I run a weekly D&D game for children ages 8-14 at my shop. When I took over our Young Heroes League program last fall, I had very little experience as a DM. I started running an Adventurer’s League table for adult players a few months later, which is easy by comparison. There isn’t much the grownups can throw at me that I haven’t already dealt with on some level while wrangling the kids.
I’m not a parent and have no formal training as a teacher, so I’ve learned a lot on the fly and am constantly surprised by the things they do. They keep me on my toes, which is a lot of fun, although I also am ready for a four-hour nap after every two-hour session. It’s a great improvisation exercise, and I go easy on the rules because the important thing is making sure the kids have fun and learn how to work as a team. Here are some of the best moments we’ve had in our game.
Magical Collaboration
In one of our earliest sessions, the party needed to distract a bunch of kobolds who had them outnumbered. One of the kids offered to use Minor Illusion, but worried the kobolds might not notice because it was getting dark. Another player read over her spells and realized she could use Prestidigitation to add sound to the image. I was so proud of them for working that out, and they were thrilled when their collaboration had the desired effect on the kobolds. It set a good precedent for the game when they realized they should try to work together instead of simply waiting for their turn to do something on their own.
Rat-sicles
One of the kids in my group started playing with us when she was 7 and a half. She technically was below the minimum age, but she could keep up with the older kids like a champ. Her wizard once helped defeat a swarm of rats with a well-placed Ray of Frost. I described the frozen rats she created as rat-sicles, which is a brand of humor that appeals strongly to my players’ demographic. (They also respond well to my dramatic performances of monster noises and death throes.)
A few minutes later, a little ambush drake attacked the party. Some of the members started fighting it, but our wizard said, “No! Wait!” She grabbed one of the rat-sicles and offered to feed it to the drake if it would stop attacking the group. Then she tried to make it her pet. And that’s when I learned a very important lesson...
A Monster Is Just a Pet You Haven't Tamed Yet
Our wizard didn’t roll a high enough animal handling check to tame the ambush drake, but that incident set off a craze where the kids tried to tame every beast the ran across for weeks. I admit I hoped to avoid letting them acquire pets. They got pretty close with an owlbear once. However, thanks to natural 20s rolled for animal handling in two different games, the wizard eventually got a pseudodragon off an evil sorcerer they defeated, and the half-orc barbarian got a puppy. They’re very careful about setting them aside in baskets and such to keep them safe during combat, so at least they’re responsible pet owners.
Dino-Disadvantage
Our party has investigated a number of strange incidents in which dangerous creatures were gathered in locations far away from their natural habitats. Once they fought their way through a mountain fortress that was inhabited by monsters that belong in the Underdark. Not long after, they were hired to look into a similar situation at another old military outpost in the forest that turned out to be full of dinosaurs, a very long way from Chult. I wonder who’s bringing these creatures over and putting them where they don’t belong?
Anyway, some of the dinosaurs were inside a large building. A couple of nasty, acid-spitting dinosaurs were hiding in a smaller room inside that building. The dragonborn paladin, halfling rogue, and human barbarian charged into the room to fight them, mostly blocking the only doorway into the room. The elf ranger was about 60 feet outside the door, but she could see one of the dinosaurs, though it had almost full cover by other party members. She’s a sharpshooter and really wanted to take a shot, so I let her try it with disadvantage.
Her first roll was a natural 20, so everyone groaned at the wasted crit. But when she rolled the second time, she got another natural 20. The kids lost their minds. There was pandemonium in the room for a solid minute. That was one of my favorite D&D moments ever, just because the kids were so elated over such a lucky roll. It was six months ago and they still talk about it frequently.
Oh, and they tried to tame a velociraptor to keep as a pet.
The Pyramid Incident
Recently, the party went to the desert and fought a blue dragon. Luckily, they were accompanied by a few higher-level NPCs who could help them. The kids recently received some magic items, among them the druid’s Bag of Beans. He planted a bean right before the battle, hoping something helpful would come from it. The battle was over before the bean’s one-minute germination ended. The party took a good bit of damage, but were busy harvesting dragon teeth when I had the player roll for the bean’s effect. He rolled a 99. I described what happened: a 60-foot pyramid erupted from the ground next to them. It was absurd and we all cackled like maniacs.
Despite the wizard’s objections (she had been polymorphed into a unicorn mid-battle, so nobody understood what she was saying), they charged in to see what was inside. And that’s how the young heroes wound up fighting a mummy lord immediately after defeating a dragon. They survived, but only because they had NPCs with some powerful healing spells nearby.
Have you ever been a DM for children? How did it go? Did someone else’s child ever ask you where half-orcs come from, leading to a flurry of other questions as kids start thinking through the implications of the existence of dragonborn and half-dragons? (Because that could’ve been very awkward, but I think I handled it okay.)
contributed by Annie Bulloch
I’m not a parent and have no formal training as a teacher, so I’ve learned a lot on the fly and am constantly surprised by the things they do. They keep me on my toes, which is a lot of fun, although I also am ready for a four-hour nap after every two-hour session. It’s a great improvisation exercise, and I go easy on the rules because the important thing is making sure the kids have fun and learn how to work as a team. Here are some of the best moments we’ve had in our game.
Magical Collaboration
In one of our earliest sessions, the party needed to distract a bunch of kobolds who had them outnumbered. One of the kids offered to use Minor Illusion, but worried the kobolds might not notice because it was getting dark. Another player read over her spells and realized she could use Prestidigitation to add sound to the image. I was so proud of them for working that out, and they were thrilled when their collaboration had the desired effect on the kobolds. It set a good precedent for the game when they realized they should try to work together instead of simply waiting for their turn to do something on their own.
Rat-sicles
One of the kids in my group started playing with us when she was 7 and a half. She technically was below the minimum age, but she could keep up with the older kids like a champ. Her wizard once helped defeat a swarm of rats with a well-placed Ray of Frost. I described the frozen rats she created as rat-sicles, which is a brand of humor that appeals strongly to my players’ demographic. (They also respond well to my dramatic performances of monster noises and death throes.)
A few minutes later, a little ambush drake attacked the party. Some of the members started fighting it, but our wizard said, “No! Wait!” She grabbed one of the rat-sicles and offered to feed it to the drake if it would stop attacking the group. Then she tried to make it her pet. And that’s when I learned a very important lesson...
A Monster Is Just a Pet You Haven't Tamed Yet
Our wizard didn’t roll a high enough animal handling check to tame the ambush drake, but that incident set off a craze where the kids tried to tame every beast the ran across for weeks. I admit I hoped to avoid letting them acquire pets. They got pretty close with an owlbear once. However, thanks to natural 20s rolled for animal handling in two different games, the wizard eventually got a pseudodragon off an evil sorcerer they defeated, and the half-orc barbarian got a puppy. They’re very careful about setting them aside in baskets and such to keep them safe during combat, so at least they’re responsible pet owners.
Dino-Disadvantage
Our party has investigated a number of strange incidents in which dangerous creatures were gathered in locations far away from their natural habitats. Once they fought their way through a mountain fortress that was inhabited by monsters that belong in the Underdark. Not long after, they were hired to look into a similar situation at another old military outpost in the forest that turned out to be full of dinosaurs, a very long way from Chult. I wonder who’s bringing these creatures over and putting them where they don’t belong?
Anyway, some of the dinosaurs were inside a large building. A couple of nasty, acid-spitting dinosaurs were hiding in a smaller room inside that building. The dragonborn paladin, halfling rogue, and human barbarian charged into the room to fight them, mostly blocking the only doorway into the room. The elf ranger was about 60 feet outside the door, but she could see one of the dinosaurs, though it had almost full cover by other party members. She’s a sharpshooter and really wanted to take a shot, so I let her try it with disadvantage.
Her first roll was a natural 20, so everyone groaned at the wasted crit. But when she rolled the second time, she got another natural 20. The kids lost their minds. There was pandemonium in the room for a solid minute. That was one of my favorite D&D moments ever, just because the kids were so elated over such a lucky roll. It was six months ago and they still talk about it frequently.
Oh, and they tried to tame a velociraptor to keep as a pet.
The Pyramid Incident
Recently, the party went to the desert and fought a blue dragon. Luckily, they were accompanied by a few higher-level NPCs who could help them. The kids recently received some magic items, among them the druid’s Bag of Beans. He planted a bean right before the battle, hoping something helpful would come from it. The battle was over before the bean’s one-minute germination ended. The party took a good bit of damage, but were busy harvesting dragon teeth when I had the player roll for the bean’s effect. He rolled a 99. I described what happened: a 60-foot pyramid erupted from the ground next to them. It was absurd and we all cackled like maniacs.
Despite the wizard’s objections (she had been polymorphed into a unicorn mid-battle, so nobody understood what she was saying), they charged in to see what was inside. And that’s how the young heroes wound up fighting a mummy lord immediately after defeating a dragon. They survived, but only because they had NPCs with some powerful healing spells nearby.
Have you ever been a DM for children? How did it go? Did someone else’s child ever ask you where half-orcs come from, leading to a flurry of other questions as kids start thinking through the implications of the existence of dragonborn and half-dragons? (Because that could’ve been very awkward, but I think I handled it okay.)
contributed by Annie Bulloch
