Not the best module to introduce D&D...

[DreadPirateMurphy]

I have an 8-year-old who wants to get into RPG's, specifically D&D. I had a bunch of PDF's of the old Basic D&D red box and some modules and such that I got off of DriveThruRPG years ago. I wanted something a little less detailed than Pathfinder, which is my personal favorite. Now...it has been a LONG time since I fiddled around with any Basic D&D stuff. I decided that a solo module would be the easiest to use -- I would just treat it as a 1:1 module with a single PC and DM. Luckily, I had a whole bunch of old D&D modules, and found the Ghost of Lion Castle.

Our first session, my son used one of the pre-rolled characters at my insistence. He entered the castle, triggered a wandering monster, and, thanks to clueless dad misreading the random encounter table, ended up dying to a 3 HD giant black widow spider before even getting inside the castle. So far, his table-top RPG experience was a character with the life expectancy of Flappy Bird.

That was yesterday. Today, I let him roll his own Elf and started again. I think I should have noticed a warning sign by the fact that the module explicitly tells you to write down where your corpse is located on the map so you can loot the body with your new character. Having died quickly yesterday, he decided to go in the front door. He was promptly hit by a falling portcullis. Then he dodged falling stones. Then he was killed by a magic arrow trap. I read ahead with him to see what would have happened if he had made it through the arrow -- and it would have immediately been followed by at least 3 more death traps, including being doused in molten lead. I don't think I remembered quite how...Gygaxian...these early modules were compared to today. I'm not sure having him cut his teeth on Tomb of Horrors would have had a different result.

After dying rather quickly for a second time, we decided to read ahead to the end to see the prize. Spoiler alert...if such a thing applies to a module released 34 freaking years ago (OMG, I'm old)...the ghost of the wizard who owned the castle basically pulls a, "the real treasure was inside you all along," Aesop, like a cheesy cartoon. Trigger an 8-year-old eye roll. I then read him some of the better bits from Tomb of Horrors just to give him some perspective.

Is there a better introductory module for Basic D&D that can be done with a small number of characters (1-4) and that isn't as lethal as the Normandy landing in Saving Private Ryan?

 

[Lanefan]

Your number-of-characters limitation is going to be a headache for you.

Most of those Basic-era modules kind of expected:

a) the party would have a decent number of PCs in it (at least 4, more often 6+);
b) that the party would in addition have brought various henches and hirelings along;
and c) that there would be some inevitable PC turnover during the adventure thus having replacement PCs on standby would be useful.

If you're looking to run a party of only 1-4 characters total in such a module you're going to have to go through it beforehand and tone down the dangers a bit. Either that, or your player is going to become very proficient in rolling up new characters.

 

[Lylandra]

Don't use dungeon crawls. Especially not olde gygaxian dungeon crawls.

Modern modules can be used, but you'd have to adjust certain checks or add other ways of solving problems and maybe tweak the encounters a little. Maybe add a friendly companion NPC. Could be an animal so you won't risk to help him too much when it comes to puzzles.

And give your son's characters a few bonus HP if you want him to start at level 1 (for less complexity). Many experienced groups didn't wish to start at level 1 due to the relatively high mortality rates.

 

[Gull]

There's a game based on old school Basic D&D, but designed for a single player character: Scarlet Heroes. It makes your single PC have the strength of a whole party, and you can even use the rules to run existing D&D modules. (No need to buy new "Scarlet Heroes" modules--I'm not even sure there are any.)

It's a commercial game, but there's a generous free PDF that should let you know if it would work for you. Just google "Scarlet Heroes Quickstart" from Sine Nomine Publishing.

Hope this helps!

 

[TerraDave]

B1, B2, T1...can all be surprisingly deadly.

Back in the day situations like yours would arise and there where a couple of solutions: Take some ideas or details in the module and then nerf them masively, freely adapting as needed. Or fudge, fudge like crazy. Or some combination thereof.

Being willing to improv, free wheeling and not worrying about all the details is often the best approach in cases like this, especially given your audience.

 

[SaxGreene]

The intrinsic nature of an RPG is to be a collaborative story-telling experience. You seem to want to just offer the story-as-written by someone else, without breathing your own life into it first. If that's exactly your goal... you're going to want to find more kid-friendly material to run.

Optionally:

A) Censor the material to be non-fatal, rather than sticking to the adventure as written. Use non-lethal damage for most things, and make the lethal things obviously stand out as perilous by describing them in evil and ominous tones.

B) Fill out the party with NPC side-kicks to take the brunt of whatever player-killing doom is about to befall your main character.

C) Make death a painless or near-painless learning experience. Add Save Points, or even straight up All You Need Is Kill / Edge of Tomorrow / Ground Hog Day style repeats.

D) 8 was a long time ago for me... but I don't remember needing much narrative or excuses to roll dice. Ditch the modules and random up a showcase dungeon populated with rooms showing off a single sub CR 1 monster as a Munchkin example of What Its All Like. You can ease into the player-killing later.

 

[Lanefan]

D) ... You can ease into the player-killing later.

I really, really hope you mean character-killing here...

 

[Grogg of the North]

Hollow's Last Hope, a free level 1 pathfinder module, might be useful. There is a mix of combat, exploration and roleplaying. If you have the herbalist in town give (sell?) some healing potions to him at the beginning a single player should be able to do it.

Plus, if your son enjoys the module, you can continue with Crown of the Kobold King and Revenge of the Kobold King!

 

[imdeadagain]

Grab the 5e basic set, much better, I’ve played basic, AD&D and 5th, and find 5th a great improvement.

 

[Shiroiken]

Part of the problem of old BECMI and AD&D adventures used for 5E is that while characters got stronger, monsters got even stronger. In addition, a lot of old adventures, like GoLC, assumed the player had some knowledge about a medieval/fantasy setting. Going in the front door was pretty much suicide, so you needed another option (climbing or the postern gatehouse). Modern gamers often have no clue, especially with "kick in the door and kill everything" as a common playstyle. When I ran GoLC for 5E, I expanded it for an entire group (because solo D&D usually doesn't work well), and changed the levels to be 2-4. Still had 2 PC deaths along the way.

For introducing 5E, the basic set adventure, Lost Mines of Phandelver, is top notch. The first section can be a bit rough, but also rewards critical thinking. Just be ready for a total party kill if they decide to fight the dragon...