''Little Fears - The Roleplaying Game of Childhood Terror'' is a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

published in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

by Key 20 Publishing. The book was written by

Jason L Blair Jason L. Blair is an American writer and game designer, best known for his work on the roleplaying game '' Little Fears''. Career After the release of the award-winning tabletop roleplaying game '' Little Fears'' in 2001, Blair wrote for vario ...

, featuring illustrations by Drew Baker, Dimitrios "Jim" Denaxas, Veronica V. Jones, hive, Nick Wilson, Kieran Yanner, Bradley K. McDevitt, and Julie Hoverson, and additional material by Seth A. Ben-Ezra, Greg Oliver, F. Scott Blair, and Shelby Mallow.

Summary

In the game, players take on the personae of children, aged 6 to 12, who are being hunted by the minions of a place called Closetland. Closetland is ruled by the Demagogue and his Seven Kings. Each King is the personification of one of the

seven deadly sins The seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices within the teachings of Christianity. In the standard list, the seven deadly sins according to the Catholic Church are pride, greed ...

. The most well-known of the Kings is the

Bogeyman The bogeyman (; also spelled or known as bogyman, bogy, bogey, and, in US English, also boogeyman) is a mythical creature typically used to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearances, and conceptions vary drast ...

, King of Greed. Other creatures include the Closet Monster, the Monster Under The Bed,

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

, and much more. The children are not entirely powerless: They have Belief, a special kind of

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

that can turn the impossible into the real. Through Belief, pictures of deceased relatives can call forth their protective spirits while teddy bears can spring to life to defend children. Belief also has disadvantages: Stepping on a crack really can break your mother's back and mirrors really can capture souls. A tenth anniversary edition of the original game was released in summer 2011. Titled ''Happy Birthday, Little Fears'', it collects the original text, revised rules, author commentary, and all the official supplements into a single volume.

Reviews

*'' Backstab'' #33

Awards

''Little Fears'' was nominated for an

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

as the Roleplaying Game of the Year in 2002. The book was nominated for and won the

RPGnet RPGnet is a role-playing game website. It includes sections on wargaming, wargames, tabletop games and video games, as well as columns on gaming topics. RPGnet was founded in 1996 by Emma and Sandy Antunes, Shawn Althouse ( etrigan) and Brian Dav ...

Award for the Most Disturbing/Controversial Game of 2001.

Foreign editions and expansions

Also in 2002, ''Little Fears'' was licensed by prominent German game publisher Feder & Schwert for release in the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

market. The German version, titled ''Kleine Ängste'', inspired the industrial duo

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

to release a

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

. Packaged with a limited edition of Janus' studio release ''Auferstehung'', the ''Kleine Ängste'' CD featured seven eerily haunting songs. Janus frontman RIG also released a German-language storybook inspired by ''Little Fears''/''Kleine Ängste'' which was limited to

666 666 may refer to: * 666 (number) * 666 BC, a year * AD 666, a year * The number of the beast, a reference in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament Places * 666 Desdemona, a minor planet in the asteroid belt * List of highways numbered 6 ...

copies. In it, RIG tells a story from the ''Little Fears'' universe. ''Little Fears'' was also licensed by

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

publisher 7ème Cercle who released the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

edition of ''Little Fears'' (which retained its English title) in 2003. The game was illustrated entirely by the Peru brothers and featured a cover by Samuel Araya. 7ème Cercle also released a game screen for use in the game featuring an original mural by Stéphane et Olivier Peru. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

edition of ''Little Fears'' went out of publication in 2004, after selling through its initial

print run Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulat ...

. The copyright to the work is held by Jason L Blair. Key 20 Publishing no longer has any ''Little Fears''-related content on its website. In 2006, an article announced the 2007 release of a new edition of ''Little Fears,'' called ''Little Fears: Nightmare Edition.'' In January 2008, Jason L Blair issued a statement regarding his regret that the game had not been ready for publishing in the promised time frame, and that he "decided to step away from it for a bit to reevaluate the game, what I wanted from it and I what it needed to be."

Novels

In January 2008, Blair said that he had written a young adult novel set in ''Little Fears'' called ''The Wolf Pact'' and that he was working on its sequel. The completion of the first draft of Wolf Pact was announced in 2016, and the sequel's name was revealed to be ''Fairy Tale Ending''.

Little Fears Nightmare Edition

Blair released ''Little Fears Nightmare Edition'' in print and PDF on October 19, 2009. This version is a complete overhaul of the system and premise with some figures key to the original, such as the Demagogue and the Kings, being completely removed. Closetland remains as the source of the monsters and is better detailed than before. Tonally, the game is more focused on Goosebumps-style horror. The controversial elements were mostly removed. While the Kings were excised, some of them remained in name as regular monsters. The game uses a dice engine called the Top 3 System which was built especially for the game.

Products

Little Fears

Little Fears (corebook)
Needles & Chocolate (web-based)
The Rusted Swing (web-based)
When the Monsters Came (PDF)
Santa Claws (PDF)
Cry Havoc (PDF)
Dragon Hunting (PDF)

Little Fears Nightmare Edition

Little Fears Nightmare Edition (corebook) (PDF/Print)
Book 2: Among the Missing (rules/setting/character expansion)(PDF/Print)
Book 3: Blessed are the Children (rules/setting/character expansion)(PDF/Print)
Campfire Tales #1: Beggars Night (PDF)
Campfire Tales #2: The Fall Harvest (PDF)
Campfire Tales #3: The Longest Night of Your Life (PDF)
Campfire Tales #4: Death by Chocolate (PDF)
Campfire Tales #5: Dead Leaves (PDF)
Campfire Tales #6: Old Man Winter (PDF)
Campfire Tales #7: Camp Howling Wolf (PDF)
Goodie Bags #1: The Butterfly Knights (PDF)
Goodie Bags #2: Baba Yaga's Children (PDF)

Happy Birthday, Little Fears

Happy Birthday, Little Fears (corebook)

Little Fears: The Movie

Currently in development by Reactor 88 Studios. Jason L Blair is attached as the writer for the screenplay.

References

External links

LittleFears.com
the official ''Little Fears'' website
''Little Fears'' Yahoo Group

Feder & Schwert
- Publishers of the

edition, ''Kleine Aengste''
Janus
- Creators of the ''Kleine Aengste Soundtrack and Storybook''
7ème Cercle
- Publishers of the

edition
''Little Fears'' Review
review at The Forge
''Little Fears'' Review
Review at Flames Rising {{Authority control Horror role-playing games Indie role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2001 Seven deadly sins in popular culture