Kingdoms of Pegolia 2022 - Actual play report #1

With my fifth graders (10-11 year olds) in religion class we learn about what a good leader does or what leadership is supposed to be with King David as an example (both a good example and a bad one). To make this more fun and to test what the kids understand of it, I devised a game to play with them. They all got to make a ruler of some kind and name their kingdom. They are all living in the World of Pegolia (PEGO is the acronym for protestant an evangelical religion education in Dutch) and they were allowed to go wild with their imagination. 

I based the rules off of RISUS since that's my go to with older kids. Going all Pendragon-y each turn will be a year, but today was the starting event, which I kind of based off of their cliches. (I wasn't a stickler for how to define a cliche here. I've only got 50 minutes twice a week and have to give the actual lessons.) They had to put one cliche at 4 (being the best at), one at 3 (being good at), one at 2 (beging normal at) and one at 1 (being bad at it).

Now every week they can tell me what they want to do for the year and I will roll all relevant dice to see if it works. I've also have some rulers of my own in the mix, but plan to only use them as they come up (I might make some countdown clocks for them, I dunno yet. I've got a week to decide.)

But anyway. Meet the players:

Vili from the Kingdom of Vil. Dark-blond hair, brownish green eyes and looking cool, wearing normal clothes and known for being lazy. This kid just described himself.

• Highjumper (4)
• Guy who can grab a shield quickly (3)
• Prison breaker (2)
• Fast Runner (1)

Rita van Dieren (of the animals) from De Frisse Bergen (The Fresh/Cool Mountains). She is environmentally conscious and always polite to her subjects. While she can be bossy, she remains respectful and is good in playing chess. (none of this is reflected in her cliches, lol)

• Gardener (4)
• Guitarist (3)
• Ruler (2)
• Not a nosy person (1)

Johny Koning (King) from the kingdom of Justice. He's dumb, beautiful, drinks a lot and is very strong.

• Fighter (4)
• Handsome One (3)
• Justice! (2)
• Drinker (1)

The Viper from The Snakewoods. He's a giant red snake that can talk. He can easily be recognized because there's snakes all around him.

• Snake Whisperer (4)
• Poison Resistant Snake (3)
• Snake Caretaker (2)
• Anger Manager (1)

Sofia De Beste (The Best) uit De Beste Land (The Best Country, but with a wrong article). She's friendly with the entire kingdom and has curly black hair and black eyes. (I think another self-description, though this time with a name that is more different than the other kid's)

• Helping Hand (4)
• Female Athlete (3)
• Cook (2)
• Calm and Collected Person (1)

Pasteur (Pastor, in French) Clara from Brakka. (description missing? I think she did it, but I haven't written it down yet.)

• Prayer Warrior (4)
• Person That Is Good At Doing Meetings (3)
• Athlete (2)
• Fashion Icon (1)

This one is inspired by a gender swap with her dad (Who's a pastor), if I'm not mistaken. Also, some strategy here, being like "This is a game for religion class, so I'm going to be best at praying". Also, it might say something about what she thinks of her father's fashion choices.

Then I'm having three other kingdoms as NPC's to add to the mix:

Robotbrein (Robot Brain) from Robotstad (Robot City).

Robotbrein is a big computer that kind of looks like a brain, but made out of electric wires. Robotbrein always talks about us/we, never about I/me. Robotbrein rules all robots in Robot City and controls them directly.

• Many Robots, One Brain (4)
• Inventor (3)
• Builder (2)
• Person with Empathy (1)

De Grote Stinker (The Big Stinker) from De Zwavelputten (The Sulfuric Pits).

De Grote Stinker is the boss over the Sulfuric Pits in the swamp. He loves trash, stank and unhealthy food. The more things stink, the more comfortable he feels.

• Stinkers (4)
• Tamed Swamp Animals (3)
• Cook (2)
• Cleaning Person (1)

Scheurbek de Luchtpiraat (Rip Maw The Air Pirate) from Het Woestijnland (The Desert Lands).

Scheurbek is an air pirate that ambushes and robs people from the desert with her airships. The airships look like pirate ships combined with hot air balloons. She only allows girls to join. Boys get taken prisoner.

• Tough Pirate (4)
• Strong Girl (3)
• Airship Captain (2)
• Prinses (1)