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.
I've always thought it would be a great idea to have a non-violent, more "cutesy" D&D edition for children. The elements are all there: gnomes, trolls, pixies, halflings, toy soldiers, magic and big adventures...
If it was supported by colourful, easy-to-grasp modules it could be an excellent education tool and something fun for parents to do with their kids, and would boost the future market substantially.
D&D used to be aimed at kids (exhibit 1: the old cartoon show), but the target audience aged during the game's progression through editions. Hasbro already makes children's games, so it would seem like an obvious addition.
More seriously, I don't know that the age range wherein a child can handle the abstractions of an RPG but also need a specifically tailored non-violent task resolution system is all that large.
__________________ All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes
All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re at an impasse here; maybe we should compromise:
If you open up the doors
We’ll all come inside and eat your brains
__________________ Founding Father of O.A.F! - Old school Admirers of Fourth edition
Proud Rouseketeers Member-Badge #2!
"I feel books like "A Princess of Mars", "The Swords of Lankhmar" and "The Black Company" are far more important to your gaming experience than whether you choose between OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, or D&D4E." - The Ravyn
I think people sometimes get too fixated about what's "official" to see what they could do with the whole- "David "Zeb" Cook
I've always thought it would be a great idea to have a non-violent, more "cutesy" D&D edition for children. The elements are all there: gnomes, trolls, pixies, halflings, toy soldiers, magic and big adventures...
If it was supported by colourful, easy-to-grasp modules it could be an excellent education tool and something fun for parents to do with their kids, and would boost the future market substantially.
D&D used to be aimed at kids (exhibit 1: the old cartoon show), but the target audience aged during the game's progression through editions. Hasbro already makes children's games, so it would seem like an obvious addition.
Why not?
You'd lose the current fan base, for one thing.
What's wrong with kids playing dnd as it is? If you let the kids watch tv, read comics, look at the newspaper or leave the house, they will be exposed to violence. Shrug.
I've always thought it would be a great idea to have a non-violent, more "cutesy" D&D edition for children. The elements are all there: gnomes, trolls, pixies, halflings, toy soldiers, magic and big adventures...
If it was supported by colourful, easy-to-grasp modules it could be an excellent education tool and something fun for parents to do with their kids, and would boost the future market substantially.
D&D used to be aimed at kids (exhibit 1: the old cartoon show), but the target audience aged during the game's progression through editions. Hasbro already makes children's games, so it would seem like an obvious addition.
Why not?
I like the premise of a D&D themed game aimed at a younger audience. I don't think a "D&D Jr." and the current D&D RPG are mutually exclusive.
What age children are you talking about? D&D is playable down to around 10 but younger than that it gets difficult without stripping rules out.
I would like to see a version of a D&D game that appeals to 6-10 year olds. Something like HeroQuest or Descent that has elements of roleplaying, dunegon delving, and the D&D fantasy without the need for a DM to adjudicate rules.
Funny, because I am currently working on a boardgame style dungeon crawl for younger kids, specifically aimed at my daughter (almost 5) and including education (incorporating mechanics for math and reading skills).
It still has some "violence" but the creatures run away rather than die. I have first draft rules and simple vector art in progress here, at DragonAvenue (my primary site for this), and at RPG.net as well as a primitive wiki hosted in my DropBox.
I envisioned it as a way to introduce roleplaying from a game aspect to kindergarten aged kids while incorporating basic learning skills of that age. I am making 7x7 dungeon tiles to print out and use with this as well. I'd love some feedback.
I know that violence is okay and such, but really what I would like to see is a kid's RPG that is meant to be whimsical and epic and fantastical. More like Peter Pan, rather than revolving around kid-friendly dungeon crawling.
I know that violence is okay and such, but really what I would like to see is a kid's RPG that is meant to be whimsical and epic and fantastical. More like Peter Pan, rather than revolving around kid-friendly dungeon crawling.
There's an awful lot of violence in Peter Pan, though. Hook and Pan fight all the time. Hook's hand was eaten by a crocodile who follows him around hoping to eat the rest of Hook. Tiger Lilly is tied up and left to drown. The Indians tie up the Lost Boys and threaten to burn them at the stake. Tinker Bell tries to have the Lost Boys shoot and kill Wendy. A bomb is sent to the hangman's tree to kill Peter.
Etc, etc. In fact, just about every Disney film out there has violence all over it.
Well I meant Peter Pan in the sense of 'imagination makes you fly' and such. That sense of happy kidness, rather than a dungeon crawl with nerf corners, so to speak.
But yes, I see your point. And really, there's nothing wrong with violence - Hansel and Grettel were going to get eaten by the witch, for instance. But, leaving the witch in without putting the gingerbread house in would be a shame.
I just appreciate a level of whimsy and silly fantasy, as I think that isn't supported a lot.
During the discussion of Mystara setting, someone said (Paraphrasing) "The essence of Mystara for us was that you could get on a flying ship and befriend a village of anthropomorphic flying squirrels on the moon during an adventure. That's what Mystara was to us when we were 10."
That's excellent feedback for me as I work on my game with my daughter. I could throw in a gingerbread house, flying bison (a la Avatar) or anything else like that too. Thanks for the idea (even if that wasn't your intention).
I've always thought it would be a great idea to have a non-violent, more "cutesy" D&D edition for children. The elements are all there: gnomes, trolls, pixies, halflings, toy soldiers, magic and big adventures...
If it was supported by colourful, easy-to-grasp modules it could be an excellent education tool and something fun for parents to do with their kids, and would boost the future market substantially.
D&D used to be aimed at kids (exhibit 1: the old cartoon show), but the target audience aged during the game's progression through editions. Hasbro already makes children's games, so it would seem like an obvious addition.
Why not?
I concur. It could be used for numerous applications and as far as age could continue from the point of initial exposure until even after one has started playing more adult D&D because the aims of the game would be different.
I think Merc is onto a good start.
(By the way Merc, I'm not one much for modern poetry, I'm a classicist myself, but after reading Abandoned Chair, which wasn't half bad, I'm gonna look into your book of poetry. )
Aside from running away (one possibility) children could also learn that not all monsters are monstrous just because they look ugly, scary, or horrific. In other words learning "not to necessarily judge a book by it's cover" could be an important aspect of social and cultural education (how to deal with human interactions with others different or even scary to one's initial assumptions).
Though I'm not against fright or horror being used in children's games, as that would also be an important aspect of security training. For professional reasons I started my children in with good security training almost from the time they could walk and speak. I've often used D&D scenarios (and other gaming scenarios) to reinforce the importance of good security training and practices, and used it as a vehicle to reinforce the idea of thwarting and avoiding security threats rather than falling victim to them. So I'm not against a certain "level of violence" to teach important security lessons and anti-victimization lessons either. Nor am I necessarily a multi-cultureless, but I think such a game could be good exposure to other cultural ideas, even languages. I use that in my normal D&D setting as well.
For instance (regarding the monster is not what he appears), even though a monster in the game seemed extremely scary or alien or dangerous, one could through nocturne and interaction, communication and negotiation discover that the monster is very different than he appears or that he has an unexpected and benign "secret life." That the child's character and the monster indeed have some things in common. I already do this in my normal D&D setting (and with most all of my other non-fantasy related games). Then again for security purposes you can teach the opposite idea, the guy who seems very nice and normal looking might just be the real monster in disguise. An important lesson in our age, or at any age of childhood.
Such a game could also be used to teach numerous other subject matters, like geography, cultures, history, math, basic science, economics and finance (not to mention savings and wise use of money, maybe even basic investing), literature (folk tales, fairy tales, etc.), even religious and moral concepts, and myth.
Not to mention ideas like cooperative action and even invention. Story writing and poetry and rhetoric could be attached to the game, as could any number of secondary or related products, services, and ideas.
It's a very good idea HF and I think Merc has made a good beginning.
Quote:
The ChattyDm has a whole section on his blog dedicated to RPGs with Kids: Gaming With Children | Musings of the Chatty DM
Maybe slightly off topic, is there are an age at which you think kids are too young to imaginte killing things & taking their stuff? I remember playing a minis game with my 4 year old cousin and he very much enjoyed slaughtering my army! My own son is 2 now and I'm thinking I might try simple RPGing with him around 4-5. Do you think it'd be wrong for him to be killing goblins in dungeons?
Then again for security purposes you can teach the opposite idea, the guy who seems very nice and normal looking might just be the real monster in disguise. An important lesson in our age, or at any age of childhood...
OTOH, if it looks like an orc, and sounds like an orc, and smells like an orc... Maybe it's an orc.
I'm afraid I have none to give I only know of the game from some postings about it when the game was first released- could of been the S&W boards, or maybe Dragonsfoot- I don't recall- I just know that its a D&D style game for young kids.
__________________ Founding Father of O.A.F! - Old school Admirers of Fourth edition
Proud Rouseketeers Member-Badge #2!
"I feel books like "A Princess of Mars", "The Swords of Lankhmar" and "The Black Company" are far more important to your gaming experience than whether you choose between OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, or D&D4E." - The Ravyn
I think people sometimes get too fixated about what's "official" to see what they could do with the whole- "David "Zeb" Cook
I hope Rel pops in to share some thioughts. I know he's played games with his daughter for several years, and if I recall, he pretty much let her imagination drive the game. Much as how you might run a sandbox game by letting the players ecide which trail of breadcrumbs to follow, he followed her lead while creating a structure of an adventure for her to go through.
One thought, though: perhaps it's more important to have a game with the flavor of D&D (wizards, dragons, spells, swords, derring-do) than the mechanics, at least until the child is of an age where computing ability scores, to-hit rolls, and such is interesting to a young person? Age will differ, but maybe in the 8 to 10 year-old range?
__________________ What family doesn't have its up and downs?
One thought, though: perhaps it's more important to have a game with the flavor of D&D (wizards, dragons, spells, swords, derring-do) than the mechanics, at least until the child is of an age where computing ability scores, to-hit rolls, and such is interesting to a young person? Age will differ, but maybe in the 8 to 10 year-old range?
That was one thing I considered in crafting my draft rules.
Also - thanks Jack7 for the kind words (and the sideways hints of other ideas to try to incorporate).
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect... 
I only know of the game from some postings about it when the game was first released- could of been the S&W boards, or maybe Dragonsfoot- I don't recall- I just know that its a D&D style game for young kids.
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
