Hero Kids Brecken Vale Gazetteer In Print!

Hey all, the Brecken Vale Gazetteer is now out in print!  Get it now here:

Hero Kids Brecken Vale Gazetteer

Brecken Vale Gazetteer OUT NOW!

I've just released the latest (and long-awaited) Hero Kids expansion, the Brecken Vale Gazetteer!

The Brecken Vale Gazetteer is jam packed with all-new artwork and 79 pages of information about the places, people, customs, factions, and adventures of the Brecken Vale.

Inside the gazetteer you'll find:

• Maps and regions of the Brecken Vale and beyond
• Maps and locations in Rivenshore
• People of the Vale (including 26 printable character cards)
• Culture and customs across the Vale
• Geography and climate
• Lineages of the Vale (humans, elves, dwarves and other lineages)
• Factions of the Varld
• Random encounter tables for each habitat or locale
• Campaign paths for beginner characters to heroes of the Varld
• Over 50 new adventure hooks

Heroes From Out of Time

Here's something new for Hero Kids; Heroes from Out of Time!

This expansion for Hero Kids includes ten new heroes for your game:

• Athlete - The athlete's massive strength and imposing frame makes them a formidable sight
• Ghost - Practiced in passing unnoticed, Ghost uses an improvised surujin to strike at distant foes 
• Goth - The goth's unique style belies her knowledge of herbal healing remedies
• Hick - This country boy never travels without his sturdy slingshot
• Jock - The jock's countless hours of gruelling physical training make him hardy and resilient 
• Princess - A withering gaze and a cutting remark are the princess's weapons of choice 
• Slugger (female) - The slugger takes advantage of enemies' distraction to swing for the fences 
• Slugger (male) - The slugger uses his unique mobility to maintain balance in any situation
• Tech (female) - Wielding unique tech invented by this duo, the tech's quantum pack shifts time
• Tech (male) - Carrying the other quantum pack they invented, this twin's pack rewinds time

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Check out the Hero Kids Complete Fantasy PDF Bundle at DriveThruRPG

Hero Kids full color release

The first stage of the Hero Kids color updates is now complete!

The following Hero Kids products are now available in full color:

• Hero Kids Role-Playing Game (the core rules)
• Hero Kids - Heroes II
• Hero Kids - Heroes III (Heroes From Out of Town)
• Hero Kids - Heroes IV (Forest Friends
• Hero Kids - Heroes V (Monstrous Heroes)
• Hero Kids - Heroes VI (All Hallows' Eve)
• Hero Kids - Pets I
• Hero Kids - Pets II
• Hero Kids - Space Heroes I
• Hero Kids - Space Heroes II

Check out a bunch of the new artwork below (including the new Brecken Vale map!

If you want to get Hero Kids, or pick up any missing products, check out the complete PDF bundle:

Hero Kids Complete Fantasy PDF Bundle

And if you want more rip-roaring space action, check out the Hero Kids Space Adventures:

Hero Kids Space Adventures Bundle

Hero Kids Lockdown Bundle now available!

What a time to be alive, eh.

With so many people stuck at home at the moment, we've thrown together a dirt-cheap Hero Kids LOCKDOWN bundle to get you started with role-playing with your kids.

These bundles include the core Hero Kids rules, the Basement O Rats introductory adventure, the Fire in Rivenshore and Wizard's Tower adventures, and three expansions with new heroes and pets!

The bundle is currently available in English, French/Français, Spanish/Espanol/Castellano, Russian, and German/Deutsch:
Hero Kids Lockdown Bundle English
Hero Kids Lockdown Bundle French/Français
Hero Kids Lockdown Bundle German/Deutsch
Hero Kids Lockdown Bundle Russian
Hero Kids Lockdown Bundle Spanish/Espanol/Castellano

Stay safe friends.

Hero Kids Creator's Guild coming soon!

People of Hero Kids, in June we're launching the Hero Kids Creator's Guild on DriveThruRPG. The Hero Kids Creator's Guild is home to community created adventures, translations, monsters, equipment, heroes, pets, and expansions.

For game designers, translators, and enthusiasts, the Creator's Guild is a place to contribute to the Hero Kids universe. Here, creators can build on existing Hero Kids materials or create something new. Creators can publish and sell their work to the growing community of Hero Kids fans.

If you're interested in participating in the Creator's Guild program and getting something ready for the launch, get in touch with me here or at justinhalliday(a)gmail[.]com.

New adventure Darkness Neath Rivenshore

I've just released a new Hero Kids adventure; Darkness Neath Rivenshore!

This seven-encounter adventure takes place in the ancient tunnels, chambers, and cisterns beneath Rivenshore.

When the town’s well runs dry, a child’s pleas for help echo from the dry pit. The kids must delve to rescue the lost child. Yet something sinister lurks in the ancient structures beneath the town, and the kids will need all their skill and bravery to rescue the lost child Emon.

• Adventure with seven encounters and maps
• Monster Cards for the unique monsters (water beasts, dire rats, slime, slime beast)
• Additional 14 modular encounter maps

I'm trying something new with this adventure, it includes two possible endings, one for younger kids, and another for more mature players:

• The heroes rescue the lost child and reunite him with his parents
• The heroes discover that the lost child is a ghost who died in the well long ago

In the ‘rescue’ ending, the heroes find the child hiding in the final room, and reunite him with his parents. In the ‘ghost’ ending, the heroes find the child's bones, and take them to the cemetery to bury alongside his family.

I playtested the adventure with the 'ghost' ending, which my kiddos found challenging, but not distressing.

Once we got to the climax of the adventure, my youngest - Dash - twigged pretty quickly about the bones at the bottom of the fountain pool.  Violet was a bit more affected by the ending of the ending of the adventure, but they both determined to help reunite Emon with his (also long-dead) parents.

All in all, I was very proud of how they dealt with the adventure.

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Check out the Hero Kids Complete Fantasy PDF Bundle at DriveThruRPG

All Hallow's Eve Heroes

This expansion for Hero Kids includes ten new All Hallows' Eve heroes for your game:

• Jester Alchemist - The jester always gets the last laugh against anyone nearby
• Bear Brute - The bear brute is a formidable combatant
• Satyr Druid - The satyr can channel powerful druidic healing
• Krampus Duelist - Terrifying in stature and in combat
• Raven Hunter - The raven harries enemies from a distance
• Gorgon Mage - The gorgon is easily mistaken for a statue, to much demise
• Scarecrow Reaper - The reaper's razor sharp scythe sorts wheat from chaff
• Banshee Warlock - The banshee unleashes her fury against her foes
• Ghost Warlock - This ghostly specter crackles with magical energy
• Harpy Warrior - The harpy snatches up her enemies and drops them

Get them now from DriveThruRPG:

Hero Kids - Fantasy Expansion - Hero Cards VI

Hero Kids Bundle of Holding!

Friends, the latest Bundle of Holding is all Hero Kids, all the time!

This bundle includes over $80 of fantasy and sci-fi Hero Kids PDFs for a fantastic low price, and in support of the Reading is Fundamental charity.

If you've only got the core Hero Kids rules, this is a great opportunity to complete your collection.

Hero Kids - Bundle of Holding

Monstrous heroes into the fray!

This expansion for Hero Kids includes ten new monstrous heroes:

• Gargoyle Ambusher - The gargoyle hides in plain sight and swoops to attack
• Bugbear Brute - The bugbear brute swings a tree-trunk club
• Frogling Hunter - The frogling's sticky tongue pulls enemies closer
• Minotaur Knight - This bovine beast can charge with fierce horns
• Mummy Mage - The withering mummy terrifies enemies
• Goblin Rogue - Sneaky goblins scamper in and out from enemies
• Tengu Rogue - This baby tengu rains daggers at distracted enemies
• Fox Trickster - The fox deceives enemies with cunning and guile
• Kobold Warrior - This tiny kobold is a reckless warrior
• Lizardkin Warrior - Lizardkin are versatile warriors

Get them now from DriveThruRPG:
Hero Kids - Fantasy Expansion - Hero Cards V

Super Kids wins Judge's Spotlight award in BAMFsies

Check it out, Conrad Evanshire's Hero Kids expansion Super Kids won a Judge's Spotlight in the BAMFsies awards for super hero RPGs.

2017 BAMFsies Awards Announced

"Super Kids
Arguably the most successful kid-friendly, family-oriented RPG in the world gets a superpowered upgrade with this one, and it doesn't disappoint. All those superhero movies are gonna have the youngsters wanting to power up, so here you go."

Even better, Super Kids is on sale now in the DriveThruRPG BAMFsies sale:

DriveThruRPG - Conrad Evanshire

New Monstrous Hero Kids Pets!

This expansion for Hero Kids includes ten new monsterous pets:

• Beguiler - The beguiler's eyestalks unleash powerful and versatile magic
• Boar - The battle-boar carries stalwart heroes into battle
• Gorilla - Enemies' attacks only strengthen the gorilla's attacks
• Griffon - The griffon swoops down to carry off its prey
• Hydra - Each of the hydra's three heads has a different ability
• Phoenix - The phoenix is shrouded in blankets of flame
• Salamander - The quick-footed salamander radiates intense heat
• Wyrmling - This juvenile dragon spits balls of crackling lightning
• Wyvern - The wyvern fledgling buffets enemies with its wings
• Yeti - The thick-furred yeti throws hard-packed icy boulders

Get them now from DriveThruRPG:
Hero Kids - Fantasy Expansion - Pet Cards II

Downloadable Hero Kids GM Screen

Spencer over at Wisps of Time has put together a free Hero Kids gamemaster's screen AND a Google Docs version of Josiah Fiscus's encounter generator spreadsheet!

Check them out:
Hero Kids Compatible Game Master Screen

Super Kids by Conrad Evanshire

I love seeing people take Hero Kids and using it in new ways, so it's great to see Conrad's take on a superheroes in Hero Kids.

From the description:

"Capital City needs superheroes. The police are kept busy dealing with all sorts of problems. Criminals, monsters, aliens, and super villains pose constant threats. This is a city that can use all the help it can get. That’s where super kids come in!

Super kids have awesome powers. They can call down lightning on their adversaries, fly over the battlefield, summon minions to do their bidding, shapeshift into powerful creatures, pick up and toss enemies, and more. Some are as tall as giants, others have wings, horns, and tails, and still others equip themselves with gadgets like water cannons and snowball bazookas.

This expansion allows you to introduce your young players to superhero roleplaying games using the Hero Kids’ rule system. It provides details on the setting, inventory and skills, and 14 ready-made Super Kids characters. Super Kids can be set in any time or place. Other Hero Kids’ material can be adapted by Game Masters to suit your Super Kids gaming."

Check out Super Kids at DriveThruRPG:
Super Kids - A Superhero Expansion for Hero Kids

And its adventure:
New Recruits - A Super Kids Adventure

Introducing Hero Kids Monster Compendium

It's DONE!  (The PDF anyway...)

Now, I know you're dying to know what's in this bad boy!  The PDF of the Monster Compendium has 136 monsters in the 60 page book.  I've designed multiple monsters for most of the 'types', so you can mix and match them to create interesting (and challenging encounters).

Bats, Beguilers, Boars, Brigands, Bugbears, Commoners, Constructs, Coot and Crone, Cultists, Dragons, Elementals, Firestarter, Flaming Skull, Foxes, Froglings, Gargoyle, Ghost, Giants, Gladiators, Goblins, Gorillas, Guards, Helm Knight, Hydra, Knights, Kobolds, Lizardkin, Minotaur, Mummies, Pirates, Ratlings, Rats, Scorpion, Sea Serpent, Skeletons, Slimes, Snakes, Spiders, Tengu, Water Beast, Weasels, Werewolf, Wolves, Wraith, Wyvern, Zombies...

Each monster section contains ecology and adventure hooks for the monsters.  As Brian Benoit says:

"From the perspective of a GM, I absolutely love all the hooks you've included in the book.  You could literally flip to any page and run an off-the-cuff adventure off of any one of the hooks provided, so I love the book from that perspective.  I also like the lists of names included, makes it easy to name an NPC on the fly.  It's a nice touch."

The PDF also comes with another 51 page PDF for all of the monster stand-ups.  They look like this:

It's slightly hard to see here, but the top half is monsters numbered 1 to 4, and the bottom half of the page is the monsters numbered 5-8.  So depending on how you play, and how many monsters you throw at your heroes, you can just cut the top half of each of these pages.

Now that the PDFs are finished (pending any updates), I'm gonna put together a print version of this Monster Compendium.

Get the Hero Kids Monster Compendium here:
Hero Kids - Fantasy Expansion - Monster Compendium

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Monster Compendium Editing...

Spent the week editing the Hero Kids Monster Compendium.  I'm noticing a pattern that little projects develop into big projects...

The compendium is now 120-ish monsters, but also includes details about the monsters, a sprinkling of history, and a boatload of adventure hooks.  As Brian Beniot states:

"From the perspective of a GM, I absolutely love all the hooks you've included in the book.  You could literally flip to any page and run an off-the-cuff adventure off of any one of the hooks provided, so I love the book from that perspective."

The compendium also features an amazing new cover by Eric Quigley:

Hero Kids - Monster Compendium preview

Quick update on the Hero Kids - Monster Compendium.  Each of the types of monsters will include a description of the monster, plus extra gameable details about their tactics and adventure hooks.

Here's a preview of the Elementals and Cultists:

Six-Score Monsters Approaching...

Sooooo...  I'm still working on the monsters for the upcoming Hero Kids monster compendium. And now's a good time for an update.  First, I've finished 120 monsters.  Approximately 40 of these are from previous adventures and the core game.  The rest are new.  There's also a bunch of new art for some of the old monsters...

Second, I'm currently editing these monsters.  Much highlighting.

Third, I've been exploring boss monsters and how to make them work well when fighting one to four heroes.  For example, this hydra is my current favorite.  As you can see, each of its heads must attack a different target, giving it more actions as the number of attackers increases:

Finally, here's a preview of all these bad boys (and girls):

Forest friends incoming...

Deep in the Darkenwold Woods of the Brecken Vale, a new band of Hero Kids heroes join the battle against evil:

•  The Spear Bearer Ferret uses his spear to keep enemies at bay.
•  The Turtle Knight's armor protects him from enemy attacks, which enrage his replies.
•  The Rogue Shrew moves like a shadow and strikes distracted enemies
•  The Badger Brute is a ferocious combatant who specializes in knocking down enemies.
•  The Warlock Ocelot's razor sharp claws deter enemies, and allies.
•  The Wombat Mage is an unstoppable force of nature who repulses his enemies with powerful magic.
•  The Otter Hunter pins down opponents with precise shots.
•  The Mouseling Warrior maiden is a fearsome warrior and inspiring leader.
•  The Squirrel Healer heals herself and her allies.
•  The Mouseling Warrior fights side-by-side with his allies.

Get it here: Hero Kids - Fantasy Expansion - Hero Cards IV

Adventures in Bayhaven - Pets Expansion

Brian Benoit has released a new Hero Kids-compatible pets expansion for his Bayhaven mini-setting.  The expansion features 11 new pets:

•  The Giant Riding Beetle has no attack, but its thick carapace makes it a powerful ally. (This pet card comes in two versions: Ladybug [aka Ladybird] and Rhino Beetle)
•  The Giant Komodo Dragon’s powerful bite can make enemies weaker
•  The Magic Butterfly can summon a whole swarm of butterflies with razor sharp wings.
•  The Wolpertinger is a strange and terrifying animal that most people have never seen.
•  The Chamrosh is a cross between a dog and an eagle – and it can make a leaping flyby attack.
•  The Raiju is a small animal that has electrical powers – it has a shocking attack, and it can move around with lightning speed.
•  The Stag is a regal animal, but you don’t want to be on the wrong side of his antlers when he makes his charge attack.
•  The Monkey is a clever and useful ally both in and out of combat.
•  The Porcupine uses its sharp quills to both attack and defend itself. It can even shoot them!
•  The Chameleon is virtually invisible when it’s sneaking around.
•  The Gromp has the ability to shake the earth and knock enemies over with its powerful stomp. (This creature was first seen in the Bayhaven adventure “The Ringmaster’s Request.”)

Get it here:
Adventures in Bayhaven - Pets Expansion