Looking to play/run Kids on Bikes 2E or similar

Hi all,

I am interested in playing or GMing a Kids on Bikes 2E game or similar genre games.

If anyone would like to play Kids on Bikes 2E, please post below and I shall see if we can get a game started.
I am still new at GP, so need to figure out a few things I guess, but I did spend some time reading how stuff works.

Also, if anyone looks for players in a similar genre game, I'd be highly interested.


For me, I'd be looking to start up a game of


The Game System and Rules Version
Kids on Bikes 2E

The Pitch
As typical with Kids on Bikes we shall create a town together and add some rumours.
From there on, we'll start an actual game in that town with monsters and mystery.

I personally would prefer the game to be set somewhere between 1990 and 1999.
I also think that the genre is best for characters in middle school ages.

If you don't know Kids on Bikes; think E.T., Goonies, IT, Stranger Things etc.

Adult Content or Controversial Themes
Horror and gore can be included depending on session zero outcome. Same goes for other controversial themes.
Adult content as such won't be there as the game focuses on kid characters.
Kids on Bikes 2E has a date-consent ruleset for age-appropiate romances, I am fine using that depending on players interests in session 0.

Character Restrictions
None

Game Duration and Post Frequency
I guess we'd be playing as long as we have fun, right? I'd appreciate it if everyone could post every 48 hours.
As always, real life comes first. I will usually be posting at Europe friendly times.

Specialized Software and Resources
Nope. All will be done in GP. If you have the Kids on Bikes 2E book, great.
If you have the Kids on Bikes 1E book, also great, because 2E is really more like 1.5E.
If you have none of these, also great. It's simple enough to explain.

Players
Anyone is welcome! If you are new to Kids on Bikes, or experience. No matter to what group you belong or how you identify yourself.

How to Apply
Please post here if interested. I am looking for 4-6 people.
If you already have a basic idea of a character you'd like to play, please feel free to post it. But you can always change them still.

Also, please answer the following, always in debate, question.

How do you want to deal with the "Powered character?"
1. Powered Character as per ruleset (player controlled semi-NPC/semi-PC)
2. No Powers at all
3. The PCs will develop powers and "level up" in them
4. Other; please explain

(it's not multiple choice, feel free to elaborate)

I am asking this, so we can get a group together that feels roughly the same about this.

I love Kids-on-Bikes style games, though I only have limited familiarity with KoB itself. I played in one game of it on GP a while back, but it didn't last very long, so I only have a passing familiarity with the rules and would need to freshen up on them.

That said, I'm always up for this kind of game. I don't really have a character concept in mind yet. Would be happy to just look at what others are playing and find something that fits in well.

As for powered characters, I've done a game with a shared semi-Pc/semi-NPC before and it got a bit troublesome in PBP to sometimes figure out who should take charge of them. I'd be happy with no powers at all, but if others are into developing powers, fine by me, though I might still stay out of it for my own character.

But also, I just got into a Tales from the Loop game, which is a similar conceit, so if there is lots of interest, I'm happy to be at the back of the lines so others get a chance for this game.
And, I spend an unhealthy amount of time on GP, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime

If a Kids on brooms game pops up, I'll be up for it

I’d be eager to participate as a player. Setting and tone sound good to me and I can grab the rule book (I’ve never played Kids on Bikes, but I’ve played lots of other PbtA games). I’m also new to GP, so might need some guidance.

My preference would be for leaving out powers, but I’m open to other options.

How hard is Kids on Bikes to learn or play? I have seen a few game ads for it on Reddit and it seems interesting.
I might be interested. It is something different then what I am used to playing.

Doggone it. I had a Savage Worlds Pinebox Elementary game that died for lack of players. It had a very KoB feel.

The rule book (at least the 1.1 version, which is what I was able to find) is about 80 pages, and the system is pretty light. I wouldn’t hesitate to put it in front of anyone with Role-playing experience.

Also it’s not a PbtA game, which I didn’t realize. 😅

If you are struggling to find players I could throw my hat in the ring. But take others first.

I have done Kids on Bikes 1 a long time ago.

Like runekyndig I found myself preferring Kids on Brooms, and I think a large part of that is due to the Powered Character, that whole system put me off of Kids on Bikes and made me not read Kids on Brooms for a long time (I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when I found Brooms did not have that). I did not bother with Bikes 2 because of the Powered Character aspect. Leaving it out would be my preference.

I don't recall the 1e book providing options for the PCs developing 'powers' (but it has been years since I looked at the book). I would vote for not starting with that as an assumption, but if someone later finds a way to develop such powers I would not object. I do not foresee that being my character, but would not resist it if that happened.

I have no preference as to the time-period, I don't feel a lot of nostalgia for the 80s which this genre seems to rely on, so setting it in the 90s is fine by me.

The term 'Middle School' is ambiguous, and usually (but not always) points to ages 11-15, which sorta spans both the Child and Teen brackets that Bikes defines. What do you mean by that term? 'A combination of older Children and younger Teens'? That can make for an interesting mix. I was also not a fan of trying to play Adults in these games, I did not see that working well.

I can play any character, I will let the others pick first and am open to requests if someone wants to play opposite something specific.

@Smiley: The rules are very simple and easy to learn.

Thanks for the interest all. I will set up a game in a few hours.

@WhtKnt
sorry to year your game died. I don't know that setting but the vibe sounds fun

@runekyndig , @vagueGM
I pllayed Kids on Brooms by voice once, but I am not too fond of the school setting (that could have been the GM focussing too much on classes) and magic feels way too "you can try everything". I'd play f there would be a game, but I prefer bikes. I never tried space yet.

@Smiley
Kids on Bikes is very simple. Most of the Kids on Bikes rules in both first and second edition is general "how to ttrpg" and player safety stuff. If you know ttrpgs and general safety, all that can be skipped and you are down to only a few pages. The game is very narratively driven, especially after the big changes to fighting in 2E.

@vagueGM
Second Edition also has no rules on PCs with powers. However, I once played a game with it in first and it worked quite well.
I feel the overall vibe is to leave out powers and I'm fine with that.

School settings are hard, and I am bad at them. :(
I have not gotten to play with the magic system much, but I thought it was a good compromise between strictness and freedom. But that does very heavily require the players to be on the same page and not abuse it. The mechanism with 'spells' being hard to cast unless you have practiced them in particular, and the mechanism for scaling how hard they are based on what is being done can be very cool, but the consequences for trying things out of reach should be appropriate to keep people from trying to 'do everything by magic' (I liked that there is not 'magic' stat, and you use the appropriate basic character stat for magic too). The rules themselves --being so lite-- don't do an adequate job of keeping these things in check, so that is up to the players and GM, which can be fraught with complications.
I have, but have not read, Teens in Space, I sorta meant to go back to it after discovering that Brooms removed some of the things I disliked from Bikes, but it does not really appeal.
Cool. We can always see later if adding something like that in is right.

If there is still room, I'd love to have an opportunity to join. It would be my first KoB game, though I have both versions and one of the 1st ed scenario supplements. I am also new to GP, but doesn't seem to hard to figure out.

I'm an 80's kid, soooo...all of the 80's. However, I'm not opposed to playing in the 90's. Frankly, minus some nuances...growing up as a kid, IMO, can always have some crossover, e.g. the 80's kid that loved the 60's/70's fashion and music, etc.
Preference: 2
But if someone really wants to pursue that, no problem. I'll roll/role with it. 🙂

The posting expectation 1/48hrs should not be a problem.

I shall send you an invite. We already started town building a bit, but we are still early in.

Sounds good. Accepted invite. Will catch up!