A Familiar Problem (game)

→This page is about the tabletop game. For the special episode of Critical Role, see A Familiar Problem: Sprinkle's Incredible Journey.

A Familiar Problem
Attribution Information
Developer	Darrington Press LLC
Designers	Grant Howitt (designer) Marisha Ray (creator)
Artist	De La Rosa Design LLC
Release date	June 25, 2022
Mechanical Information
Number of players	2 or more

A Familiar Problem is a free one-page RPG in which players take on the roles of D&D familiars attempting to prove their worth to their spellcasting summoners. It utilizes a very simplified dice-rolling system, and was released on June 25, 2022 as part of Free RPG Day 2022.

Publisher's summary

“

A Familiar Problem is a one-page RPG of magical familiars on a mission! Created by Marisha Ray (Critical Role) and designed by Grant Howitt (Honey Heist), this game puts you in the role of animal familiars, who take on a quest while their adventuring party is away. Can these scrappy and stressed out familiars make a difference, in their own small way, and prove they’re up for adventure? Only your chaotic gameplay will tell.

”

– 

Publisher's summary

[!h]

Gameplay Section

YOU are a small magical creature, summoned by a powerful spellcaster as an assistant - but that spellcaster is on something called an “adventure” and has forgotten all about you. You and your companions band together to show the adventurers that you're worth paying attention to. You decide on a vital mission that will help them on the adventure, then set to it.

How To Play

Make a character by rolling (or choosing) a species,then roll three times on the POCKET MAGIC tableto determine your spells. When you act and thegamemaster believes the outcome is in doubt, roll a D10 and add the most appropriate stat. If you roll equal to or higher than the difficulty number determined by the GM, you succeed - lower, and you fail. (If you want to make the task easier, break it down into multiple smaller tasks) If you fail on a 1 or succeed on a 10, theadventurers did something to make the task easier orharder for you - and probably didn't even notice.

When you fail a dangerous task, mark 1 Stress. When you roll a die to resolve an action, if you ever roll equal to or under your Stress, you lose it; ignore the mission and act as outlined in your BREAK. If theother familiars can help you calm down and rescueyou from whatever trouble you got into before theend of the scene, set your stress to 0 and continue - otherwise, you disappear off to the Familiar Plane and play no further part in the game.

Familiar Attributes

CLEVER. Talk to people and understand their strange culture.

FIERCE. Bite, scratch, scare, and make loud noises

SLY. Hide, lie, sneak, disguise, and trick.

QUICK. Climb, dodge, outrun, and spot

Difficulty Number

1-5: Easy

6: Standard

8: Challenging

10: Difficult

Missions

Your Mission	Adventure	Location
1. Sabotage the villain's scheme	1. Spooky	1. Dungeon
2. Locate a lost item	2. Overgrown	2. Tower
3. Find some hidden treasure	3. Opulent	3. Mansion
4. Help an adventurer find love	4. Very Magical	4. Castle
5. Rescue an adventurer left for dead	5. Ruined	5. Temple
6. Slay an overlooked enemy	6. Ancient	6. Prison

Player Section

Familiars

Familiar	Stats	BREAK
1. Bat	Clever +1, Fierce +0, Sly +2, Quick +2	Vengeance
2. Crab	Clever +2, Fierce +2, Sly +1, Quick +0	Fury
3. Frog or Toad	Clever +2, Fierce +0, Sly +2, Quick +1	Depression
4. Hawk or Falcon	Clever +0, Fierce +1, Sly +1, Quick +2	Delusions of Grandeur
5. Lizard	Clever +0, Fierce +1, Sly +2, Quick +2	Cowardice
6. Octopus (on land)	Clever +3, Fierce +1, Sly +1, Quick +0	Mania
7. Owl	Clever +2, Fierce +1, Sly +0, Quick +2	Overconfidence
8. Snake	Clever +0, Fierce +1, Sly +2, Quick +2	Betrayal
9. Rat	Clever +0, Fierce +0, Sly +3, Quick +2	Kleptomania
10. Raven	Clever +2, Fierce +0, Sly +2, Quick +1	Narcissism
11. Cat	Clever +1, Fierce +1, Sly +2, Quick +1	Megalomania
12. Weasel	Clever +0, Fierce +2, Sly +2, Quick +1	Paranoia

Pocket Magic

You know three of the following spells that you picked up from reading your master's spellbook. Once you cast any of the spells, they're gone, so use them wisely.

1. BUTTERFINGERS. A target drops whatever they're holding.

2. CHANGE FORM. Take on the form (and stats) of another familiar permanently.

3. CONJURE SLICK. Make a patch of slippery oil.

4. DOOR MAGIC. Open, close, lock, unlock doors. All the classics.

5. IGNITE FIRE. Like lighting a whole box of matches at once.

6. LIMITED INVISIBILITY. Works as long as you don't move.

7. MIST. Fills an area with creepy, obscuring fog for a while.

8. SOAK. Conjure a bucket full of water; bucket not included.

9. SPEAK WITH OBJECT. Objects aren't very interesting, though.

10. SUMMON HOLE. Only a foot or so across, mind you.

11. SUMMON HORSE. Just a regular old horse.

12. WIZARD DIGITS. Light telekinesis with limited fine control.

Development

The game was announced on June 2, 2022, and utilized in "A Familiar Problem: Sprinkle's Incredible Journey" (Sx68) on June 23, 2022. It was released in written form as part of Free RPG Day on June 25, 2022, and is available as a free download through both the Darrington Press website and on DriveThruRPG.

Creative team

• Creator — Marisha Ray
• Designers — Grant Howitt
• Artist — De La Rosa Design LLC

Trivia

• Grant Howitt designed the Honey Heist game system used in "Trinket's Honey Heist" (Sx27), "Honey Heist 2: Electric Beargaloo" (Sx35), and "Honey Heist 3: Tova’s Honeys" (Sx39). He's also the designer of the Crash Pandas game system used in "Crash Pandas: Too Trashed, Too Curious" (Sx37).

References

Art: