When you think of witchcraft, wizardry, and magic there’s one RPG that has never made the mainstream tabletop gaming releases. Harry Potter, and honestly, considering the attitude of the author we’re kind of happy there isn’t (yet) an official release.

You might remember that we ran a story here https://exilednews.com/2021/08/14/harry-potter-tabletop-rpg-reclaims-hogwarts-from-the-terfs/ about an unofficial HP RPG that reclaimed Hogwarts from the TERFs.

During my recent trawl across the RPG scene for 2022, I spotted Kids on Bikes by Jonathan Gilmour and Doug Levandowski.

What’s this you ask?

Kids on Bikes is an RPG by Renegade Game Studios https://renegadegamestudios.com

Kids on Bikes is charming

Kids on Bikes is a Collaborative Storytelling RPG set in small towns with big adventure! 

In Kids on Bikes, you take on the roles of everyday people grappling with strange, terrifying, and very, very powerful forces that they cannot defeat, control, or even fully understand. Kids on Bikes even allows you to create a communally controlled Powered Character to add another dimension of gameplay to your games!

Jump right into the action quick and create your own band of rag-tag mystery solvers today!

Features:

80 pages of full color rules, illustrated with the exceptional style of Heather Vaughan, everything you need to play in ONE BOOK!

Sample Module (Point Pleasant, New Jersey) to get you right in on the action. 

Introduce a Powered-Player into your game, that every player has a hand in controlling.   Because who know when you may need a little extra help!

There’s also Kids on Brooms, and yes, you can probably guess where I’m going with this one. It’s a delve into wizards, witches, magic, fantastical creatures and more. Written by Jonathan, Doug, and with the talents of Spenser Starke who created the concept of Kids on Booms (and once again illustrated by Heather Vaughan) – it lets you live out those Potter fantasies without throwing a single cent into the vast pockets of Rowling.

With a re-print coming in late February this year, it uses the same ENnie Award winning RPG system as Kids on Bikes. Kids on Brooms lets you shape the magical school of your dreams, create your own witch, wizard, and play school years full of inclusive and LGBTQIA+ friendly adventures – and as you know – here at Exiled News we love (nay adore) that!

To draw from the official page

You pull your wand from the folds of your cloak, and its glowing blue end illuminates the door in front of you—the entrance to the banned books section. You watch as the copper snakes twist and turn around the lock that keeps students like you out. But you’ve been left with no choice. Your barn owl hoots softly upon your shoulder as you raise your wand to the knob and whisper the unspoken words.

Kids on Brooms is a collaborative role-playing game about taking on the life of a witch or wizard at a magical school you all attend- a place full of mystery, danger, and thrilling adventure. From dealing with strict professors to facing down mythical beasts, players will get the opportunity to ride brooms, brew potions, and cast powerful magic as they uncover the incredible secrets their school and its inhabitants hold. Built using the ENnie Award-Winning Kids on Bikes framework, it is a rules-light, narrative-first storytelling game perfect for new players and gaming veterans alike!

Features:

Create your own unique magical school for witches and wizards!

Face down fantastical beasts, search for school secrets, and make sure you hand your homework in on time!

Wield wands, ride brooms, brew potions, and cast powerful spells!

Tell your own stories filled with magical adventure using the Kids on Bikes framework for rules-light, narrative-first storytelling!

If you’re curious about the game and want to know more, there’s this review here https://gnomestew.com/kids-on-brooms-review/ which gives a good overview of it.

Once again though, it’s another way to spin some magic into your RPGs that doesn’t rely on D&D or putting money into the Harry Potter franchise. With a simple system, and a rules-lite approach it’s going to perfect for first-timers too who might want to play out those adventures and are put off by D&D and other systems more complex take on RPG rules.

I definitely love it!