Sprinkles is Missing! Review, Actual Play (Ep 20)

A transcript of this episode is available via the episode page on Buzzsprout.

In this episode, we review and play the RPG Sprinkles is Missing!

• 05:19– Actual play

Sprinkles is Missing! was created by M. Allen Hall.  You can purchase the game at the sites below and a variety of other online shops. You can find the creator on Instagram and Threads as @m_allen_hall.

• Itch.io
• DriveThruRPG
• MAllenHall.com
• Indie Press Revolution

How to reach us:

• Email: AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com
• Social Media Links: bio.link/AlmostBedtimeTheater

Other TTRPG content referenced in this episode include:

• Stories RPG - a family-friendly RPG actual play podcast

Our intro and outro theme music are by McRoMusic, who can be found on Patreon at patreon.com/mcromusic.

How to reach us:

• Email: AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com
• Social Media Links: bio.link/AlmostBedtimeTheater

Chapters

• 1:04 Review
• 5:19 Actual Play

Transcript

Rachael 0:02

Hi, I'm Rachael.

Finn 0:03

I'm Finn.

Dan 0:04

And I'm Dan, Rachael's dad.

Rachael 0:06

And this is Almost Bedtime Theater, a podcast about playing roleplaying games with kids. In this episode, we are reviewing and playing Sprinkles is Missing!, an RPG about students of a magical elementary school venturing into a forbidding enchanted forest in search of their beloved school mascot, Sprinkles, the unicorn.

Dan 0:30

Before we get to the review, though, I want to let you know about another family friendly podcast you might enjoy. Stories RPG isn't just a great all ages role playing game for telling all kinds of stories together. It's also an actual play podcast using that game. They've got episodes with superheroes and goblins and sci fi students, as well as some excellent episodes with advice about writing stories and interviews with the creators of other RPGs. You can find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and StoriesRPG.com. And now for the review!

Finn 1:04

Sprinkles is Missing! was created by M. Allen Hall and comes as a 72 page book. If you prefer short, easy to run games, don't let the length of the book deter you. Most of those pages are scenes that you only need to read if you end up playing them in the game. The tone is fun and conversational, and it's written for both new and experienced gamers so that it's easy to understand.

Rachael 1:23

In addition to the rules, you'll need some six sided dice, ideally four per player, copies of the character sheet, a way to take notes, and someone to run the game. Each player is a student of Arbor Haven Magical Elementary School. They start out with a name, a magic spell based on their favorite class at school, and an item, like a jump rope or a sack of marbles. And that's all you need to get going.

Finn 1:45

The core game mechanic is to roll two to four six sided dice and add the two highest results. If that total is eight or higher, you succeed. If it's less than eight, you fail. But you have several options that allow you to re-roll, like asking for help or using an item. Just how many dice you get to roll depends on how challenging the obstacle is, or if you are using a spell, how good you are at casting that spell. If you succeed at casting a spell, you get better at it, so that's cool.

Dan 2:10

Sprinkles is Missing is available digitally for$10 at Itch.io or through DriveThruRPG. Printed copies are$25, and those can be found at MAllenHall.com, Indie Press Revolution, and a variety of other shops online. We'll include some links in our show notes if you'd like to check it out. So, let's talk a bit about what we thought about the game. On a scale of simple, moderate, or complex, I'd say that this is a simple game to run. For my part, I spent less than 30 minutes reading the book and getting things ready. Thanks to all the scenes that were included, it's possible to run this game with very little prep. A lot of that is because the scenes are presented so nicely. Each one is a single page that provides a bit of description that you can read to the players when they're deciding what scene to pick, a paragraph you can read to set the scene when they arrive, a handful of useful details, what counts as completing the scene, and a suggested reward for getting through it. How would you, how would you rate playing the game?

Finn 3:10

I would say playing it was pretty simple, because there was no complex spell mechanic or anything like that. You can just roll to cast it whenever you'd like.

Rachael 3:18

I think it's pretty simple because you don't need a lot, and you don't have to be like super experienced role players to enjoy the game.

Dan 3:25

Excellent.

Rachael 3:26

What do you like about the game?

Finn 3:27

I like how creative all the different spells are and how there's different ones for like your favorite subject in school. Like there's the math spells and the art spells. I think it's pretty interesting.

Dan 3:37

I'll add that it's very easy to just pick up and play. We played it with Rachael's grandmother who basically did not have experience playing role playing games. It worked out great, so it's something that's very available to people at all levels of experience. I like that game emphasizes giving players hints about what lies down each path of the forest, so that they have something to base their decision on when they're trying to pick which scene to go for. I also enjoyed that some of the scenes have these little connections with each other that are fun to discover. So, like, you found the bone and then later on you found its owner.

Finn 4:12

Mhm.

Dan 4:12

That kind of thing occurs a few times in those scenes. When it comes to playing the game, I mean, we've already said you don't need a lot of experience, you don't need any experience in order to enjoy playing it, but do you have any suggestions for someone who's about to play it for the first time?

Rachael 4:29

I would say, don't forget to take advantage of your items, they're definitely sure to be useful, and I know I've definitely forgotten that I've had them a couple of times. What suggestions do you have for someone who is going to run this game for the first time?

Dan 4:43

I would say read through the first part of the book, familiarize yourself with how the scenes are presented but don't worry about reading them all because they are, they are really presented well to be something that you can, you can read on the fly if you want and, and take it from there. Anybody have anything else they'd like to add?

Finn 4:59

I don't think so.

Actual Play

Dan 5:01

If you'd like to get in touch with us with a question, comment, or suggestion, you can email us at almostbedtimetheater@gmail. com or find our current social media links at bio.link/almostbedtimetheater. Okay. Let's start by having you introduce your elementary student characters that you're going to be playing today. Who would like to go first?

Rachael 5:29

Okay, so my name is Shenanigans, I'm an art mage, my spell is frame the shot, and my item is a pogo stick. It's a registered lethal weapon in 37 countries.

Dan 5:41

The pogo stick?!

Rachael 5:44

Yes! It was my fault, every single one. I

Finn 5:47

You've done a lot of traveling, huh?

Dan 5:50

What? No, I don't need to know. It's better I don't know.

Finn 5:52

I don't

Rachael 5:53

Once you've reached the third grade of school, you know, you've done a lot of things. You've earned a lot of, um, experience points...

Finn 5:59

Mm hmm.

Rachael 6:00

And you've got a lot of, um, learning still to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan 6:06

What does frame the shot do?

Rachael 6:08

Um, it... I can hold my hands up in like a camera, you know, with your, the right angles know, like that. And everything in the frame cannot move out of the frame.

Dan 6:20

All right. Finn, who will you be playing today?

Finn 6:24

I will be playing Jupiter, the music sorcerer, and so the spell that I have is called Airhorn, which makes an airhorn.

Dan 6:33

Beautiful. Uh, and what item, hopefully less lethal, are you carrying today?

Finn 6:39

Twenty five foot hose.

Dan 6:41

Nice.

Rachael 6:42

I don't want to know what you could do with that.

Dan 6:44

I'm sure it will be very helpful somewhere along the line. Okay. You are students at Arbor Haven Magical Elementary School, which sits at the edge of the Enchanted Forest. Aside from learning magic, you also get to learn all the normal school things that children learn, that they also then, promptly forget, during summer vacation. Except for the magic. Everybody remembers their magic lessons. And like most schools, uh, yours has a mascot, but this mascot is not somebody in a silly costume. This mascot is a unicorn. Sprinkles the unicorn. And everybody loves Sprinkles and he loves everybody there. He, um, is always showing up for birthday parties and going to the track meets and just being everywhere and helpful. And it's awesome and wondrous and there's sparkles and everything. But last weekend, he did not show up to any birthday parties. And on Monday,

Finn 7:45

He didn't... He didn't go to my clarinet concert.

Dan 7:49

On Monday, he didn't show up for your clarinet concert. Uh, on Tuesday what did he not show up for, Rachael?

Rachael 7:56

A big prank on Principal Tootietr uck.

Dan 8:01

Principal Elwood.

Rachael 8:03

Yeah, that guy, sure.

Dan 8:04

So, he

Rachael 8:05

Oh wait, teacher?

Dan 8:07

Yes?

Rachael 8:08

I think you mean prin I think you I think you mean

Dan 8:12

Do you perhaps have a humorous term for Principal Elwood that you would like to share with the

Rachael 8:17

Who is Principal Elwood? It's Principal It's

Dan 8:22

I think you do! I think you're laughing so hard you can't get it out!

Rachael 8:26

It's Principal Elkfood. Excuse you.

Finn 8:29

I don't even think that's funny.

Rachael 8:37

I need to write down some good, like, names. Hold on.

Dan 8:40

For the principal?

Rachael 8:42

Yes! Who else?

Dan 8:44

So, yes, apparently Sprinkles did not even show up for the big prank on Principal Elwood.

Rachael 8:50

How offensive.

Dan 8:52

And then on Thursday, the student council brought their concerns up to Principal Elwood, who said that he could not help. And now it's Friday. School is out for the weekend, and no one has seen Sprinkles for a week.

Finn 9:06

That's suspicious. What's up with the principal, man?

Rachael 9:12

I think he's our main suspect.

Finn 9:14

Yeah, write that down, write that down.

Rachael 9:16

I I am, I am, I am, I am. Yep, yep, yep. Got it. Feeling very official for a third grader right now.

Dan 9:22

So you have made a decision. If Sprinkles isn't around, there's only one place he could be. You gather your supplies, your 25 feet of hose, and you head for where the school playground meets the forest. Sprinkles is missing, and if Principal Elwood won't help, you'll have to do it on your own.

Finn 9:45

I think I've got my hair in some, like, braided pigtails. I'm down to business.

Dan 9:50

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Rachael 9:53

Yeah, I, I decided to like shave half my hair bald the last summer and the other half is like unbrushed. Who needs to brush their hair? I'm perfect as always, ready for business.

Dan 10:07

That's got shenanigans written all over it!

Rachael 10:09

I'm bringing my pogo stick.

Finn 10:11

Oh Boing? You traveling on the pogo stick?

Rachael 10:17

Yeah, totally.

Finn 10:18

Yeah.

Rachael 10:19

But it's mostly for like whacking and poking reasons. Yeah.

Dan 10:24

Alright, as you step between the first trees of the forest, without a warning, a voice speaks behind you. It's a familiar adult voice. The principal's voice.

Finn 10:34

Run.

Dan 10:35

You spin and see him standing at the edge of the playground with his arms crossed. He says,"What, uh, do you think you're doing?"

Rachael 10:45

So, yeah, I'm just gonna be like,"NOTHING!" and waltz into the trees.

Finn 10:52

This is how we always walk home. From school, we walk home through the woods. To my house. We're gonna go hang out, have some, have some snacks. I've got a tree house. You could be invited if you really wanted to be, but it's kind of like

Rachael 11:09

Wait, we're inviting Principal Sparkletoot?

Dan 11:13

Did you say Sparkletoot? The little thumbs up as she falls off the chair.

Finn 11:18

You're right, he can't come because it's like, it's kind of like a third graders only kind of event, so You little invite the.

Rachael 11:26

It's one of those non-spoken rules: you don't invite the principal.

Finn 11:31

Yeah.

Dan 11:32

Well, fun fact, if you're going to try to lie to the principal, you get to roll dice. Let's see how this goes down.

Rachael 11:41

I am so great at lying. Like I should have a spell for like, instinct convincing.

Dan 11:46

I believe there is one, but you didn't take it. You get to roll two dice. This is a challenging thing.

Rachael 11:52

It is so not challenging.

Dan 11:54

It's the principal of an elementary school. I suspect they have a clue.

Rachael 11:59

I got a six and a three.

Dan 12:03

Okay. So the way-

Rachael 12:06

Is he falling over screaming? Is he running back to the school?

Finn 12:10

He's probably sad because he's not invited to our treehouse where we're gonna hang out and play games and eat

Rachael 12:15

That's a good point.

Dan 12:17

Yeah Yeah, yeah, Um, so the way the game works is, uh, you roll the number of dice, the number of six sided dice. You add the two highest values. So if you end up rolling four dice, you pick out the two highest. If you're only rolling two dice, obviously you're just picking the two you've got. If that number is 8 or higher, then you succeed. If it's less than 8, not so much. So, you rolled a 9 there, Rachael. Uh, that is a success. Inexplicably, Principal Elwood believes you.

Rachael 12:49

I did that well.

Dan 12:51

I think he might be more willing to believe that you two are going to go hang out at the tree house. Jupiter's got a tree house. Okay. Maybe that's not entirely outside of the, uh, the realm of possibility. So he says,"Oh, that sounds like a grand time, grand time. Do watch your step in the forest, then. It can be dangerous. Toodles!

Finn 13:21

I want to honk my air horn, but I don't want to jeopardize our passage here, so I'm refraining.

Dan 13:27

You have successfully, managed to-

Rachael 13:29

Avoided Principal Wrinkleturtle?

Dan 13:32

Yes, let's go with that. You are in the forest. Now, the way this will work is, um, in order to reach Sprinkles, you need to successfully complete six scenes in the forest. Each time you, you move past one, you have two paths in the forest that you can take. You have completed your interaction with the principal, and you have moved into the forest. Now you can hear off in one direction, there is a rustle of activity, uh, an old woman's voice and the clucking of chickens. Off the other direction, you can see that the trees thin out a bit, and the sunlight shines on the floor of the forest ahead. Which direction would you like to go?

Rachael 14:20

Old woman, I want to steal a chicken.

Finn 14:22

I'm down for chickens.

Dan 14:23

Alright, chicken theft!

Rachael 14:25

Totally not for nefarious purposes.

Dan 14:27

Says the person whose pogo stick is illegal in 37 countries.

Finn 14:31

Does that include this country?

Rachael 14:33

No, I think I'd rather not be hunted down by the authorities. Uh, for owning a pogo stick.

Finn 14:39

Sounds good.

Dan 14:40

You enter a clearing. A hut with a thatched roof stands between two tall dead trees. An old woman is chasing a few chickens around the clearing. They appear to have escaped from the chicken coop next to the hut.

Rachael 14:53

Can I steal one?

Dan 14:54

And just so you're aware, the goal of this scene is to get all of the chickens back in the chicken coop.

Rachael 15:02

For how long.

Dan 15:04

Uh, just once, I guess.

Rachael 15:07

Hehehehe.

Dan 15:08

So old woman is there and she's like,"Hey, come back here, you chickens. What are you, chicken?"

Rachael 15:15

Can I use my frame the shot, and like

Finn 15:18

Oh, and then I could, like, herd them up.

Dan 15:21

That sounds like a perfect use of your spell to make all the chickens stop so that that way someone could go pick them up and go stick them in the coop.

Rachael 15:29

And then steal them. I honestly don't need a chicken, but I want one.

Dan 15:34

Well, there are, there are two chickens running around that need to be dealt with.

Rachael 15:38

So she'd probably notice if one went missing.

Finn 15:41

We could ask for a chicken.

Rachael 15:44

But where's the fun in truthfulness and honesty?

Finn 15:48

Fair. Good point.

Rachael 15:50

Thank you.

Dan 15:52

Would you, uh, like to use your spell, Shenanigans?

Rachael 15:55

Yes.

Dan 15:57

So the thing with spells, they always start out where you roll 2 dice. But if you succeed, you get to start adding dice for future attempts. So the more you succeed with your spell, the better you are at it. We're starting then with just 2 dice for shenanigans. You need to roll that 8 or higher on your spell. What you got?

Rachael 16:18

A four and a five?

Dan 16:19

Would you like to add those together for the younger members of our listening audience?

Rachael 16:23

A nine. I got a nine in total. Do you want me to say that with more enthusiasm?

Finn 16:30

Yippee!

Dan 16:31

As enthusiastic as you want.

Rachael 16:33

Yay!

Dan 16:34

All right. A nine is a success. So you have successfully frozen the chickens in place What is Jupiter doing then? The chickens are frozen. Honestly, uh, the old woman is probably frozen in place too, because she was chasing the chickens.

Finn 16:49

Am I so what am I doing? Am I taking a chicken and running or what am I doing?

Rachael 16:53

It's my chicken now! Ha! Ha!

Dan 16:55

In theory you were putting the chickens in the chicken coop, but who am I to say?

Finn 17:02

So I'm, I'm running in there, grabbing a big handful of chicken, taking them to the coop.

Dan 17:08

The old woman says,"Oh, thank you very much for catching my chickens." That's a totally different accent. I, I don't, I don't-

Rachael 17:17

I don't know what you are doing.

Dan 17:19

I don't either, but, but you're doing the right thing, because she's like,"Thank you, thank you."

Finn 17:25

Maybe she would give us an egg, like a chicken egg,

Rachael 17:28

Egg! We could toss it! We could toss it at Principal Snort Ox's window!

Finn 17:36

I was thinking it was going to hatch, but I guess, two options.

Rachael 17:39

Well, I mean, if you want to take care of a baby chicken, then you do that,

Finn 17:43

you you wanted to take care of an adult chicken.

Dan 17:46

Ha ha, shifty eyes.

Rachael 17:48

No, I didn't. I just wanted a chicken, I wasn't planning ahead, okay?

Dan 17:54

So the chickens then, very easy to catch, maneuver into the coop at this point, um, the old woman says, uh, my, my name is Beulah I am the witch of this part of the woods. And as a thank you, uh, you know, I was thinking maybe I could teach you a new spell if you want. Uh, or-

Finn 18:14

I wanted a chicken.

Dan 18:15

Oh, you want a chicken?

Rachael 18:16

No, we don't want a chicken.

Finn 18:17

No, we want, oh wait, a spell-

Dan 18:19

No, it's fine, I can-

Finn 18:20

A spell, a spell, a spell.

Rachael 18:21

A spell, a spell, a

Dan 18:22

you sure?

Rachael 18:23

Yes.

Dan 18:24

Oh, okay, well, what spells would you like to know? That wasn't her.

Finn 18:28

I was to going to say.

Dan 18:31

That accent slipped hard.

Rachael 18:32

It's like, she's smiling one minute, and then the next she's like, what spells do you want?

Dan 18:37

Beulah is multifaceted and could absolutely teach you all kinds of things.

Finn 18:41

She also has chickens.

Rachael 18:43

Yeah, I think I actually want to go with, um, Compelling Jig. You dance a little jig, the person or creature targeted by the spell must dance with you. They can do nothing else as long as you are dancing.

Dan 18:55

That sounds very shenanigannery

Finn 18:57

I want bar models, where you summon a bar model from the ground which can be up to ten feet tall.

Rachael 19:05

We're becoming kinda frightening third graders.

Finn 19:08

Mm hmm.

Dan 19:10

This means you have successfully completed your first scene, and you get to move further into the forest. For your next scene selection, off in one direction, you hear the sound of running water. On the other direction, you see a large hole in the ground ahead.

Rachael 19:29

You think unicorns jump down holes? Well I do, so you know, I think we should go ahead

Finn 19:36

Maybe there's bugs in it.

Dan 19:38

There could be bugs in it.

Finn 19:39

I like bugs.

Dan 19:41

You reach the hole. The hole is about 10 feet across. When you get close, a monstrous snake emerges. It sees your group and quickly weaves between the trees in a circle, trapping you.

Finn 19:54

Are there bugs in there?

Dan 19:57

Uh, no bugs that you notice just yet.

Finn 19:59

I want the podcast listeners to know that I was very sad when there were no bugs in the hole.

Rachael 20:03

Ha!

Dan 20:04

The snake looks down at you and says,"Hello."

Finn 20:10

Airhorn!

Dan 20:11

"You can move out of this part of the forest as soon as you solve my riddle, or better yet, pose an interesting riddle for me."

Rachael 20:21

Can I make the snake dance?

Dan 20:23

Yes, Shenanigans, you could totally attempt to jig the snake.

Finn 20:28

Well okay, I want to hear the riddle first. I want to hear the riddle first. And then we can have a dance party.

Dan 20:34

"Oh, you want the riddle, or do you want to give the riddle? Pspspspspspsps"

Rachael 20:39

I want to the riddle.

Dan 20:41

"I belong to you and though others use me every day. You rarely do. What am I?"

Rachael 20:49

A name.

Dan 20:50

"Ah, man."

Finn 20:53

Can we still make him dance? I think he would enjoy a little bit of a jig.

Rachael 20:57

Would you like some dancing?

Dan 20:59

"Yes?"

Rachael 21:00

or, or would you like to give me a, would you like me to give you a riddle?

Dan 21:04

"Oh, yes. I, I like all the riddles."

Rachael 21:08

All right, you can use this on the next person that comes here. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?"

Dan 21:18

"I don't know.

Rachael 21:19

Do you give up?

Dan 21:20

"Yes.

Rachael 21:21

An echo. I'm not sure how great that one actually was, but yeah.

Dan 21:25

The snake's pleased, you know.

Finn 21:27

Can we still do a dance?

Dan 21:29

Totally can do a dance.

Finn 21:30

I'm gonna do a dance.

Dan 21:33

Do a little dance. What kinda dance does Jupiter do?

Finn 21:36

Maybe a little bit of disco.

Dan 21:38

Stayin alive, stayin alive.

Finn 21:39

Yeah, running man.

Rachael 21:42

Hold on, hold on, I'll do a, I'll do a, I can do some like, uh, opera singing with my beautiful voice.

Dan 21:48

Is that the trigger for your dance spell? Don't think opera is known for dancing. Think you have a monkey stuck in your throat."

Finn 21:59

That made me want to dance.

Dan 22:01

"I sometimes get monkeys stuck in my throat."

Finn 22:04

Can we go, like, we solved the riddle, so we, we-

Rachael 22:07

That's true, can we go?

Dan 22:08

Oh, yes. Yes.

Finn 22:09

Oh, can I ask the snake, can I ask the snake if there are any bugs that would like to be my friend?

Dan 22:14

Oh, there's, there's tons of bugs in the hole, deeper in the hole. Yes.

Finn 22:19

Do you want to go deeper in the hole? I want to go deeper in the hole.

Rachael 22:22

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

Finn 22:24

The hole is basically... it looks like a big snake tunnel,

Rachael 22:27

And we're going in?

Dan 22:31

As you make your way in, it gets darker and darker and there are bugs. What kind of bug would you like to find?

Finn 22:39

I want a little green beetle.

Dan 22:41

You do your best to find a green beetle in the dark. You've definitely got a beetle.

Finn 22:46

Maybe there's glowing bugs!

Dan 22:50

You want a glowing bug? Because then you could see where you were going. You find, yes, green glowing beetles, and then you continue on through the tunnel and you come out further in the forest. Off to one side, you hear a distant popping sound and then all is quiet. To the other side, you catch a glimpse of an animal with yellow fur dodging between the trees.

Rachael 23:11

That's a unicorn, right? Yellow fur. Unicorns. Always happens. Yep. To the yellow fur! Yay!

Finn 23:19

Let's go!

Rachael 23:20

No objections were made. So, you know.

Dan 23:23

All right, let me find that scene. You head into the forest, uh, and following the, the flashes of yellow fur. And as you get closer, you realize it's a golden retriever. A couple of you, which is to say, you, realize that the dog is one that belongs to a neighbor and you know the dog's name is Charlie. Charlie is carrying a rather large bone in his mouth. It's, it's like a bone over a foot long. That's what Charlie's got. And Charlie is dodging around in the forest.

Rachael 23:54

What did he...? What, what sort of dark arts is he getting into these days?

Finn 23:58

Necromancy?

Dan 23:59

The goal of this scene is to get Charlie to trust you enough that he stays with you. He's apparently a little lost in the forest.

Finn 24:07

Hmm.

Rachael 24:08

Can I play Tug of War with him with my pogo stick?

Dan 24:11

I'm thinking Charlie's fairly playful. That sounds like a pretty easy thing to do. So you'll be rolling four dice, taking the two highest to see if you can break an eight, to see if you can convince Charlie to play with your pogo stick.

Rachael 24:24

I got 4 and 4, so that's an 8.

Dan 24:26

So you kind of lure Charlie in, uh, playing around with the pogo stick. He comes in, he's yapping happily. He drops the bone and he starts like tugging at the end of the pogo stick and yanking around. And he's very happy.

Finn 24:39

Can I, can I grab the bone? I want to see what's going on with the bone.

Dan 24:43

Absolutely. It looks like it's a bone from a human. If something had a slight magical tinge to it, how, how would Jupiter notice?

Finn 24:53

I think when I touched it, it would like tingle my fingertips a little bit.

Dan 24:58

There you go then, yes, the bone makes your fingertips tingle.

Finn 25:02

Hmm.

Dan 25:03

What would you like to do with the bone?

Finn 25:06

I'm going to put it in there with my, with my 25 feet of hose. I'm going to keep it for later.

Dan 25:11

Excellent. Go ahead and mark that down in your inventory. All right, so you've got Charlie hanging out with you now. He's happy to, to run along with you as you go deeper into the forest. Your next decision you've got, uh, one direction, the forest looks darker than you've seen elsewhere. The other direction you notice someone crouching behind a fallen tree. What would you like to investigate?

Rachael 25:34

I bet it's the principal. Can we, like, surprise him with Airhorn?

Dan 25:38

So you'd like to sneak up and air horn whoever's behind this tree?

Rachael 25:42

I don't care if it's the principal. I don't know why we don't like the principal so much, but maybe he's just assigned us a bunch of detentions.

Dan 25:49

I wonder why.

Finn 25:53

Shenanigans, is a bad influence on me, I'll just say that.

Dan 25:56

Shenanigans is a terrible influence!

Rachael 25:58

I mean, totally, like, the entire goal. Isn't that why we're playing this game?

Finn 26:03

But he didn't, he didn't want to investigate for Sprinkles.

Rachael 26:06

Yeah. He's so sus!

Dan 26:10

So question: are you going to make your way up and figure out who's behind the tree? Or are you just going to jump out in an air horn first?

Rachael 26:18

Gonna air horn. Air horn.

Dan 26:19

Yep. Okay.

Finn 26:20

Airhorn first, questions later!

Rachael 26:22

That's how you win somebody's trust, quick.

Finn 26:24

Yeah.

Dan 26:24

It is. It is. You know what? I'm just going to let this happen. Okay Jupiter. Can you please describe for us what it is you do?

Finn 26:32

So I come leaping over the log, land, arm up, finger in the air, very important, hand on the hip, and just, Airhorn.

Dan 26:40

And the, uh, the person behind the log who is not in fact Principal Elwood flies into the air, all arms and legs going every direction. And you recognize them as Jules. She is, uh, one of the high school students.

Finn 26:57

Have they lost any bones recently? Because I've got one.

Dan 27:02

She is still trying to catch her breath enough to reply, but she seems to have all her limbs.

Finn 27:10

Obvious limbs.

Dan 27:12

Obvious limbs. Uh, eventually she is able to talk and she says,"I got scared by a bear and ran away, but forgot my backpack, and when I came back to look for it, it was gone. I think the bear took it because it was full of snacks."

Rachael 27:26

Ooh, I like snacks.

Finn 27:27

Why are you here?

Dan 27:29

Oh, I was practicing magic.

Rachael 27:33

I thought it was a forbidden forest.

Dan 27:36

Uh, less forbidden and more foreboding, I guess.

Rachael 27:40

Like, I'm just gonna stage whisper, they're sus.

Dan 27:43

And she says,"I don't suppose you'd be willing to get my backpack from the bear's cave?"

Finn 27:48

What do we get in return, though?

Rachael 27:50

Yeah, are we getting paid for this?

Finn 27:52

Snacks? Do we get, do we get some snacks?

Dan 27:56

I, I suppose I could give you a snack.

Rachael 28:01

Do you have nachos?

Dan 28:02

Oh, yeah. There's like a whole can of nachos in there.

Finn 28:06

Hmm.

Rachael 28:06

Hey, Let's go find this bear before they eat my nachos.

Finn 28:08

Yeah, let's go.

Dan 28:09

Jules points the way to the bear cave and you make your way there. You hear some deep gravelly snores coming from within. What's your plan?

Finn 28:20

Pogo stick?

Rachael 28:21

And poke the bear?

Finn 28:22

Yeah. It doesn't seem great, does it?

Rachael 28:25

Let's just go in without a plan and see what happens.

Dan 28:28

Okay, no plan it is. Uh, you enter the cave. It's dark and humid and the air smells of popcorn breath. And there at the back of the cave is a great big bear. It's a sleep. It has one paw curled around what appears to be a slightly mauled backpack.

Rachael 28:50

Can I do a Compelling Jig and make them dance while we steal the backpack?

Finn 28:54

You, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, you dance, I go running in there, grab the backpack and take off. Then you can, uh, deal with, uh.

Rachael 29:01

What kind of bear is this and could we climb a tree to escape it? Because I'm fairly certain there's a type of bear that doesn't climb trees. I don't remember what kind it was.

Finn 29:11

Red next to black, you're in danger, Jack. What? I don't know, that's snakes.

Rachael 29:16

There's a rhyme.

Finn 29:17

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.

Dan 29:19

Because there's a bear on your ship?!

Rachael 29:24

If it's brown, lay down. If it's black, fight back. Oh gosh, if it's white, goodnight.

Finn 29:30

Good night!

Rachael 29:31

Yeah.

Dan 29:34

I am so glad that we get to have a science question to answer every time we play. Um, from what I'm seeing black, brown, and grizzly bears are good climbers.

Finn 29:46

But maybe this one isn't. Maybe this one has a bit of a skill issue.

Rachael 29:51

Is it a polar bear because they don't climb trees?

Finn 29:52

Polar bear. Polar bear. Cannot climb trees.

Dan 29:55

That's that's a solid point. Uh, but I'm thinking it's unlikely a polar bear is what's living in the depths of the forest.

Finn 30:04

That's fair. If I was a bear, what would I do, hypothetically, when confronted with bar models?

Dan 30:11

That sounds like a, uh, a scientifically testable hypothesis to me.

Finn 30:15

And If that and if that doesn't work, we're close enough to the entrance to tell if it's brown or black, and then we can either lay down or fight back.

Dan 30:23

All right. So what kind of jig is Shenanigans going to make the bear do?

Rachael 30:27

I'm gonna do the tango, I think.

Finn 30:29

We're going to have a boogie.

Rachael 30:31

That's a partner dance, right?

Dan 30:32

It's uh, it's rather famously a dance that takes two, yes. Which means you and the bear...

Rachael 30:41

No, I think, you know, okay,

Dan 30:43

Is there a dance that you'd like to use that doesn't require holding hands with a bear?

Rachael 30:48

Sure, I'll do the Macarena.

Finn 30:50

Hey, Macarena!

Dan 30:51

Since this is the first time that you have used Compelling Jig, you're going to be rolling just two dice.

Finn 30:58

Uh oh.

Rachael 30:59

Okay, I got a 5 and a 1...

Dan 31:01

A six. Well, the good news is that this game offers some options if you don't succeed.

Rachael 31:08

A, getting eaten by a bear. D, wait, B, uh, getting eaten by a bear. C, getting eaten by a bear.

Finn 31:16

We only get eaten if it's white.

Rachael 31:17

Oh, right. Is it brown, or, what, what kind of bear is this?

Dan 31:21

This is a healthy-looking brown bear.

Rachael 31:24

Alright, we gotta play dead.

Finn 31:25

Go ahead. Wait, is it awake? Did your spell wake it up? Your spell

Rachael 31:29

Is it awake?

Finn 31:30

I don't know if it is awake.

Dan 31:32

It's not fully awake, but it's definitely starting to wake up. That said, if you decide to retry this and, and this time use an item or get help from a friend, you can roll again.

Rachael 31:44

Sure, I'll do a pogo stick and dancing.

Finn 31:46

Do you want me to start beatboxing?

Rachael 31:49

Beatboxing, yes.

Dan 31:50

Like. Cats in boots and cats and boots and cats.

Rachael 31:53

No, it's bears and cats and bears and cats and bears Totally elevated it. I got a five and a six!

Finn 32:00

I'm picturing the pogo stick like a cane, and you're like,

Rachael 32:03

I mean I was kind of thinking I was bouncing up and down with the beat, while doing the Macarena. Note my skills.

Dan 32:10

So you start bouncing and dancing and beatboxing and you see the bear's shoulders start to go up and down with the beat, and then its hips start bouncing with the beat, and it wakes all the way up and stands up on its back legs and starts doing the Macarena!

Finn 32:27

Mar mar carina.

Rachael 32:29

That's really cute. Steal the backpack.

Finn 32:31

Okay, I'm grabbing the bag.

Rachael 32:33

Still beatboxing the whole time?

Finn 32:35

Well, yeah. Ha ha.

Rachael 32:37

Bears and cats

Finn 32:39

Ha

Rachael 32:40

Everyone who is a great beatboxer listening going like,"Oh my goodness."

Dan 32:45

Okay. You have the bag of snacks and a dancing bear. What's the plan?

Finn 32:50

Shall I throw up my, um, my bar models?

Rachael 32:54

Yeah, do the bar model.

Finn 32:55

This is my first roll. Oh, that one's on the floor. Got a six and a one. By the way, by the way, this makes seven.

Rachael 33:02

Can you incorporate the bone into, Incorporate the bone into it?

Finn 33:06

Would a bear chew on a bone?

Dan 33:08

I'm going to say yes, the bear would be interested in the bone. Do you want to roll to distract it that way instead of using the, the bar models?

Finn 33:18

Yeah.

Dan 33:18

Let's call that a standard difficulty. So you get three dice plus one more for using the bone.

Finn 33:24

Ooh, four and four, that's eight.

Dan 33:26

The bear's eyes lock on the bone as it sails past. Shenanigans lets the dancing spell drop, the bear heads right over to check out its new snack, and you book it out of the cave where you find Jules nervously waiting for you.

Rachael 33:41

I've already taken the nachos out and I'm eating them.

Dan 33:43

Jules is very happy to get what remains of her backpack. And she's like,"So, what are you two doing all the way out here in, you know, the forest?"

Rachael 33:54

That's not for you to know

Finn 33:57

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's funny that this high schooler just had two third graders, like, save her stuff.

Dan 34:07

Is there anything else that you'd like to do before you continue on your way?

Finn 34:11

Yeah. I wanna do a creepy little laugh and then walk away backwards, like, staring at her. Can we do that?

Dan 34:20

Sure you can do that.

Finn 34:22

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Dan 34:24

And so it is you leave behind a slightly disturbed Jules. And with Charlie in tow, head deeper into the forest. One, uh, option you have is that you can head toward a clearing where there appears to be something low and wide filling the center of the clearing. In the other direction, you can see a man in the distance pulling on what looks like a very large rock.

Rachael 34:51

It's a unicorn.

Dan 34:52

It's a unicorn, which one?

Rachael 34:54

The low and wide thing.

Dan 34:55

And you want to investigate this low, wide unicorn.

Finn 35:00

That's, that's, that's okay with me. I think, um, Jupiter will listen to what you say and just be like, okay. That makes sense to me. Unicorn. All right.

Dan 35:11

What you find when you reach the edge of the clearing is a ring of oversized white mushrooms. Each mushroom is about knee-high and there are 16 of them making up this ring that's like 20 feet in diameter. In the center of the ring is a wooden box that's a big enough that one of you could stand on it. And just so you know, the goal of this scene is to get what's in that box.

Rachael 35:37

So is it like...

Finn 35:39

This seems deceptive.

Rachael 35:40

um,

Finn 35:41

I'm thinking like a fairy circle.

Rachael 35:43

Could we like take a stick and toss it in there?

Dan 35:46

Certainly.

Rachael 35:47

All right, I wanna do that.

Dan 35:48

You find a nice stick and you toss it in. It lies there.

Finn 35:52

Like, what is the thing about fairy circles where they like, they make you dance or something, like you can't stop dancing?

Dan 35:58

Tell you what, if you would like to try and recall that lesson from your Forest Safety class, that will be a role with three dice.

Finn 36:06

Oh, I got a five and a five.

Dan 36:08

Great. Uh, you remember that stepping on the ground inside of fairy circle will make you fall asleep.

Rachael 36:15

What if, what if you run inside the fairy circle? Instead of just stepping inside it?

Dan 36:19

Then you get to fall asleep at speed. Uh, probably face first.

Finn 36:24

Do you think I could lasso, the box with my 25 foot hose?

Dan 36:30

I think you could do that.

Finn 36:32

Okay.

Dan 36:33

I'm going to say that, uh, that you get two dice for this, but because you're using your item, that's an extra die.

Finn 36:39

Ooh, six and a five. Eleven. Yee haw!

Dan 36:43

And with a big yank, you drag the box all the way to the edge of the ring.

Finn 36:48

Do I Get to keep my hose? I get to have my hose back, right?

Dan 36:51

Yep. And inside the box are two more items, so go ahead and roll on the items table to see what you found.

Rachael 36:59

6 5

Finn 37:00

I got a kite. 6 5, first aid kit. Do you want a kite? We can trade.

Rachael 37:06

What was a 5 6?

Finn 37:07

Mm, a bar of soap. You're not big on bath time?

Rachael 37:13

I'll take a bar of soap. Could make somebody trip on that.

Dan 37:17

Now you only need to get through one more scene, to complete one more scene to reach Sprinkles. Do you want to head for the sound of someone crying loudly, or towards the distant howl of a wolf?

Rachael 37:31

Let's go make the person having a bad day have a better day.

Dan 37:33

You got it. Uh, you follow the sound and what you discover is a skeleton sitting on a log and crying.

Rachael 37:41

Have they lost a bone?

Dan 37:43

They have indeed. You can clearly see that it is missing its left femur. That's its, its thigh bone.

Finn 37:51

Here's the issue. So, so, there was a bear, and, and, the bone,

Rachael 38:01

The bone!

Finn 38:01

The bear, the bear,

Rachael 38:04

The bear.

Finn 38:07

I'm sure you could go get it.

Rachael 38:08

Don't we have the bone? I thought you had the bone.

Finn 38:11

I threw it at the bear.

Rachael 38:12

Oh, and we need to get the bone to pass this?

Dan 38:16

Technically, you just need to help the skeleton be able to walk again. Uh, if you had the bone, it would be easy peasy since you don't, you're gonna need to get innovative.

Rachael 38:26

Don't tell me he wants my pogo stick.

Finn 38:29

Would he like, would he like 25 feet of hose?

Rachael 38:34

Can we scour the area for a really big sticks?

Dan 38:37

Absolutely. That sounds like an easy thing to do out here with all these trees, so go ahead and roll four dice for me.

Rachael 38:44

Okay, cool. I got 4 and 4 so that is an 8

Dan 38:48

Oh, you find out very nice stick that's the perfect size and looks quite, uh, aesthetically pleasing as a thighbone. And you get the skeleton all set up with it, and he's like,"Yarrr, that be a most excellent leg. Now, where might I be finding that bear you mentioned?"

Rachael 39:07

I don't want him to hurt the bear! What are you gonna do to the bear?

Dan 39:11

Oh, I'll just be going to, you, you know, hug it out with, with the bear. Very friendly, like, as you do."

Rachael 39:19

Alright, I'll I'll point it in the direction of the bear.

Dan 39:22

"Now, I suppose I be owing you, uh, a token of, thanks for this fine new leg here. Uh, what would you say to each of you learning a new spell?"

Finn 39:32

I want forgery. ha

Rachael 39:37

Oh gosh, I don't know. I probably would have gone with forgery as well. Wireless speaker, that's what I want.

Dan 39:42

Very good. So armed with the new superpowers of forgery and wireless speakers, you March off, once more into the forest. And this time you come to a clearing, at the center of which is a tall gray stone tower with this walled off garden off to one side and coming out of the front door of the tower is a, is a middle-aged man in a dark gray robe with a, a matching pointy hat, and right behind him is Sprinkles.

Finn 40:12

So, what's up with this guy? Did he steal he steal our unicorn?

Dan 40:16

Whoever he is, he seems to be on good terms with Sprinkles. He says some parting words to the unicorn who prances over to you and is ever so happy to see you.

Rachael 40:27

Um, I think we just need to like tell Sprinkles, like, do you realize you've been gone for like a week and everybody's freaking out and Principal Food Truck did nothing?

Finn 40:36

He missed my clarinet concert.

Rachael 40:38

You missed the clarinet concert. How could you? And you missed the huge prank on Principal What's His Name!

Dan 40:46

Sprinkles is so very sorry that he missed the concert and the prank, but he's been here visiting his friend Graham, who has been helping him dye his amazing mane rainbow colors. It is such a big project. It takes like a whole week to get it done.

Rachael 41:02

You're telling me I've been lied to my whole life and it hasn't always been a rainbow?!

Dan 41:09

Oh, heavens no, unicorn manes are white.

Rachael 41:12

I will never trust anyone again, Sprinkles. Especially not you. This is a lie, I will trust you again next week, but, yeah, give me time, I'm processing some emotions right here.

Finn 41:21

Sprinkles, would you like a clarinet solo?

Dan 41:24

Sprinkles would love a clarinet solo.

Finn 41:27

As soon as I get my clarinet, it's in the band room right now, so we have to go back to the school, but, then I can play my clarinet.

Dan 41:33

And it's at this point that Graham cheerfully waves his hand and POOF you are all magically teleported back to the school playground where Principal Elwood is waiting. He greets Sprinkles knowingly and says,"Welcome back, welcome back and congratulations on a most impressive, if risky journey through the forest."

Rachael 42:00

So, Principal Bald Whisker knew about this the whole time, and didn't say anything to the student council? I will raise this with the authorities. I am angry. He doesn't get any of my nachos. No.

Finn 42:15

We got lost on the way to my treehouse.

Dan 42:17

And a wonderful, wonderful tree house it is, I am certain" And then with a little smile, he wishes you a nice weekend and vanishes into thin air."Toodles!" And that's where we're going to call it. Congratulations on making it through Sprinkles is Missing! And that's our show on Sprinkles is Missing! If it sounded like fun, you can find it at Itch.io, DriveThruRPG, MAllenHall.com, and multiple other online shops. You can also find M. Allan Hall on Instagram and Threads as M_Allan_Hall. Our intro and outro themes were created by McRoMusic. Links to their work are available in our show notes. Thanks again for listening and have a good night. Okay, so you are students at Arbor Haven Magical Elementary School, which is the school that sits at the edge of the Enchanted Forest.

Rachael 43:17

He he he.

Dan 43:19

And, aside from teaching magic, I am so worried about Shenanigans. Not for, about.

Finn 43:26

I'm like, Jupiter is like, you can't sit him next to the shenanigan child because he starts acting up.

Dan 43:36

Yes, Shenanigans?

Rachael 43:37

I need to go to the bathroom.

Dan 43:39

No you don't.

Rachael 43:39

Yes, I do! I'm gonna pee my pants!

Dan 43:42

Then you better hurry, you're about to go to the forest. There's no bathrooms in the Forest.

Rachael 43:46

I'll be right back then, hold on.

Dan 43:48

Okay. Okay.