"Little folk" refers to real little folk from legend and fantasy: not halflings or traditional fantasy gnomes, but folklore gnomes (the ones small enough to find shelter under a toadstool), pixies, and a handful of copyrighted characters: Smurfs, Mogwai and Fraggles, the last being the sad inspiration for this post.
An issue of scale for our heroes. (image: serienoldies.de)
There have been games for playing little folk before, like Faery's Tale and Mouse Guard. But they're not much different than any other fantasy game, just scaled down. A fairy knight battling a fairy wizard is no different than a human fighter facing a human wizard. The difference in scale is what makes the setting distinct; the challenge of dealing with everyday things that the players, as average-size humans, don't even think about.
A little folk campaign can make a Game Master's life simpler. Heroes don't have to slay monsters and save kingdoms; instead, they can just get across a yard in one piece, or recruit other creatures with very limited skill-sets to help them. The PCs can be just as talented as any other RPG character, but they're less likely to fight their way through an adventure, as most threats will be too large to take on -- a hawk or a dog would make short work of little folk. The game will be about solving puzzles and looking at everyday objects in a new way. Try a one-shot adventure: a little game with little folk.
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