Featured Project: Sidekick Story!
*As a note, the intro for this was written by Steph from TTRPGkids, and the below description was written by the game’s creator
Sidekick Story is a solo journaling mystery. You play as a sidekick to a missing superhero and it’s up to you to solve the mystery! Gather clues from around town both in and out of costume, but watch out! Each location you visit has its own super happenings going on that you must survive and decipher.
Sidekick Story is based on wacky comic book hijinks!
Sidekick Story is based on the world of the Silver Age of superhero comics. Drawing inspiration from a more innocent, kid friendly era, Sidekick Story focuses on wacky hijinks and wild complications and all the connections kids can imagine in between. Players explore a town that could be their own, and solve situations with prompts to encourage them through progressive worldbuilding. It’s more Batman ’66 than Dark Knight in structure and storytelling, but the imaginative play element builds on whatever flavour the player brings to the table. Sidekick Story sets the kid-friendly mood by heavily borrowing design elements from old superhero comics to the point of telling the example of play through a three page comic book.
Get your sidekick ready for the challenge!
To play, you’ll need:
- Something to write on
- Something to write with
- A set of dice (d4 through to d12)
- A deck of playing cards.
You start by creating your sidekick character. What’s their sidekick name? What’s their secret identity? Who are they the sidekick of? The more detail, the better! Fill in their details with the handy Secret Origins page. There’s space to draw your Sidekicksona too. Your Sidekick may sustain injuries or changes you can add to the character page as the game progresses.
Solve the mystery of the missing hero
From there, the mystery is introduced. You visit your secret headquarters to meet up with your superhero but they’re not there! Where is your superhero? What happened to your superhero? That’s for their trusty sidekick to figure out.
Investigations take place all over town and the player gets to choose where they visit. What happens in those locations is decided by first rolling 2xd6 to decide what Complications to overcome. Players consult the Complications table with their d6 values. It’s up to the player to put them to imaginative use to describe what’s happening.
Investigation rolls are made with the skill die. The sidekick has two skill dice; one for their sidekick persona and one for their civilian persona. Players choose which skill starts as d10 and which starts as d12. If the rolled value is 2 or lower, the skill level decreases to the next lower value dice. If the rolled value is 3 or 4, wacky hijinx prevent the sidekick from finding a clue. If the rolled value is 5 or above, the sidekick finds a clue!
Clues are decided by drawing a playing card and consulting the Clues page. Players describe how the sidekick prevails, what the clue could lead to or what it could mean for the superhero. Players can use this as a drawing / writing prompt to record their sidekick’s adventure as the game progresses. Clues are needed for building a theory of what’s happened to the superhero, their Deduction!
The player only gets one chance to announce their Deduction. The game ends when players announce their theory of what’s happened to the superhero, BUT it will only be a correct deduction if the player’s deduction roll is 5 or above. The amount of clues you use in your theory, the higher your dice number (eg, 7 clues means you roll a d12). Players should visit locations and gather as many clues as they can.
A great TTRPG for kids!
The player character has only two stats to keep track of: Sidekick and Secret Identity. The whole game can be played in a single 30-60 minute session. Sidekick Story is a great solo game for players 10 years or older. Younger players may benefit from an older player acting as a game master or guide.
This is superhero-ing without the action heavy fights and zero combat, making it kid-safe and kid-friendly. How their characters extricate themselves from sticky situations is up to the player. Players connect scenarios and clues, find patterns, create logical links, conceptualize a character in the context they created.
Check out Sidekick Story here on itchio!
And view the trailer here!
Ive Sorocuk is the creator of Sidekick Story and can be found on:
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