Gaming with the kids ...

OK, I managed to scarf up an old black dragon Basic Set (better for younger kids, I think), and I've written out a select number of druid spells on index cards for Katie to use, and I've got poker chips to represent hit points ...

I'm writing the adventure today or tomorrow. I'll post the adventure here for commentary, and any ideas for non-combat obstacles would be appreciated ...

Cool thread.
My son is now 11. He's been playing actively for about 2 years in our mostly adult group. (There is another boy. A teenager)
There needs to be lots of action! for him to stay interested.
I just started GMing an all kids game with my son and his friend. We're trying to find a couple of more players. My son is becoming quite the geek.

Non-combat obstacles (remember they don't have a history of gaming like you do)

1. A locked door. Trapped or not.
2. A trap like almost anything from Indiana Jones.
3. A pit (especially if it isn't just an obstacle... There's something at the bottom) Don't make it hidden. It is just an obstacle to cross.
4. A room/corridor that is higher than the room they are in.
5. A talking statue with riddles (there are tons of simple riddles)
6. A puzzle lock on a door (a number puzzle, tic tac toe, almost anything could work here)
7. A room filled with water (preferably with a key or something important at the bottom)
8. A room filling with smoke from several holes in the wall.

Game ON!

Archade said:

OK, I managed to scarf up an old black dragon Basic Set (better for younger kids, I think), and I've written out a select number of druid spells on index cards for Katie to use, and I've got poker chips to represent hit points ...

I'm writing the adventure today or tomorrow. I'll post the adventure here for commentary, and any ideas for non-combat obstacles would be appreciated ...

Click to expand...

Just a bump.... anything new to add Archade?

Well, I've got two characters rolled, trying to get together with my friend's son for a third, and I've mostly written out the sorcerer and druid spells on index cards. I may try to type up the index cards and make them available at www.dmtools.org as well.

But sadly, no time lately.

I DM for a group of 9 and 10 year olds (and one other dad). The biggest problems:

they have no D&D context like us long time players, so they forget to do obvious things, like search the bodies and take the loot.

it is very difficult to get that many people together timing wise, so they forget rules and the basics of the game.

I roll behind the screen, I don't need character deaths just yet (only in their 2nd/3rd dungeon).

You need constant action, I don't even bother with much role play, they get plenty of that playing with our minis and their legos when they polay on their own.

Spells and special abilities are almost impossible for them to remember, especially buff spells. I'll be using my combat pad (great tool) to track that for/with them.

There is an old Dungeon magazine with an adventure entitled fountain of health. It is easy to update/add more encounters, and comes with a large map of a ruined shrine. I highly recommend it (I added an ettercap and lots and lots of spiders).

Minis and maps are almost a must.

edit: let me know if anyone wants me to post on how things are going/suggestions. Right now they are going through the sunless citadel (the kids wanted to talk to Meepo, the adult playing the chaotic barbarian wanted to kill him, the kids talked him into not killing. The youngest child drank the "dragon breath" potion, and then promptly forgot about it in the next encounter, one I had made much more difficult by adding a spellcasting goblin {the youngest plays a nearly 3rd level fighter based on Regdar - the other players chant "cleave, cleave, cleave" as he attacks puny guys like goblins}).

SorvahrSpahr said:

it's good to know there is a new generation of players being born

Click to expand...

Quite. I'm hoping my niece will want to play D&D with 'Uncle James' when she is older. She is only 8 months at the moment, though, so that's a way off yet.


uncle glass.

The beauty of d20 is it is at it's heart a very, very simple game. Roll a d20, add bonuses, you are done. I have run games with my niece, who just turned 12. The only thing I did differently than my normal games was make sure the adults kept the "adult" talk to a minimum. I helped her come up with an elf fighter character, because she wanted a sword and she wanted to kill stuff.

I'm not a rules lawyer to begin with, but I do think that it's important NOT to throw the rules out the window with kids, at least the core basic rules. Kids need to explore their imagination, but they need to learn how to do so within set guidelines in order to develop problem solving.

So my niece was a fighter, and her mother played her sister. In the first session, things got a bit out of control combat wise because two of the party had a terrible night with rolls. So her mother's character died. I went into this dramatic description of the scene, and asked her what she wanted to do.

"Um, can I loot her stuff?" was the reply.

I was so proud it brought a tear to my eye.

My daughter's still a bit too young for this (err, she's 3 months), but I've been slowly converting my 7 year old nephew.
I've been going for a tack of boardgames getting increasing more RPGy. So we started out on the D&D boardgame (since it only cost £5 from a discount shop) and now we're taking our initial steps into Warhammer Quest.

I intend to start him on D&D at some point, though since I only tend to see him once a fortnight it's slow going.

I've pimped it in other places but it's worth mentioning here: Consider getting a dungeon crawl boardgame for kids. The one I specifically recommend is Descent by Fantasy Flight Games.

It is a bit pricey ($80) so see if you can find it on sale, but you get a lot for that money. It comes with 80 miniatures including around 20 PC's. Each PC has their own card that serves as a sort of "character sheet" and each of the monsters has a little card that details its stats at various power levels. It also has these snap together dungeon tiles that let you make corridors and rooms in almost any configuration you can imagine. Plus, TONS of counters that signify everything from wounds and webs to flames and pits.

It is designed as a competitive boardgame with the PC's versus the "Overlord" (and with a group of adults or older kids it is really fun) but if you toss that aspect and just play it more as a straight up RPG, it really works well in my opinion. The dice mechanic is simple and elegant. There is magical treasure to be had. And you can even add on a very easy skill advancement system with almost no effort.

I got this game in January of this year and we had a ton of fun with the boardgame aspect. I did not anticipate that my daughter (5) would be so enthralled with it and took to playing it immediately. It was a big help in teaching her counting and adding skills. And now she has taken to wanting to be the "Game Master" and I have to say that she's not half bad at it! She's a little Monty Haul but hey, we all went through that phase as kids, right?

I run a game for 10-16 year olds at my FLGS and have had the same experiences as many others here. Most weeks I have 9 players. Boy is it hard to keep them focused on the game sometimes. One thing I'm having a hard time dealing with is if I should let PC's die. I'm kind of doing things on a case by case basis. I've had a couple of the older kid’s loss their PC's and they have been fine with it. I had one loss his Snake familiar last week and he sat at the table and cried. I'm going to pull him aside this week and talk with him about it. Any ideas of the best way to handle this situation?