen.

"I know the truth," said Randolph. "I do not need my wits to discover it. And knowing it already, how can I tell thee in what way thou shouldst work thy wits to discover it thyself?"

"Tell me this truth, then," said Fence.

The page tugged at the King's sleeve and whispered, "Your crown's slipping." Edward pushed the crown farther back on his sweaty head. Was it so hot in the room?

"No, indeed I shall not," said Randolph. "I would not betray thy teaching such. How many times, knowing the truth thyself, hast thou made me dig it out for myself? Can I do less for thee?"

"Do you know," said Fence to Randolph, "why I did thus?"

"I do," said Randolph. "It was that I might believe the truth when I saw it. For truth hath shapes strange and terrible."

"And this truth," said Fence, "a most terrible one."

"Say it," said Randolph.

"Randolph," said Fence. "You have betrayed all I ever taught you; you have betrayed your liege lord and your solemn word; you have done this besides with the lowest and cruelest of all weapons, a weapon of cowards. You poisoned King William."

"I have said I will not listen to this!" shouted Edward.

"Well done," said Randolph to Fence.

"What?" said Edward.

"Will you set a trial, my lord," said Randolph, "to--"

"A trial is a coward's weapon also," said Edward, loosening his sword in its sheath.

"My lord, have a mind for your cloak," said the page. Edward unfastened it, and the page took it from his shoulder and folded it.

Randolph took off his own and dropped it onto the floor. He and Fence looked at each other. "You can do no good here," said Randolph.

The wizard nodded and turned to go.

"What about his ring?" demanded the page.

"Be quiet!" said Edward.

"But he forgot--"

In the distance, a bell rang.

"Hell!" said Randolph. "That's lunch."

"You forgot to take his ring of sorcery and kick him out of the guild of wizards!" said the page fiercely.

"Ellen," said Randolph, "no matter what anybody forgets, you shut up. You're only a page and we can hang you for mouthing off, okay?"

"You try it!" said Ellen. She pulled off her velvet cap and shook out her cloud of black hair. In the hat she had looked very like a page. Without it, thought Edward, she looked like someone who would grow up to be a witch.

"I'd love to," said Fence, struggling out of his robe. "But we'd be late for lunch."

"This is it, then, isn't it?" said Edward. "The plane leaves at two-thirty." He pulled at his crown, which came damply apart in his hands.

"And you still didn't get it right," said Ellen. "You ought to let Ted do Fence, Patrick, and you be Prince Edward."

"I am Prince Edward, and I want to be him in this part," said Ted. "Especially in this part."

"Oh, all right."

"So, this is it," said Patrick, cramming Fence's robe under his arm.

"And you still didn't get it right," said Ellen. "And neither did Ruth. Randolph is supposed to be resigned, Ruthie, and you just sounded bored. And Ted, Edward is much more shocked than that; you just sounded like someone'd put a frog in your bed, not like--"

"Ellie, stop that, please," said Ruth, picking up Randolph's cloak again. Being fifteen to Ellen's twelve, and having the same wild hair and green eyes, she looked like a witch already, no matter how inspired a Randolph she could do. "When you're grown up and directing plays," she told Ellen, like a sorcerer lecturing her apprentice, "you can fuss at people like that. Until then, cut it out."

The bell rang again.

"Next summer," said Patrick, "we should--"

Laura stuck her head into the doorway of the barn. Ted looked at his sister in despair. Her braids were coming undone. SHe would never look like a witch.

"Will you guys come on?" she said. She looked at what Patrick had under his arm and added, "Your mother just started wondering what happened to that sheet."

"Took her long enough," said Ellen.

"Next summer," said Patrick to Laura, "you can be a page. She talks too much."

"Hey!" said Ellen.

"Well," said Laura. "It might be better than being a dead king. Lying there waiting for the worms to come."

"Laurie, for goodness's sake, you don't have to wait for the worms to come," said Ruth. "Dead people don't, you know."

"How do you know?" demanded Ellen. "You ever been dead?"

"Embalming's barbaric," said Ruth. "The Secret Country is more civilized than that."

"Civilized!" said Patrick. "They don't even have machines!"

"I don't want to be embalmed," said Laura hastily. "I'd rather wait for the worms."

"I don't think you'd be a good page," said Ellen. "I like to be impudent, so I make a good page, but you only like to be a mouse, which is better for a dead king, really."

"On the other hand," said Patrick, "it'd be good for her to be impudent once in a while. Next summer--"

Laura seemed to feel that she was on ELlen's side and that she did not want to hear any more about this. She asked Ellen, "How'd it go?"

"They messed it up," said Ellen. "They forgot that we decided that Fence is Edward's servant, and they forgot to take Randolph's ring away, and--"

"Next summer," said Ruth.

"Let's eat," said Laura.

"Shut up, brat," said Ted, throwing the remains of Edward's crown at her.

"I'm hungry!"

"Me too," said Ellen.

"Next summer," said Ruth, giving in and turning for the door, "we'll do it right."

"Make Believe" is the foundation of the hidden land, the country of the imagination. You should prepare for your character a fictitious role you might take in some imaginary court, and be ready to play the role, as well as to play your own character when the needs of the 'real world' call. You may choose to discuss your character's role with other players if you wish, or to introduce your character's role as a 'new character' entering the world of make believe.

AINIGTON

This is a map of the vicinity of Ainigton. The town streets are laid out in a mostly rectangular grid fashion, and a road winds up to Lake Pollux to the northwest. The town continues to the right, mostly residential streets.

From upper left:

• Cadmus's Teeth The town lies to the east of a relatively modest mountain range in which lies an abandoned silver mine. Miner's Road ends here, at a distance sufficiently far to warrant a car or horse for the trip. Children have been forbidden to go near this mine.
• Cler River This river runs from a spring up in Cadmus's Teeth. Several waterfalls and white water rapids mark its descent to where it enters Lake Pollux, and then it runs calmly on its way out.
• Lake Pollux This lake is fed by the Cler River. Trout is abundant, though they flee to the bottom of the lake during especially hot days. Rowboats can be rented from the boathouse near the river running out.
• The Rookery The larger island sports enough trees that a kid could be invisible in their midst. It is called the Rookery because during some times of the year, a large number of crows will be found roosting in their branches.
• Crow Isle This smaller island sports a few trees, but is generally exposed to view. So named as a younger cousin to the Rookery.
• One-Eye's Hill It's popularly supposed that a hermit with one eye lived here in the old days of the town, and some say that he was a shaman or "witchy", but for the most part, this is a grassy, tree-lined hill that blocks the view of Cadmus's Teeth from most of the town. A cave system commonly supposed to be "secret" is to be found in the side that faces toward US Highway 15.
• Eve's Ford This is a covered bridge on Miner's Road that crosses the Cler River. So named for the daughter of one of the town founders.
• Danzwyck Stables Many of the horse-crazed young women of the town have come out to work at Danzwyck Stables for some time. The richer types come by Danzwyck to ride about the countryside.
• Jim's Fishing and Sport Shop A small shop run by a war veteran with a perpetual five o' clock shadow to his face. Kids either like or hate him, but he is a kindly enough soul, if unyielding. His secret bait mix excels at fetching trout.
• Ainigton Elementary This school serves both elementary and middle school grades. It is a large old three-story stone building, built in a Gothic style with angels gracing its roof. It is possible to walk on its roof, but the doors leading there are locked by its janitor. A small playground sits behind it, and next to it are a basketball court and a fenced-in field which serves as baseball diamond and soccer field.
• Siege des Anges Greenery and a thin line of trees surrounds a marble square which is, in the afternoon hours, shadowed by the angels on the roof of Ainigton Elementary. There are a few benches here and there, and a bronze statue in the middle, of an angel posed as if drawing or sheathing a sword. Popular myth says his sword will be fully drawn when the "Final Battle" comes.
• Jon's Junkyard Run by a big man who remains taciturnly silent most of the time, this junkyard might seem to be the ideal kid's playground, but aside from that most parents have strictly forbidden their kids to play there, and the junkyard is guarded at night by Jon's dogs. Avoiding them may be considered half the fun by daredevil kids.
• Town Hall This two-winged building is built in the old "Colonial" style, and boasts a modest clock tower in its center. It was once large enough to accomodate the entire town in its hall, but with the expansion of the town and the decrease of interest in local politics, the north and east wings have been turned into offices.
• Government Circle Main Street opens into this roundabout, which circles a brightly sunlit grassy circle. A fountain in the middle is your typical bronze boy holding a fish which gurgles out an endless stream of water; there are no benches here but it is not uncommon to see people sitting on the edge of the fountain or on the grass to eat their lunch.
• Kia's Restoration A thrift and repair shop which often stocks mended toys as well as less thrilling but no less useful (to grown-ups) machines and equipment. The owner sometimes goes out to people's places to fix electrical and plumbing problems when they can't get a trained person to come down from the City. The owner isn't named Kia, and is in her thirties, but the shop has been in her family for quite a few generations. Jon from the junkyard occasionally visits with some things saved out that he feels she might be able to repair, or spare parts she's been needing.
• Foxworthy's Sweets Run by a tall, thin fellow from England and his wife, this shop serves ice cream sodas as well as candies of various types. Sodas are a nickel, candies are a quarter.
• Church of Jesus Christ, Redeemer This is a relatively modern church, much more comfortable than the old one by the graveyard, and the preacher is a modern sort as well, addressing issues of the current days. It doesn't possess a graveyard of its own, but it does have ample parking.
• Sherman Tower This is the single skyscraper in the city, reaching some six stories. It's filled with offices of various sorts, grown-ups doing various jobs behind desks, that sort of thing. There is a parking garage under the building, and the ground floor has a donut shop, and a cafe which serves breakfast and lunch.
• First Bank of Ainigton This bank has been serving Ainigton for as long as the town has been around, and there are scales and weights and ore-assaying tools on display in the lobby from the days when it was serving miners. Kids with a lot of money may have experienced the joys of opening a saving account here.
• Ainigton Library This library is bigger than one would expect for a town like Ainigton, and decorated in an especially Gothic fashion, down to gargoyle waterspouts at the corners and lions at the front steps. There are a great many old books, though one must be a grown-up to check books out from the "restricted archive", but newer books are a bit thinner, and the library frequently holds bake sales to raise the money to afford the latest penny dreadfuls.
• Church of God's Word This is the old church that served Ainigton in its old days, and is built rather like a miniature cathedral, in a cross shape with quarters for the priest and church's stores in the arms, and the altar at the head. It has a functioning steam pipe organ and real stained glass windows. A sprawling graveyard at the back has gravestones dating back all the way to the oldest days of the town. While (poorly attended) services are still held here by an aging priest, this church sees more use for christenings, weddings, and funerals.
• Ainigton High School Built around the turn of the century, this is a collection of small classroom-sized buildings styled in a Victorian fashion, since whitewashed into an approximation of a generic school style. This school boasts the town's only full-sized baseball stadium, which can be lit for night games. Kids tend to regard Ainigton High with a mix of terror and wonder, since the people who go to the high school seem so much more "grown-up" than they. Is there some kind of mysterious transformation that turns kids into grown-ups that is worked at this school?

Where do your characters live? There is a fairly suburban district starting at Tiger Run and going east from there; most kids will live here. Some apartments may be found in town, and small houses, especially in the area surrounding the elementary. Rich people may live out in the country, along Wolf Run or Lion Avenue.

It's about an hour's walk from one side of town to the other, fifteen minutes by bicycle, more or less.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

You should fill out the following information about your character:

Name (full legal name)

Nickname (not necessarily the one others choose to call you)

Age (10-12 for "kid", 13-14 for "young adult")

Hair color

Eye color(s)

Height (somewhere between 4' and 5'6")

Appearance/Clothes

Residence (where do you live, in what kind of house?)

Family status: (choose from) Living with father and mother Living with father or mother (please identify fate of other person) Optional: step-mother or step-father Adopted or living with guardian(s) (please identify fate of original parents) For each parent or guardian figure with whom the character is living, please fill out: Name Day job (if any) Notable hobbies (if any) Brief physical description (please keep within 80 characters) Traits and personality

Royal Position: If your character were a member of a royal court in medieval times, who would he or she be? the Good King/Queen the Evil Usurper the High Prince(ss) the Middle Prince(ss) the Youngest Prince(ss) the Magician/Mad Genius the Chancellor the Ambassador (to or from a foreign land) the King/Queen's Spymaster the White Knight the Black Knight the Faithful Duke the Faithless Duke the Courtier/Official the Bureaucrat the Minstrel the Jester the Scholar or Alchemist the Bishop the Page/Lady in Waiting the Healer/Doctor the King/Queen's Guard (other, please describe)

Heraldic Beast: If your character had a coat of arms, what heraldic beast would it feature? Ape Badger Bat Bear Boar Bull Cat-a-mountain Chimera Coyote Cow Dog (type) Dragon Elephant Fish (type) Fox Goat Griffin Hare Hedgehog Hind Horse Hydra Kraken Leopard Lion Lynx Manticore Otter Pegasus Ram Sea-horse Sheep Snake Sphinx Squirrel Stag Tiger Tortoise Unicorn Wolf (other)

Primary Color: What is your character's favorite color?

Secondary Color: What is his or her next favorite color?

Growing Up: Does your character know what he or she wants to do when he or she grows up? What? (unrealistic goals are acceptable) If your character doesn't have any idea, do you, the character's player, have any idea?

Make a Wish: A genie appears before your character and grants one wish. (It must be for a material object or collection of material objects, not for "peace on Earth" or "a million wishes".) What does your character wish for?

Role Model: What historical or legendary character would your character most want to meet, and why?

Fear: What does your character fear? (Aside from the usual things like death and grievous injury, are there special things your character is averse to that normal people wouldn't avoid?)

Security: Are there things that make your character feel safe or good? What are they?

Miscellaneous: Any other information you wish to detail about your character is certainly welcome, but be advised that the GMs may not remember minutae well while running a plot for one or more characters at a time.

BUYING CHARACTER ABILITIES AND SKILLS

You may allocate five (5) points to skills and abilities. You may gain up to three (3) additional points from disadvantages. This campaign will retain the "hero points" introduced in the Mutant Chronicles campaign: you may use up to five (5) hero points per session, each hero point allowing you to reroll one attempt to do something, and ten (10) hero points may be converted into one (1) experience point, to be allocated like your starting points.

The list of skills and abilities is somewhat abbreviated from Sinai, since all players are human children. The original Sinai Players' Guide can be found here.

Skills are either "trivial" or "minor". Your level of skill influences your chances to succeed at some particular task.

Cost	Trivial Skill Level	Minor Skill Level
0.5	novice(0)	-
1	average(1)	novice(0)
2	good(2)	average(1)
3	expert(3)	good(2)
5	adept(4)	expert(3)
8	-	adept(4)

When attempting to perform some task, if you are under pressure (for instance, there is a time limit or people are fighting behind you) you may be asked to roll 1d20. Otherwise your skill level and the task's difficulty will be compared and if it is agreed by the GM that you could normally succeed, you will be able to perform the task.

EVERYKID

Every character is assumed to possess the following:

• The ability to speak, read, and write English (we'll be generous and assume many kids may also read and write above their grade level, depending on how interested they are in reading)
• "novice" swimming (0.5 pt.), unless offset by a -0.5 pt. disadvantage "can't swim"
• can ride a bike or use a skateboard if you have one, or learn to use one with some familiarization and practice, unless offset by a -0.5 pt. disadvantage "falls off bikes and skateboards".
• A library card (optional, but the one-time fee is pretty minimal)
• Clothes, a house, food provided by his or her guardians
• A working imagination and a sense of humor (may not be sold back for more points)

KIDS AND YOUNG ADULTS

These two types of children are distinguished primarily by appearance and physical abilities. Kids have not yet reached a point where their voice is changing; young adults have passed this point. (You may choose to play a character whose voice is in the process of changing, which is a -0 disadvantage.)

Kids are always obviously childlike in appearance and size. Young adults may, if exceptionally large for their size, sometimes pass as grown-ups, which may be an advantage in certain situations, or may be a disadvantage in other situations (such as shinnying through especially small holes and passages).

There is no mental difference between kids and young adults, and school grades and subjects will not be applied within the context of this campaign.

A kid weighs around 50 lbs. A young adult might weigh anywhere between 70 and 100 lbs.

ABILITIES

SKILLS

STATUS

Relationship with Parents/Guardians
Cost	Description	Starting Equipment	Allowance/Week
-1	parents are restrictive	$20	$0.50
	Restrictive parents may be a good excuse to not be available every session, but it will also show up in-game in the sense that prize possessions may be taken away as punishment, the character may be required to sneak out past the notice of parents (and obvious ways will quickly become barred) or other kids may even have to collaborate on ways to sneak the restricted character out ... if they feel like helping.
0	normal parents	$50	$1.00
1	more permissive parents	$100	$2.00
	Your parents are more likely to let you be out late, borrow things, forgive transgressions, and in general, be an independent kid. This is not to say you can get away with murder -- that is against the law.
2	generous or rich parents	$200	$5.00
	Your parents indulge your whims far more than the average kid might enjoy; you are probably an only child. This does not necessitate that your character be a spoiled brat; perhaps you find these gifts embarrassing and prefer to share with your friends, but in any case, you are one of the "haves".
+1	parents have status
	Parents with status may seem like a somewhat immaterial advantage, but picture, for instance, a sheriff's kid with a toy deputy's badge enjoys a certain amount of authority with other kids and is more likely to be regarded as an arbiter in the case of some "kid's crime".

EQUIPMENT

+ pets are not hirelings or familiars. They may be reasonably obedient but are more present as character atmospherics, i.e. you have a pet who likes you better than other people. Dogs are generally better trainable than cats.

* = an item which is generally not authorized by grown-ups for "casual play". It's certainly possible to possess them but if you flash them around, someone might decide they should be taken away for your own good.

Other items such as those found in the back of comic books may be negotiated for. In general, Ainigton prices are 1/4th that of real world prices, i.e. a candy bar might cost $0.25, a meal for a kid might cost $1. Things like pencils and paper, cardboard boxes, or food are typically free; power tools and pipes and lumber are not the sort of things that kids get for themselves, but rather, things that are likely to be borrowed from one's parents (with or without asking).

If the character is confined to a wheelchair or crutches, or needs glasses to correct near-sightedness, these are free (purchased by one's parents).

Large structures like treehouses, backyard doghouses converted into play-houses (no doubt while the dog looks on dubiously), cardboard boxes painstakingly glued together to form a fortress of solitude, etc. are considered to be "shared resources" rather than owned by any one character. Players should agree on what settings they will use beyond those specified on the map.

You may, during the course of the campaign, elect to attempt to build objects out of such "free" materials as cardboard, plastic containers, tape, rope (aside from that normally carried about by your player), or from the resources available in construction kits, etc. Your chance at success will depend on your skills (and those of anyone you enlist to help you) and the amount of time being invested.

DISADVANTAGES

GAINING EXPERIENCE

Generally, you may accumulate between 1 to 3 hero points per session in which your character participates, more for exceptional play. This is calculated according to GM whim. Thus it might take four sessions to gain ten hero points, which could be converted to one experience point and spent on increasing your character's statistics or skills.

You may also gain 0 to 2 hero points for a light RP session, to a maximum of 2 hero points between regular sessions. This will be determined by the GMs at the time light RP sessions are collected and put up on the site.

DYING

High-risk situations will not be the norm in this campaign -- it is, after all, about kids. If your character is put into a situation which is high-risk, where it is possible to die, and it is not obvious from the setting (on the edge of a cliff over nasty sharp rocks, say) then you will be advised by the GM that there is a good chance of death or injury.

Ainigton is a "real world" setting. If your characters incur broken limbs, burns, wounds, or other mishaps, grown-ups may ask difficult questions, and injuries will not heal very quickly. Be forewarned! The disappearance of a child (death or getting lost) will most certainly set Ainigton into an uproar. Grown-ups may impose a curfew and restrict kids to their houses.

That aside, in a traditional knock-down fight between kids and young adults, damage will most likely be handled via the "Black Box" system. The average non-lethal kid's weapon (fists, boxing gloves, rubber-tipped arrows) inflicts one "Ouchie". Being hit by a heavy weapon, breaking a limb, or otherwise seriously injured inflicts one "Bonk". Five Ouchies equals one Bonk.

The average kid goes unconscious after taking one "Bonk" of damage. Strength, toughness, and fighting skills increase the average kid's ability to take "Bonks" as follows:

Strength	Bonks	Toughness	Bonks	Hand-to-Hand	Bonks
-1	-2 Ouchies	-1	-2 Ouchies	-	-
0	0	0	0	0	0
1	+1 Bonk	1	+2 Bonks	1	+3 Ouchiesies
2	+2 Bonks	2	+4 Bonks	2	+1 Bonk
3	+3 Bonks	-	-	3	+1 Bonk +3 Ouchies
-	-	-	-	5	+2 Bonks
-	-	-	-	8	+2 Bonks +3 Ouchies

(You will note if you take a character who is seriously weak and pain sensitive, your character will go unconscious after taking just one Ouchie of damage. This could be a drag if your sister bops you on the head playfully and you are knocked out.)

SAMPLE CHARACTERS

Richard deLeon (young adult)
1 pt	athletic strength (can lift 100lb)
1 pt	good reflexes (less likely to be tripped)
2 pts	average hand-to-hand, boxing style
1 pt	novice acting/persuasion
1 pt	average trailblazing
-1 pt	heroic, champion the weak and do good
Sees himself as protector of other kids, stands up against bullies at school, has played the part of King Richard in a school play, well spoken. Has spent time camping with his dad. Strong for his age.

Guy Cambridge (kid)
2 pts	nimble, athletic and can perform acrobatic feats
2 pts	average sleight of hand
1 pt	novice stealth
1 pt	average gaming
1 pt	average science (specialty: chemistry)
-1 pt	near-sighted, requires glasses to see
-0.5 pt	persecuted for being bookworm
-0.5 pt	aversion to dirtiness
Would be Merlin if he could be anything he wanted in King Arthur's court; as he isn't and can't, he has studied magic and begun an investigation of chemistry as today's alchemy. Has spent a lot of time dodging bullies who want to rub his face in the dirt that he eschews fastidiously enough to draw comments.

THE KID'S CODE

Ainigton is a generally law-abiding town. There's a strong sentiment that kids should be "raised up right". Parents will tend to be strict and punish divergence from a moral code to varying degrees, which includes but is not restricted to:

• Never lie to a grown-up
• Don't get in fights
• Be back home in time for dinner
• Go to sleep by a reasonable time
• Behave
• Be good to others
• Obey the laws of the country (within reason and knowledge)

There is also an unwritten "kid's code", which has three tenets:

• Kid's business is kid's business.
  People who tell grown-ups about kid's business and thus bring trouble and parental attention upon other kids are tattletales and to be avoided.
• Don't play too rough.
  Don't leave other kids lost; when a kid goes missing, grown-ups start canvassing the country, and putting a curfew out so other kids won't get lost. Don't break bones, cut kids, or otherwise go too far when playing, because grownups ask all sorts of inconvenient questions, and besides, that sort of thing hurts.
• Don't break your word to another kid.
  If you don't have the "always tell truth" disadvantage, you can lie now and then, but once you say the magic words, "I promise", you're bound and if you break that, you can't be trusted to not break any other part of the Kid's Code.

NOTES

It's more important to distinguish your character's personality than to establish any kind of clear superiority in points-based matters. Kids are not that far different from one another; what makes them different is their dreams. What dreams does your character have?

Magic may or may not become available in this campaign. All characters start off on an equal footing in this matter; you may not purchase "predisposition to magic" or "resistance to magic" or "knowledge of the supernatural". You may not have parents who are secretly Dark Lords of the Realm. Your character's actions in the face of the wondrous and the weird will determine your character's eventual alliance or antagony to such matters.

Despite the availability of "real world" perks such as permissive parents and equipment, it is not guaranteed these things can always be conveniently accessed or useful. Your character should be able to stand on his or her own two feet and do something useful.

Mirari is an ensemble campaign. Your character should not be averse to role-playing on the stage with other characters. While there may be plots where your character is given the opportunity to explore or carry out actions of his or her own, in secret from other characters, it's expected that most plots will be cooperative between the characters. To that end, it is suggested that characters be worked on in cooperation with other players.

They don't need to like one another. Rowan's example:

• Maybe Stacey is Kevin's younger sister and Kevin's parents make him bring her along.
• Perhaps David bribes the other kids into letting him join them by bringing his cool toys or buying them ice cream.
• Maybe Jesse is friends with both Kim and Oliver, and makes the three of them stick together even though Kim and Oliver don't always like each other.

This is not a campaign about child abuse and kids with psychoses. Please avoid characters that'd normally bring guns to play ("I'm gonna cap you ugly face!"), characters that genuinely need psychiatric help ("AHHHhh! Spiders are crawling all over me!"), or characters that are dealing with sexual abuse issues. (no sample character dialogue line here)

Finally, despite the apparently restrictive nature of these character creation guidelines, this is a game about kids growing up with something wondrous and mysterious.

What that thing is, you don't know yet. But it's bound to be interesting...

... and how your characters respond to it is going to be the story.

Welcome to Mirari!

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