RPG Mom Quest!

Being a parent is like the ultimate RPG. There are life-or-death quests, random encounters, the potential for XP and treasure (mainly the emotional kind), as well as a whole lot of fun. This idea started as a joke with a geeky coworker, but it's started to take on a life of its own...

So, you want to be a parent? In order to take levels in Parent one must first choose their Parent Path (eg Mom, Dad, Step-Parent, etc) and go on a Parent Quest. The Path you choose mandates the types of quests you can go on, the feats you can take, and the skills you get, and is hard to change mid-game (think 3rd Ed Paladin and being Lawful Good). So you go on your Quest, in my case it was Pregnancy, and then at the completion of the quest, you can take your first level in Parent.

I chose to take levels on the Mom Path because I like a challenge. The standard Parent Quest on the Mom Path is Pregnancy which is kind of a crap shoot. I like to imagine a multi-page table that involves rolling a d20 to choose a sub-table and then a dPercent for your encounters. Encounters include miscarriage, inability to conceive (which leads to side quests like ovulation charting and IVF), morning sickness, heartburn, high blood pressure, cervix punches (I think I got like 200 XP for getting punched in the cervix *from the inside* alone), etc. The boss fight at the end of the Pregnancy Quest is labor and birth. There are other quests that can lead to Motherhood but the only one I can speak to is Pregnancy.

I ended up pretty lucky with my quest and emerged only a few HP down - a small price to pay for the XP I acquired and, the raison d'être, my awesome baby. 

You see, I rolled a natural 20 on my Baby Check, and while I have to keep rolling to confirm the critical hit every week or so, I've been (excuse the pun) on a roll. The Baby, like the Parent, also levels up and gains XP, and together, the Baby and Parent/s go on quests together, such as Breastfeeding and Ear Infections. The Parents and Baby also unlock Achievements such as Sleeping Through the Night, First Word, and First Day of School. Achievements provide a boost in XP and treasure drops and also start new storylines and quests in the game.

Successful completion of quests gives the Parent and Baby XP and Skill Points as well as unlocks feats, skills, knacks, etc.  I'm personally really excited for the Eyes On The Back of My Head and Mom Voice, and have already been socking away points in Working Mom and Entertaining an Infant.

So far, I've been loving it, and I am looking forward to leveling up with Babybee and Boybee. I'm already excited about the potential future expansions like Parenting Multiple Children (and, there's a Grandparent class!).