My kids gave me a #ttrpg present for Father’s Day! They each led the family in an adventure for #NoThankYouEvil from @MonteCookGames http://www.nothankyouevil.com 

Our 11yo created an adventure called “Lostopus” — in which a whole area of Storia (the Lochtopus) disappeared! Here are the stand ups she made of new Lochtopus creatures she designed

Our 5yo designed my character: a Kind Cyborg Who Does Magic. For those unfamiliar with NTYE, that means I can use one Smart token to solve any puzzle and I can make the nearest enemy think we’re best friends for one turn. Here’s me and my companion with a mysterious remote

The 11yo actually invented a new character type as well: the Biologist, who can use one Smart token to figure out any creature’s Quirk (a special thing about how creatures react to the world, often capable of solving a confrontation nonviolently)

After we saved the day, we all had a celebration at the restored Lochtopus — with real life octopus gummies!

Then the 5yo took over for an adventure that was more thematically intense and less structured. We used the stand ups like action figures

I’m really impressed by the way NTYE serves as scaffolding for my kids’ creativity. We’d only played once before the 11yo decided she was ready to design and lead an adventure. The 5yo loves to get out the stand ups and use them to tell stories

(Unfortunately, the base game doesn’t come with stand ups. They’re included with various supplements. The ones that support the core player character types are in the “I’m a Guide!” set)

We’ve got plans to play more this summer. I want to print out some teasers for future adventures — but having bought the physical game & supplements, I don’t want to also buy the PDFs (I wish they came with the physical purchase). I guess I’ll have to find time for some scanning

Anyway, we had a good day, & now we’ve done our socially-distanced Mother’s & Father’s Days. Coming up is the 5yo’s birthday, in a month. I suspect that’s going to be a bigger challenge to pull off happily without being able to see other people. But games will help