The Player Agenda in Hide & Seek

I think one of the hardest things to impart to a reader of any ttrpg is what playing the game should feel like, but yet nothing more useful you can say. About the same time that I got into Yochai Gal’s Cairn RPG, I also got into Jubensha, the tabletop murder mystery rpgs, and both use Agendas to great affect. While Jubensha typically provide distinct agendas to each separate character, Cairn provides a series of Principles for both the Warden and the Players. Wanting to keep things simple, for Hide & Seek, my suburban folk horror TTRPG, I followed Yochai’s example, but trimmed the Player Principles down to a four prompt Player Agenda. Similarly, there’s a four prompt GM Agenda, but I added a four prompt Table Agenda to the mix as well, with prompts that apply equally to Players and the GM. 

Here’s my advice on how to make the most of the Player Agenda in your Hide & Seek game. 

Seek to learn the truth.

The characters in Hide & Seek are children of an unspecific elementary school age, usually of a curious or precocious nature because those kinds of children make for better stories. The nail-biting kid afraid to step out his front door is only interesting in-game if they’re a voice of dissent and, to some degree, reason against the chaotic action flood of the other characters. Elementary school children are intensely curious and active, and are often propelled to seek the truth if only because it’s there to be sought. The thought of having secret knowledge inaccessible to adults is, as well, a massive motivator. 

Hide from the dangers you’ve uncovered.

However curious and active they may be, few elementary kids are anything close to brave. Frankly, they shouldn’t be. On the level of real physical threats, most of the creatures, fiends and ghosts encountered in suburban folk horror games genuinely outclass children in every regard. There is no circumstance under which it is a good idea to stand and fight, and thus this game does not have rules for it. Instead, run from danger. Hide from it. Avoid and dodge and lie and deflect. But do not confront. 

Secrets are a burden; resolve them to be free.

One of the worst things a child can know is something they don’t want to admit is true. Santa Claus is a lie. Your parents are getting a divorce. What really happened to the family dog. Secrets weigh on your character’s soul in exactly the same way. You know a thing is true, you cannot deny it, yet it hurts to admit that it is a reality. The only way to be free of that crushing burden is to resolve the secret, put the ghost to rest, undo the curse, banish the demon.

Trust each other, not adults.

As a parent, this is the hardest prompt to justify, and it points most acutely and the difference between reality and fiction in this sort of game. In reality, children should feel comfortable trusting adults, but in the source literature, children in the suburban folk horror genre often know terrifying secrets that either cannot be believed by adults or are forbidden to know. Be aware as a player that the adults in your character’s life also have secrets, and they’re withholding them from you as well.