Settings/games for kids?

[Thanael]

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.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

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.

 

[jdrakeh]

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.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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.

 

[fissionessence]

Well you could check out this thread from 2002 that chronicles Samantha the Red (@3 years old) in her LARP run by her father (with pictures!) http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-...ntha-red-pictures-included-updated-8-5-a.html

At age 7, she wrote 'Game in a Jar', and DMed it at a con last year.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/dc-gameday-discussion/241335-morning-off-school-game-jar.html

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.

~

 

[nyrfherdr]

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!

 

[Katemare]

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.

 

[Thanael]

Well you could check out this thread from 2002 that chronicles Samantha the Red (@3 years old) in her LARP run by her father (with pictures!) http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-...ntha-red-pictures-included-updated-8-5-a.html

At age 7, she wrote 'Game in a Jar', and DMed it at a con last year.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/dc-gameday-discussion/241335-morning-off-school-game-jar.html

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.

~

That is quite awesome.

 

[rounser]

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."

 

[Pinotage]

Try Tiny Terrors:

Tiny Terrors

It's a d20 based game where you can play your favorite toy and take it on adventures. Quite a neat litte system.

Pinotage