Story Teller's Guide - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: the Role Playing Game

## My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: the Role Playing Game

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### Story Teller's Guide

Tips for playing RPGs with children

If you plan to play this game with younger players, the main thing is to encourage role playing, and make sure the players have fun. Here are a few tips on how to introduce role playing to young kids.

Encourage roll playing. There a couple of good ways to do this. One way to help younger players stay in character, and get used to talking to other players in character, is to use name tags. You can pick up the self-adhesive ones or get the plastic type that pin to your shirt so you can use them over again. Once everyone has their name tag, require the players to call each other by the character’s name when they talk to them. You can also have the players keep a journal or notes on each session, so they can remember what went on from one session to the next. During our play testing session, our players kept a journal in the form of letters to Princess Celestia, explaining what happened and sometimes what they learned about friendship.

Play the Mane Six. You might find younger players have difficulty playing original characters, especially in a setting they aren’t familiar with. They may not have a clear idea of the characters personality or how the character might react in different situations. It may be better to let younger players portray one of the mane six characters. In the past I’ve had great success with younger players playing games based on the Hercules and Xena TV shows, playing Harry Potter and friends, and Pokémon using the BESM rules. I have purposely avoided interpreting the mane six under these rules – my ideas of how the mane six would translate under these rules is probably different from your own, so I left that up to you.

Use the background ponies. If the pony characters need help, information or just an idea of what to do next, use the non-player background ponies to provide it. Many storytellers will create a Stroyteller PC, a pony that is an NPC but is part of the group as an advisor, helper or even mentor. These NPCs can be very useful you’re your younger players get stuck and need a hint about what to do next, and it allows the storyteller the chance to do a little role-playing, which is better than just telling the players what they should do or giving them the answer to a puzzle outright.

Don’t sweat the details. I’ve been playing with the same group for over 30 years, and when we get together we often spend a lot of time in character doing things like preparing for a journey, talking about our plans, or hanging out about town interacting with the NPCs or trying to get information. Kids want to get to the action. If your pony characters need to travel somewhere, just announce their arrival unless there is a specific reason for role playing the trip, such as adverse terrain they have to cross or a possible creature encounter.

Other details can be somewhat ignored as well to make record keeping easier and keep the game flowing. For example, ponies use a type of money called “bits.” They also use credit! Just assume that the pony characters have enough pocket change for small purchases. If they need or want something “expensive” make them come up with ideas to earn extra bits, and after they have undertaken that task for a short time let them know they have enough money. Don’t worry about keeping track of actual amounts.

You can also assume your pony characters already have things like saddle bags and outfits and whatever they need for their job/talents. Only keep track of “prized possessions” or special items they may have. If the ponies are going on a quest I recommend having them write down what they want to bring along in the saddle bag section of the character sheet. I have not created an “equipment list,” if the characters need something have them go looking for it if you don’t think they would have one already.

No dying. Players get attached to their characters, and younger players will be upset if you kill off their character. Also, once a character is killed off, that player is out of the game, what fun is that? Failure in a quest or encounter against a creature should only be temporary. If the characters are defeated by the bad guys, have the bad guys gloat, tease the characters a little, and the move on. Allow the PCs to regroup, come up with a new play and try again.

Be flexible and allow creative solutions to challenges. Even the most experienced players overlook the obvious clues and hints the storyteller gives them about how to overcome a particular challenge. Sometimes this results in the players coming up with their own creative solutions to a problem. Children excel at this, although sometimes their ideas are a little outlandish. Always try to allow creative ideas to be tried, especially if the idea results in a more humorous or better story telling experience.

Pony Adventures

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, the Role Playing Game is a little different from other role playing games. The pony characters should be friends, and seek to help one another and the other ponies in their community not only on grand adventures but with the challenges of everyday life. That doesn’t mean you can’t have the occasional quest for a magic item, or fight a monster, but most of the adventures will be a little less risky. Here are a few ideas for types of adventures you can create for your players:

Quest – Finding a long lost magical treasure or other object, possibly rescuing somepony who’s lost in the woods, or maybe finding that rare flower your friend needs to cure her illness. Travelling all across Equestria and possibly into the wider world has a certain romantic appeal to many players and quest always make for good storylines.

Helping out the community – Most ponies spend a good part of their time helping in their community. Filling in for friends at various shops, helping with important ceremonies or celebrations, planning or participating in various social or sporting events. There are a great number of scenarios that can be built around this premise. Social events, holidays and sporting events make great settings for other scenarios as well.

Magic – Magic phenomena are common in Equestria and not always explained. A spell that went bad or unusual (uncontrolled) weather, creatures wandering out of the Everfree forest unexpectedly. Your pony characters may need to investigate to find out what’s causing the problem.

Conflict – Not every pony has such a great heart or personality. It is possible that a unicorn may use her magic for no good, or carelessly. Other ponies might be bullies, out right rude, or may have nefarious ambitions and use their talents for no good. It's us up to our pony characters to decide how best to stop these adversaries and get them back on the right path, and maybe teach them a lesson or two about friendship!

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