Every once and awhile something decidedly simple and joyous arrives on our shelves. Magical Kitties Save the Day!, a roleplaying game for all ages, wraps both together into a fun experience for both new and veteran RPG players.
Simple, Not Simplistic
“You are CUTE. You are CUNNING. You are FIERCE. You are magical kitties, and it’s time to save the day!
Every magical kitty has a human. Every human has a problem. In Magical Kitties Save the Day, you and your friends use your magical powers to help your humans. But kitties live in hometowns that are filled even bigger problems like witches, aliens, and hyper-intelligent raccoons. So kitties go on adventures to save the day!”
Right from the start, Magical Kitties provides your concept, goals, and opposition. You’re a cute, cunning, fierce cat with magical powers. The humans you live with have problems only you’re able to solve. Opposing you are fantastical beings. So get to work on it!
For younger players, adventures may be straight forward affairs. You’ll find lost children, thwart magical plots, and make your hometown safe for your humans. Their complication will be keeping humans from knowing kitties are magical.
Human’s problems open up a large field for roleplaying especially for older or more experienced players. How do you as a Magical Kittie deal with a adult worried about money and work or a child depressed about their parent’s health. The bare outlines of problems combined with our lived experiences create a heady mix of roleplaying opportunities.
Depending on the ages and desires of your group, the opposition plays as over the top slapstick to deathly serious. However, you’ll always have a clear vision of what they are and how they operate in the game.
Which brings us to the next subject…
Game Mechanics
Magical Kitties Save the Day! is rated for ages 6 and up. The mechanics showcase this. If can recognize the numbers on a die and rank them from lowest to highest you can play a magical kittie!
A small dice pool is the core mechanic for Magic Kitties. You’ll roll a number of dice equal to your cute, cunning, or fierce (rated 1 to 4) against an opponent’s target number. Count the dice that equal or exceed that number as successes. Zero successes fails. With one you succeed with a complication. Greater number off successes accomplish your goal with greater bonuses. There are a variety of ways to increase the number of dice rolled from using your magical power, using a talent, or help from a friend.
As an aside, even failing a roll grants your kittie a benefit. They get experience points when they fail a roll in addition to adventure rewards. Learn from your mistakes to become a better magical kittie.
Combat is intentionally youth friendly. Kitties and opponents both suffer Owies. Your foes will either give up or run away when they fill their Owie pool. Magical Kitties start to lose dice from their rolls once they take too many Owies. However, Owies and other injuries recover quickly between scenes.
Magic, Talents, and Flaws
New kitties start with a single magical power, talent, and flaw. There are 36 of each permitting you to build a wide range to kitties.
Magical Powers give the game half its name. They range from straight forward powers, such as flight or invisibility, to more complicated effects, such as shapechanging or dreamwalking. Powers are usable once a scene and may add dice to rolls in addition to their other effects.
Talents are the skills set of game. While you’ll always be rolling your cute, cunning, or fierce, a talent adds a die when it would be in effect. Some talents are obviously cat-like; Sneaky, Claws, and Hunting. But you’re Magical Kitties, so you might have more esoteric abilities. Tinkerer lets you work with human machines. Calculator makes your kittie better with numbers. Or choose Reader to help decipher human script. You know a cat or two already that might have this talent.
Flaws give younger players quick roleplaying handles. They already know what a Lazy cat looks like. Likewise they can grasp a Sleepy, Distractible, or Scaredy Cat. Adults looking to put the focus more on younger players may take flaws that put their characters on a backburner. Forgetful, Indecisive, or Gullible are great for that purpose. Play it up and let your younger participants both lead and herd you cat.
Game Contents
Everything you need to begin your adventures is contained in the box set.
The Big Adventure uses a choose your own path graphic novel format to build your first magical kittie and set off on a simple adventure.
The Rulebook is right what it says on the cover. The game uses an friendly, conversational tone throughout. “Kitty Tips” boxed excerpts provide advice for running the game and examples.
River City provides a starter home town with foldout map. Your home town comers complete with a variety of big problems, fantastical opponents, and a short adventure. Even Baba Yaga has a cameo in River City. It’s big trouble in River City!
You also get a pad of 50 character sheets, 6 translucent blue dice, and punch-out cardboard kittie treat counters. The sturdy box contains velvety flocked storage tray for your components and sheets between game sessions.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our look at Magical Kitties Save the Day. It makes a great introduction to roleplaying for your young adventurers!
Magical Kitties Save the Day is produced by the great minds at Atlas Games.
Be the first to comment