No Thank you Evil! is probably one of the games Dazzle, Crow and I have played the most. The original set comes with a rule book, several adventure modules, and a all the tokens and dice you need to run the game. The adventures modules are a good way to introduce yourself to running a game like this. Thanks to this, Dazzle was able to run her own games when she was eight, starting with a module and then moving on to writing her own adventures for us to play.
The setting, the land of Storia, is a wonderful place full of cute allies and not-to-scary villains. The adorable villains were a big help in convincing Dazzle that she enjoyed this game. In my inexperience, I started us out playing Dungeon’s and Dragons, which was a little too intense for her. D&D is great, and could be modified to suit most tastes. Unfortunately, I didn’t know enough to do that, and so our first campaign was a little too grimdark.
I wanted to give the players and experience of a world where good intentions didn’t always lead to the best outcomes. It was too intense though. So, I think that was the first big lesson I learned; Take it easy on the life lessons, they can be there, but don’t hammer on them. Good storytelling should include cause and effect. Decisions the players make should have impact. That said, kids have a hard time separating emotionally from their characters, and so you have to take it easy.
No Thank You Podcast?
Starting with episode 1 of Dazzle and Crow Save the Worlds, this is the game we have been playing. The adventure is one I created; the settings and player character mechanics are true to the game. I’ve run a wide variety of different story telling and role playing games. As a result, I do introduce some mechanics to the game that are not part of the core rules. One example of this is the skill challenge you hear in episode 2. I’ll be providing a talk more about the skill challenge in an upcoming blog post.