RPG Spotlight: Head Back To (Magic) School With Kids On Brooms
Find your quills and ready your wands, it’s back to school time. No, not that school, this week we’re heading to magic school with Kids on Brooms.
Magic Schools are a place of mystery and almost dangerously irresponsible adult faculty members. Whether you’re there to learn and advocate for the rights of magical creatures, slack off and appease your parents, or waiting for the moment that you can reveal that you’re hot now and can wield a sword, there’s something about the idea of a magic school that lends itself so well to RPGs. And we’re taking a look at one of the better ones today, with Kids on Brooms.
Whether it’s the Unseen University, Wiz Tech, or The University, magic schools have been a staple in fantasy for years, and the appeal is undeniable. We all have to go through school and for some it’s a more enjoyable experience for others, but wouldn’t it be so much more fun if instead we were learning magic? Kids on Brooms let’s you take your table of adventurers to that precise head-space, allowing you to found your own school of the arcane, cast spells, brew potions, meet mythical beasts, and of course, ride a few brooms. Just make sure you get your homework in on time. Even fantasy schools require a little extra reading sometimes.
Powered by the same mechanics as Kids on Bikes, this is a narrative-prioritizing and rules-light game that let’s you focus on the friends (and rivals) you make along the way and creative group story telling without getting bogged down with a ton of page flipping and rule checking.
Which isn’t to say that there aren’t rules and stats; this is still a game after all. Grit, Charm, Flight, Brains, and Brawn are your stats with each assigned a value between D20 and D4 with larger dice creating a larger chance of success on a given roll. So your group’s honor student would probably have a D20 in Brains while the resident jock would make their high stat Brawn. Your D4 stat isn’t a throw-away stat that’s doomed to fail every time, though, as rolling the max result on any die will result in that die “exploding” and letting you re-roll and add the sums together. If you roll that D4 and land with a 4 and then a 4 and then a 4 and then a 3, you’re looking at a 15, my friend.
If you’re familiar with Kids on Bikes you know that character creation is quick and simple, feeling more like a two minute introduction to the class at the start of a new school year than the math and skill trees of some more involved games. Kids on Brooms steps it up just a little as you create your own wand and broom and determining which magic classes they’re the best at and which spells they know.
If you’ve ever wanted a magical pet, day dreamed about casting spells, always thought that discovering the dark and mysterious secret corners of your school would be the coolest (even if you school didn’t actually have any), or just really love Kids on Bikes and will like playing it but with a magical twist, Kids on Brooms is for you. It strikes a nostalgic chord for the days when you unironically believed in magic while you figure out what your teachers are hiding or what monsters need to be defeated in the hidden corridors.
If you’re interested in playing Kids on Brooms for yourself, you can find more information on the Renegade Games Studios official website.
Have you played Kids on Bikes? Will you be picking up a copy of Kids on Brooms? Which pop culture or fictional magic school is your favorite and why? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
