4e for younger gamers

[Gargoyle]

I run a game for my wife and my 11 year old son, and he has a lot of fun. Not sure I'd want him at the table in my regular campaign with friends my age, but that's more because I'm worried about my friends' immaturity.

One tip, let your son create some power cards using index cards when creating his character. It helps them learn their powers and gives them something to reference. And just keep things moving...roleplaying can be fun, but keep those encounters short until you get an idea of his attention span. I agree with the above poster that a dungeon delve format might be best at least to start.

There isn't much you can do about players suspecting you of "cheating", regardless of their age. I'd say just be as fair as you can be, and focus on keeping it fun and it will go fine.

 

[chronoplasm]

I DM 4E for my 9 year old sister and her friends.
They need a little advice now and then as far as tactics are involved, but they have a pretty good grasp of the system.
I just keep the dungeons and the adventures simple and straightforward.
Also, I give them plenty of opportunities to ride their ponies, as that's one of the first things they all got as soon as they found gold.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

My 13-year old plays with us ever couple of weeks. She's played off and on in our games for a couple of years now.

My 6-year old daughter is very interested in learning some day. I'm thinking about trying to teach her, maybe simplify things a bit.

My 16-month old son likes trying to swipe dice and miniatures, but I should probably potty train him before teaching him to game. :-D

 

[avin]

4E is pretty much designed to be accessible to 12 year olds. How much younger do you wnat it to get?!?!

I think you'll find that 4E IS the "for younger gamers" edition of D&D.

/agreed.

Art is a bit more cartoonish, creatures on MM don't look as menacing like other editions (War Devil miniature), official adventures are more dungeon crawl than roleplaying (compared to AD&D Planescape, for example).

4E is the kind of system who would please my wife, you won't have trouble DMing for kids

I like it too, but wish there was an alternative Mature version using different fluff and artwork...

 

[amysrevenge]

They want me to name everyone.. especially the enemies so they can make the gravestones and kick them.

For some reason this is my favourite part of the whole thread...

 

[Festivus]

One young girl player at the table has already asked if she could play an eladrin wizard. The boys, predictably, want dragonborn.

I have 5 kids signed up for my game, and I'll be making pregens to cover the roles. I think the basic classes would be best to keep to the preferred races, so:

Eladrin Wizard
Dragonborn Fighter
Dwarf Cleric
Halfling Rogue
Elf Ranger

I think it's important that the minis I use at the table match the characters they are going to play. I wonder how much roleplay hints I should offer... e.g. should I build some backstory and interactions with the pregens.

 

[Zaukrie]

I forgot my number 1 advice:

don't superimpose your definition of fun or what RP should be on them. Let them do the things that are fun, and learn what they like and don't like. My experience and the experience of other parents I talk to about games and art and music is that you need to give them opportunities, and let them find the fun spot for them. In other words, don't get in an edition war/role vs roll playing fight with them. play and have fun.

 

[chronoplasm]

I think it's important that the minis I use at the table match the characters they are going to play. I wonder how much roleplay hints I should offer... e.g. should I build some backstory and interactions with the pregens.

I would advise against the pregens actually. Let the kids pick their own classes and walk them through chargen. You might not end up with optimal characters or an optimal party, but it will get the kids more involved.

Don't worry too much about plot. All you need to give the kids is the bare minimum and they will make the rest up themselves.

 

[Scribble]

How old were you when you started gaming?

I think sometimes us older folks tend not to give kids enough credit for figurin stuff out. My friends and I were around 13 when we started gaming. I like to think we figured things out pretty well. (And AD&D was a mess of people/things able to do stuff just because...)

I also think not completely comprehending the idea that the DM isn't against the players is something that's just part fo the learning process. (Seems like some adults haven't even figured that one out yet!)

 

[Festivus]

I would advise against the pregens actually. Let the kids pick their own classes and walk them through chargen. You might not end up with optimal characters or an optimal party, but it will get the kids more involved.

Don't worry too much about plot. All you need to give the kids is the bare minimum and they will make the rest up themselves.

The pregens are there only to fill in the blanks if someone forgets/dog ate homework/don't have a PC/doesn't understand how to make one. I picked one from each of the roles plus an extra striker because those are fun.

I only have 4 hours alotted for gameplay, I'd rather we focus on the adventure part.

I have offered a separate time to go over character generation by hand.