Little Fears
Encyclopedia
Little Fears - The Roleplaying Game of Childhood Terror is a role-playing game
published in 2001
by Key 20 Publishing. The book was written by Jason L Blair, featuring illustrations by Drew Baker, Dimitrios "Jim" Denaxas, Veronica V. Jones
, hive, Nick Wilson, Kieran Yanner, Bradley K. McDevitt, and Julie Hoverson, and additional material by Seth A. Ben-Ezra, Greg Oliver, F. Scott Blair, and Shelby Mallow.
. The most well-known of the Kings is the Bogeyman
, King of Greed. Other creatures include the Closet Monster, the Monster Under The Bed, werewolves, vampires, and much more.
The children are not entirely powerless: They have Belief, a special kind of magic
that can turn the impossible into the real. Through Belief, pictures of deceased relatives can call forth their protective spirits while teddy bears can spring to life to defend children. Belief also has disadvantages: Stepping on a crack really can break your mother's back and mirrors really can capture souls.
A tenth anniversary edition of the original game was released in summer 2011. Titled Happy Birthday, Little Fears, it collects the original text, revised rules, author commentary, and all the official supplements into a single volume.
and neglect
, and sparked its fair share of criticism in the community, many professionals who work with children and victims of abuse supported the book, including noted author and child advocate Andrew Vachss
who contacted the author directly.
as the Roleplaying Game of the Year in 2002. The book was nominated for and won the RPGnet Award for the Most Disturbing/Controversial Game of 2001.
market. The German version, titled Kleine Ängste, inspired the industrial duo Janus to release a soundtrack
. Packaged with a limited edition of Janus' studio release Auferstehung, the Kleine Ängste CD featured seven eerily haunting songs. Janus frontman RIG also released a German-language storybook inspired by Little Fears/Kleine Ängste which was limited to 666
copies. In it, RIG tells a story from the Little Fears universe.
Little Fears was also licensed by French
publisher 7ème Cercle who released the French language
edition of Little Fears (which retained its English title) in 2003. The game was illustrated entirely by the Peru brothers and featured a cover by Samuel Araya. 7ème Cercle also released a game screen for use in the game featuring an original mural by the Peru brothers.
The English
edition of Little Fears went out of publication in 2004, after selling through its initial print run. The copyright to the work is held by Jason L Blair. Key 20 Publishing no longer has any Little Fears-related content on its website.
In 2006, an article announced the 2007 release of a new edition of Little Fears, called Little Fears: Nightmare Edition.http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=22590 However, in January 2008, Jason L Blair issued a statement regarding his regret that the game had not been ready for publishing in the promised time frame, and that he "decided to step away from it for a bit to reevaluate the game, what I wanted from it and I what it needed to be." In this same statement, Blair said that he had written a young adult novel set in Little Fears called The Wolf Pact and that he was working on its sequel.
The game uses a dice engine called the Top 3 System which was built especially for the game.
Needles & Chocolate (web-based)
The Rusted Swing (web-based)
When the Monsters Came (PDF)
Santa Claws (PDF)
Cry Havoc (PDF)
Dragon Hunting (PDF)
Book 2: Among the Missing (rules/setting/character expansion)(PDF/Print)
Campfire Tales #1: Beggars Night (PDF)
Campfire Tales #2: The Fall Harvest (PDF)
Campfire Tales #3: The Longest Night of Your Life (PDF)
Campfire Tales #4: Death by Chocolate (PDF)
Campfire Tales #5: Dead Leaves (PDF)
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
published in 2001
2001 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 2001. For video and console games, see 2001 in video gaming....
by Key 20 Publishing. The book was written by Jason L Blair, featuring illustrations by Drew Baker, Dimitrios "Jim" Denaxas, Veronica V. Jones
Veronica V. Jones
Veronica V. Jones is a commercial digital illustrator specializing in the fantasy and science fiction genres. She began her professional illustration career in 1997, and has since worked on a wide variety of role-playing, collectible card game and fantasy literature publications.- Select published...
, hive, Nick Wilson, Kieran Yanner, Bradley K. McDevitt, and Julie Hoverson, and additional material by Seth A. Ben-Ezra, Greg Oliver, F. Scott Blair, and Shelby Mallow.
Summary
In the game, players take on the personae of children, aged 6 to 12, who are being hunted by the minions of a place called Closetland. Closetland is ruled by the Demagogue and his Seven Kings. Each King is the personification of one of the seven deadly sinsSeven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
. The most well-known of the Kings is the Bogeyman
Bogeyman
A bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
, King of Greed. Other creatures include the Closet Monster, the Monster Under The Bed, werewolves, vampires, and much more.
The children are not entirely powerless: They have Belief, a special kind of magic
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
that can turn the impossible into the real. Through Belief, pictures of deceased relatives can call forth their protective spirits while teddy bears can spring to life to defend children. Belief also has disadvantages: Stepping on a crack really can break your mother's back and mirrors really can capture souls.
A tenth anniversary edition of the original game was released in summer 2011. Titled Happy Birthday, Little Fears, it collects the original text, revised rules, author commentary, and all the official supplements into a single volume.
Controversy
Though the game addresses controversial issues, such as child abuseChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
and neglect
Neglect
Neglect is a passive form of abuse in which a perpetrator is responsible to provide care for a victim who is unable to care for himself or herself, but fails to provide adequate care....
, and sparked its fair share of criticism in the community, many professionals who work with children and victims of abuse supported the book, including noted author and child advocate Andrew Vachss
Andrew Vachss
Andrew Henry Vachss is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths...
who contacted the author directly.
Awards
Little Fears was nominated for an Origins AwardOrigins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
as the Roleplaying Game of the Year in 2002. The book was nominated for and won the RPGnet Award for the Most Disturbing/Controversial Game of 2001.
Foreign editions and expansions
Also in 2002, Little Fears was licensed by prominent German game publisher Feder & Schwert for release in the German languageGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
market. The German version, titled Kleine Ängste, inspired the industrial duo Janus to release a soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
. Packaged with a limited edition of Janus' studio release Auferstehung, the Kleine Ängste CD featured seven eerily haunting songs. Janus frontman RIG also released a German-language storybook inspired by Little Fears/Kleine Ängste which was limited to 666
Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
copies. In it, RIG tells a story from the Little Fears universe.
Little Fears was also licensed by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
publisher 7ème Cercle who released the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
edition of Little Fears (which retained its English title) in 2003. The game was illustrated entirely by the Peru brothers and featured a cover by Samuel Araya. 7ème Cercle also released a game screen for use in the game featuring an original mural by the Peru brothers.
The English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
edition of Little Fears went out of publication in 2004, after selling through its initial print run. The copyright to the work is held by Jason L Blair. Key 20 Publishing no longer has any Little Fears-related content on its website.
In 2006, an article announced the 2007 release of a new edition of Little Fears, called Little Fears: Nightmare Edition.http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=22590 However, in January 2008, Jason L Blair issued a statement regarding his regret that the game had not been ready for publishing in the promised time frame, and that he "decided to step away from it for a bit to reevaluate the game, what I wanted from it and I what it needed to be." In this same statement, Blair said that he had written a young adult novel set in Little Fears called The Wolf Pact and that he was working on its sequel.
Little Fears Nightmare Edition
Blair released Little Fears Nightmare Edition in print and PDF on October 19th, 2009. This version is a complete overhaul of the system and premise with some figures key to the original, such as the Demagogue and the Kings, being completely removed. Closetland remains as the source of the monsters and is better detailed than before. Tonally, the game is more focused on Goosebumps-style horror. The controversial elements were mostly removed. While the Kings were excised, some of them remained in name as regular monsters.The game uses a dice engine called the Top 3 System which was built especially for the game.
Little Fears
Little Fears (corebook)Needles & Chocolate (web-based)
The Rusted Swing (web-based)
When the Monsters Came (PDF)
Santa Claws (PDF)
Cry Havoc (PDF)
Dragon Hunting (PDF)
Little Fears Nightmare Edition
Little Fears Nightmare Edition (corebook) (PDF/Print)Book 2: Among the Missing (rules/setting/character expansion)(PDF/Print)
Campfire Tales #1: Beggars Night (PDF)
Campfire Tales #2: The Fall Harvest (PDF)
Campfire Tales #3: The Longest Night of Your Life (PDF)
Campfire Tales #4: Death by Chocolate (PDF)
Campfire Tales #5: Dead Leaves (PDF)
Little Fears: The Movie
Currently in development by Reactor 88 Studios. Jason L Blair is attached as the writer for the screenplay.External links
- LittleFears.com, the official Little Fears website
- Little Fears Yahoo Group
- Feder & Schwert - Publishers of the German languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
edition, Kleine Aengste - Janus - Creators of the Kleine Aengste Soundtrack and Storybook
- 7ème Cercle - Publishers of the French languageFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
edition - Little Fears Review review at The Forge
- Little Fears Review Review at Flames Rising