Fableflames (De Verhalenvlam) - Starter guide
What is Fableflames?
There is a child at the table who cannot yet read a character sheet but knows exactly that their hero wants to tame a dragon. Fableflames was made for that child. De Verhalenvlam, to give it its Dutch name, is a Dutch-language roleplaying game for the whole family, ages six and up: a game master tells the story, the players decide what their homemade heroes do, and a die settles whether it works. The rules are light, the dice are ordinary, and the stories are set as often in Dutch history as in the invented world of Ebenoch.
The game comes out of a library. Rick Vechel started in 2018 in libraries and schools in Limburg with a roleplaying game meant to get children reading. That grew into Het Avonturen Handboek (2021), a hardcover with rules, an adventure and craft projects. Fableflames is its successor: the same three parts, now as separate booklets in a proper game box, published by Vechel Fantasy after a crowdfunding campaign, with cover art by Lotte Schonis. Netherbook sells that box. Everything in it is in Dutch.
How does the system work?
Fableflames is simple on purpose. The game master describes where the heroes are, the players say what their hero does, and a die only comes out when the outcome is exciting. You play with ordinary six-sided dice; where the game asks for a two-sided or three-sided roll, you use the same die. That is all it takes to let a six-year-old join in.
The rulebook grows with the players. The core rules are small enough to fit on the quick sheets that come with the game, and the adventure in the box has its own quick-play rules. As players get older or more experienced, you add optional rules: Companions, animals that travel with the heroes, and a level-up system that makes the heroes stronger. That way you play the same game with a six-year-old and an eleven-year-old without either of them getting bored.
The craft book is not an appendix but part of the game. Paper miniatures, terrain pieces, a dice tower: the players make their own game materials. For young players the making is often half the fun, and it puts something on the table that ordinary dice cannot.
Every adventure comes with conversion notes for Dungeons & Dragons 5e. Families who already know that game can play the Dutch stories with the rules they know; families who do not can grow into it later.
What do you need to start?
The box holds three booklets: the rulebook, the craft book and one adventure. With it you get access to the digital package with quick sheets, the extra rules and guidance for the game master.
Beyond that you only need a few ordinary dice, pen and paper for the heroes, and scissors, glue and coloured pencils for the crafts. A printer is handy for the craft sheets, but not required.
You need a game master, and that can be a parent who has never played a roleplaying game. The adventure tells you what to say. Children from about nine have done it before.
Already own Het Avonturen Handboek? Then you know the craft projects, but the stories in the box are new.
Who is this game for?
For families with children from six to about ten who cannot wait to be allowed to play. For parents who have never played and want a way in that explains, in Dutch, what a game master does. For teachers and libraries who want to work with stories: the game has been used that way for years.
It is not for a table of adults looking for depth or tactics; the rules are too light for that. Teenagers who already play Dungeons & Dragons will find it bare. And everything is in Dutch, so a table that reads English only will get nothing out of it.
How does it compare to other systems?
Dungeons & Dragons 5e is the game Fableflames leads toward. D&D has classes, a book of spells and a d20; Fableflames has a hero, a few ordinary dice and a story. The conversion notes in every adventure are the bridge: the same story, later with the full rules.
Mausritter is the other box we often recommend to families. Also from about six, also with a small rulebook, but in English, with mice as heroes and a world with real danger in it. Mausritter is sharper; Fableflames is warmer and, for Dutch families, in their own language.
Land of Eem is the next step: an English-language fantasy game for ages nine to twelve, with more rules and a bigger world. Whoever wants more after Fableflames ends up there.
Where do you start?
Read the adventure, not the rulebook. The quick-play rules are in it, and that is all you need on the first evening.
Let the children make their hero before you begin: a name, what the hero is good at, and a drawing. It takes fifteen minutes and it is the part they remember.
Craft one thing in advance, the heroes' miniatures for instance. The rest can come later.
Play for forty-five minutes, an hour at most, and stop while it is still fun. Our guide to playing with kids and our guide to your first time as game master take you the rest of the way.
Recommended products at Netherbook
Start with Fableflames: the box with rulebook, craft book and adventure.
If the family grows toward Dungeons & Dragons, the Dutch-language 5e adventures by Helden op Papier, such as Dreiging in Drenkdal, are the natural next step. Everything we sell in Dutch is in the collection Creations in Dutch.
If you want a second box for the same age, choose the Mausritter Boxed Set. If you want a step up, choose Land of Eem.