Past Your Bedtime • 2019 rpg winner

Dedicated to my daughter.




Two players, Parent and Child, will tell a bedtime to help the Child fall asleep. The Child has mechanics to interrupt and take over the story telling. Both players win if they tell a nice story together.

The Child divides 10 points between the following stats: pragmatism, imagination, adventure, and safety. Sleepy and Awake attributes start at zero.

The Child decides the setting and the Parent begins the story by introducing the main character. If the Parent hesitates or becomes repetitive (or for any reason at all) the Child may interrupt by moving one attribute point into Sleepy. The Child takes the story for a short time, their narration should match the attribute used. The Child may change the story in any way, including changing any previously established facts; the Parent just has to roll with it. 

If the story gets too scary, exciting or boring: increase Awake and decrease Sleepy by 1 (but not below zero.)

If Awake reaches four, the Child is too rambunctious for bedtime. When Sleepy is six, the Child falls asleep, the adult should briefly finish the story to themselves, with an ending inspired by watching their beloved child sleeping peacefully.