What Do Your Kids Think of D&D, and How Do You Handle It?

[Jack7]

Last night and today we had a big snowstorm. (Well, big to my neck of the woods.) So this afternoon I hopped in the SUV and went riding around in it, just for fun, and to get way from it all.

While doing that I was listening to a lecture on Thomas Aquinas. During the biographical section I started thinking about my childhood again, and about my kids. And about what I asked in this thread.

What I pretty much decided to do was in the next few weeks take them out to a gaming store, let em look at various games, and juts buy them what they are interested in. Then let them make up their own adventures and write campaigns and let them do the DMing and game design.

They can learn a lot of real-life skills that way, they can exercise their own imaginations, and I can help em work in SAR skills and other things into their adventures. One of my daughters is in my CAP squadron and we're both drilling for upcoming in-flight and ground team SAR exercises. And I can use the game to help her learn how to better equip herself and prepare for different situations.

Anywho they can learn a lot from playing with me DMing but they can also learn a lot more by experimentation and by figuring out problems and writing games and scenarios and world building for themselves.

So I'm just gonna let them do it, and once they're ready I'll set aside some time on the weekend and let them run me through whatever they create. That's the way I think I'll handle it. Let them take over.

I don't know why this idea hasn't occurred to me before. I reckon since I'm older and used to doing this kind of thing and I learned everything on my own (as far as gaming goes) it just seemed right to me to save them the trial and error process. But the trial and error process will do them some good, and I suspect you learn far more that way in some respects. So I'll just throw em in and let em learn to swim.

 

[Siberys]

I haven't any kids, but I've got several younger siblings. To get them to help me clean the house, I bribe them with looking at my monster manuals and minis.

My nine year old sister is my biggest success. She has been begging me to let her play D&D. I think it may be a bit complex for her, though, so I'm starting her on card games - Magi-Nation and Fluxx, then Magic, THEN D&D. I'm trying to build up to it, as it were.

She's loving it.

I'm going to make some male nerd VERY happy someday, if in a roundabout way.

 

[buddhafrog]

So I'm just gonna let them do it, and once they're ready I'll set aside some time on the weekend and let them run me through whatever they create. That's the way I think I'll handle it. Let them take over..

I like your idea, if the kids are up to it. DM'ing 4e for me (who hadn't even played RPG games since AD&D) was quite a task to accomplish. I had to learn a lot. Took a lot of time. My son is also 9, so no, he ain't ready. But I did think about that ... as much as I enjoy participating with him and seeing his creativity, how much more would I enjoy playing in a game that he GM'd. I think it would be great!

Letting them pick the game would be important, I think. I think you just want to make sure they aren't over-pressured or overwhelmed.

Give us an update on how it goes.

 

[pogre]

My 10-year old son plays with my regular gaming group once per week. I run a labyrinth Lord game for all of my kids about once every other week. They know it is a geeky hobby, (Mom tells them as much), but so far they seem to really enjoy it.

 

[dystmesis]

If D&D rules are too complex for the youngins, might I recommend Microlite20? Core Rules | Microlite20

 

[Jack99]

My daughter has an ambivalent relation with D&D. On one hand, trolls give her nightmares, on the other hand, she carries mz huge white dragon to bed every night, because I told her that dragons eat trolls and it will protect her from them.. Then again, she is only 3.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

My 13 year old son loves to play, and wishes we would play more often. He's making his own dungeon (with Labyrinth Lord rules) that he runs, sometimes., but usually when he plays, I run the game. My daughters are 10 and 7. They've tried D&D, but quickly get bored with it. However, I recently started running a game using The Pool rules and having them play faeries. They took to that (and the narrative control aspect of The Pool) like fish to water, and bug me to run "the faerie game" for them. My youngest son is 5. He hasn't played D&D, but he tried "the faerie game" and liked it. However, he gets too excited to play for very long. Just a few "scenes" into the game and he runs off from the table to act out the action on his own.

Our problem, as a family, is that we have too many games and too little time. More often than RPGs, we play boardgames, and they kids are into video and computer games, too. (I used to be into computer gaming, but they seem kind of limited and boring to me, these days. Although I still enjoy some of the "twitch" games like Quake 4 and such.)

 

[megamania]

My son's first word was not momma or dada..... it was "dice"


Think he will be a gamer?

Now 11, I am determined to buy his own books since my core three and Eberron books keep wandering through out the house as he does "research". He is just now discovering prestige classes and templates.

My daughter, 14, loves the roleplaying aspect of the game and has taken her love of animals to new heights as a druid.

Together, my Eldeen Heroes, play 1-2 times a month but from 9am to 9pm on Saturdays.

 

[talien]

My son, who is 2 and a half, wants to play with my dice whenever he sees them.

So I bought him his own: Jumbo Foam Polyhedral Dice (5) - Foam & Plush Dice

We roll the dice and he calls out the numbers. He can just about count to 20.

 

[Garmorn]

A daughter's responce...

Okay stealing my dad's account for a minute... I grew up listening to my parents playing D&D, even sat on my mom's lap to help her role the dice. I was so excited when I could finally start playing and pretty much have been since. I've been through 2nd edition, through 3rd and am now having a blast with 4th. It's the one time a week I get to spend quality time with my dad and I love it! He'll even tell anyone about how much I was pestering him to either start a home game or to finally find a group!