General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
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I've got a neice I'd like to introduce to the game. She's a great storyteller, and I'm certain she'll be a pro in no time. I'm a big fan of 4e, and the rules are simple enough I think she could have a lot of fun with them. Granted, for the context, I could likely do something involving ratings from 1-5 with abilities (just the modifiers, basically), or defences, and a special ability for each princess; something really simple.
My thinking on Settings is I'd like to a Disney Princess-style campaign setting. I mean, she's a big fan, and the classic disney films are, simply, classic. Theoretically, lots of material here.
I'm trying to think of a realm with different countries (each one has a princess or two), each based around a Disney film. Or even a fairytale land, like in Shrek, where all the different characters live.
1) Little Mermiad: Under the sea, the PCs who aren't Mermaids can use magic bubbles while they float, or ride dolphins, that sort of thing. The local princess, a mermaid, can shift into Mermaid form when underwater (like Splash; good movie, that).
2) Alladdin: Desert/arabian nights setting. Um, magic carpets. Can't think of a particular power like the mermaid setting.
3) Enchanted: or Sleeping Beuty, Snow White, I dunno. Ye basic medieval, waspy prince's & peasants campaign setting. There would be a forest with creatures in it (Troll love's kiss, seven dwarves, I dunno).
My ideal adventures would be problem solving over combat, like "help the unicorn get out of the river" or "catch the apples falling out of the tree", on top of any "fight yon dragon trogdor".
I don't know of any kid-specific settings or licensed RPGs based on kids movies. Some games are "lighter" and might lend themselves to being played by kids, like the venerable Toon.
However, you've basically described a good basis for a kid-friendly "Ravenloft" setting. Read your Grimm's Fairy tales, add a dash of cleaned-up mythology, file the numbers off of Princess Bride, Stardust, Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, and the Golden Compass, add a dash of Hannah Barbara and Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday Morning TV and you could really have something there.
1) Don't forget the Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasai, Pegacorns, Ponycorns, Ponytaurs, etc. for the girls, and stinky/slimy/scaly critters for the boys. Stereotypes? Yes- but commercially tried and true ones.
2) Don't get too close to anyone's copyrighted material- especially Disney's- if you intend to publish. You'd just be buying trouble.
I've been pondering something similar, as my 7-year old daughter is definitely interested in my gaming. Plus, she needs help with math and I'm thinkin' what better way to get some practice in with adding and subtracting.
I've been considering systems, and I've narrowed it down to three possibilities.
1) Create a custom game system. Might even publish it, as there's likely a (pretty niche) market for this sort of thing; a kid-friendly RPG that doesn't suck (like the old "Pokemon RPG") that can appeal to gamers with youngish-children.
2) True20
3) Savage Worlds
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Perhaps consider "The Lost Seneschal", an adventure from the BECMI supplement Tall Tales of the Wee Folk. The plot rolls out like a fairytale, and it takes place mostly in fairyland. Fairytale adventures are a rarity for D&D, and this is a good one, with memorable characters and a Disney-esque feel.
Could provide some inspiration. But your ideas sound like you're on the right track already.
__________________ "They've taken all the fun out of slaying things and stealing treasure!" - Bolt
Copy, paste and redesign your way to your own ideal custom game with the Swords & Wizardry.doc file. Renovate the elf, build a rogue or thief, and make all your favourite rules and splat core.
Last edited by rounser; 23rd April 2009 at 02:14 PM..
I've actually been thinking about this myself for awhile. My daughter is still too young to play, but I can't help but daydream
I think 4e is a good system to run for kids... except for the fact that there are just too many abstract concepts to keep track of. The idea of powers is great, and I think easy for kids to understand, but the sheer number of possibilities, combinations, and interactions would be too much.
My recommendation would be to make whole new powers. Also, I don't think most kids will be too interested in leveling up. I'm willing to bet that the story and characters would be more important that continually getting new player options.
I've had a very similar idea with making a "Harry Potter" type game. The emphasis would be on story and problem solving, and less on combat. The player's powers would be a mix of combat and utility type powers.
that Faerie game looks a lot like the Tri-stat system of BESM. I hope the Essence rules are not more complicated than the stats presented (ie: one Essence per Spirit rank).
I did have a simple system similar to that sheet in mind. I'll look into other systems.
Disney: I was thinking that, staying away from direct pirating. I wonder if their artistic "style" is also taboo? For art purposes, at least.
For now I'll try it at home, see how it works. I think the Niche market would be not-bad, in that there are loads of parents who are gamers out there. Something they can just jump in to and tell stories with would be great.
Blue Rose is the very fairy tale like precursor of True20. (FYI one of True20's simplifications from D20 is to use "just the modifiers" as the OP said.) Check out the Blue Rose Fast Play rules available for free here, also there are several adventures based on Fairy Tales available.
Mouse Guard: Join the Mouse Guard and defend the Mouse Territories against predators and dangers, in this roleplaying game for the Mouse Guard comic book series! The game is intended for all ages and levels of game-playing experience by award-winning game designer Luke Crane and is based on a simplified version of his Burning Wheel rules system (also used for the Origins Award winning RPG of 2007, Burning Empires).
Last edited by Thanael; 23rd April 2009 at 03:50 PM..
I've had a very similar idea with making a "Harry Potter" type game. The emphasis would be on story and problem solving, and less on combat. The player's powers would be a mix of combat and utility type powers.
2) Alladdin: Desert/arabian nights setting. Um, magic carpets. Can't think of a particular power like the mermaid setting.
There's always the great Al'Qadim AD&D (2E) setting. Some of it can be downloaded for free from WotC here. See also this post.
The old Al'Qadim material is very fairy tale like, though you'll have to play AD&D 2E or convert to another system (perhaps 3E or True20). Al Qadim has been converted to 3E on several sites, ant there are some True20 and 3E Arabian Adventures sourcebooks out there, notably Wolfgang Baurs Open Design "Six Arabian Nights" adventure anthology and Tales of the Caliphate Nights for True20.
I'll ditto Faery's Tale as a good choice, and recently my seven-year-old and I have really been enjoying playing Donjon together.
__________________ I play and DM old-school D&D with the New York Red Box, play a shaman in a homebrew 4E campaign & write third-party and first-party stuff for that edition, and blog about all of the above at The Mule Abides - most recently "'Announcing the 2nd Annual Dave Arneson Memorial Gameday".
Risus Fantasy! Attached are free files that I've rescued from no longer existant sites. These files detail a tongue-in-cheek fantasy setting and even give you a few adventures to get started. You will, of course, need to swing by the official Risus site and grab a free copy of the 'core' rules.
Just a side note Re: Disney- remember, just because Disney made a film or TV show about something doesn't mean they own all of the rights to that particular idea. Many of the things you see in Disney- especially early Disney- came from European folk tales, and are part of the public domain.
That's why I suggested you read your Grimm's Fairy Tales. You pretty much have just as much a right to do a Snow White project as Disney does, just as long as you don't use anything they added to the story.
I can't find a page with the Game in a Jar rules, but I conveniently downloaded them a while back, so hopefully it won't upset anyone if I attach them here.
~
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I've actually been thinking about this myself for awhile. My daughter is still too young to play, but I can't help but daydream
I think 4e is a good system to run for kids... except for the fact that there are just too many abstract concepts to keep track of. The idea of powers is great, and I think easy for kids to understand, but the sheer number of possibilities, combinations, and interactions would be too much.
Hmm...
Greetings. Don't think of 4E in terms of how you would combine powers and what possibilities exist. Let your child do that.
You will find that they will grasp things that can be done that you haven't thought of and, of course, miss out on optimized options. But why does that matter. Let the child consume what they are capable of consuming. 4E allows for very simple play that develops complexity over time.
I would start at level one and only slowly level up. Other than that, I wouldn't change the rules at all.
With skill challenges you can even focus much less on combat if your child prefers the roleplaying interaction and still have dice rolling and rules to go by.
Savage Worlds is an excellent system too. For ease of play and ease of GMing.
Both games allow for the story to follow the child's ideas and don't require as much of a GM's investment.
I have GM'd for many children (a few as young as 8 years old and with rules as complex as D&D 3.5.) It isn't about the game system as it is allowing their imagination to impact your game. They are less worried about the internal consistency of the world as much as impacting what's happening around them. They love interesting characters, interesting places and being special and having powers.
Just some random thoughts from a random lurker.
Game ON!
You've mentioned that she likes storytelling. Recently I've played a lot of Universalis, a game of collaborative storytelling, and, wow, it was one of most exciting game experiences I've had in years. Rules are not trivial, but they can be explained in 15 minutes. For a storyteller, they're very intuitive.
The other most exciting recent experience was Cat ("A Little Game about Little Heroes") where you play house cats. Actually, with a little tweaking, I used it for Pokemon. It's all-ages intended, and my players were something 14, I think. The dicerolling was on me, and some subsystems were left unused, but the consequences of actions and success chances were understood without additional explanations.
By the way, I was amazed how well does younger crowd without RPG background roleplay. Delibately describing own characted fumbling with no mechanical advantages, just for the sake of character - wow, you don't see it every day in D&D.
I can't find a page with the Game in a Jar rules, but I conveniently downloaded them a while back, so hopefully it won't upset anyone if I attach them here.
Oh, and if sticking with D&D gameplay themes, definitely ditch 4E for Dungeon Squad!, "a role-playing game designed expressly for young players with short attention spans who demand action and fun. There is a lot of die rolling and some amusing shopping and number-crunching. Characters can be generated in 3 seconds."
__________________ "They've taken all the fun out of slaying things and stealing treasure!" - Bolt
Copy, paste and redesign your way to your own ideal custom game with the Swords & Wizardry.doc file. Renovate the elf, build a rogue or thief, and make all your favourite rules and splat core.
Last edited by rounser; 24th April 2009 at 10:29 AM..
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