halfling rogue
Explorer
Good to hear!
D&D 5E 5e with Young Kids
- Thread starter halfling rogue
- Start date
Good to hear!
halfling rogue
Explorer
Good to hear!
4th edition works great for kids, if you're flexible and don't act the rules-lawyering DM. I've found lots of people who are otherwise paralyzed by RPGs are perfectly comfortable with "Here's a bunch of cards with your skills. You can do the green ones as many times as you want." I've had fabulous luck with kids as young as 7.
Ilbranteloth
Explorer
I'm running a campaign with my friend for my daughter (11), and his two sons (8 and 12). They had been playing 4th ed, then switched to the playtest.
We're playing the full rules (plus my house rules) and they are really into it. Sessions are typically only about 2 hours, maybe 3. We don't get through more than a few encounters each session, but they're always excited for more. And it's been a blast because they come up with some great ideas and things that I don't expect. Depending on which of us is DM, we give them a little help here or there, but not much.
They are 4th level, and the last session the 8-year-old's barbarian attempted to kick in a door and rolled a 1. So when he kicked it in, the orcs on the other side were ready and he was hit with 4 crossbow bolts, which almost killed him. He has a curse where he has to rage against orcs, and the first thing his brother did (elven ranger) was tackle him to keep him from attacking. My daughter is a rogue 2/druid 2 and changed into a giant spider so she could capture him with her web, and dragged him down the hall and around the corner. He failed his escape and she managed to keep him there another round, ending his rage. In the meantime, the elven ranger was leading the orcs down the hall in the other direction, and once the druid was back in elven form and healed the barbarian, they followed and attacked from behind while the ranger was taking care of them from the other end. He had even made a trip wire by using a rope and two arrows to drive into the wood-cladded walls, then ducked around a corner for cover before continuing to pick them off with his bow.
The week before they were at a locked door, and my daughter was suggesting that she could turn into something small and go under the door to see what was there. She and the elven ranger were discussing it and the barbarian decided he didn't want to wait and walked up and kicked the door. My daughter literally slapped her forehead and went 'doh.' It was hysterical.
Oh, and they are searching for the Dwarf's lost clan, the (wood) elven ranger is trying to decide whether he agrees with his parents worldly view of the good civilized races, or the more insular views of his other wood elven friends (in New Eaerlann), and both are trying to help protect the druid and determine what the magic sword given to her by her mother, as well as locate her family and/or Evereska (where she came from). After they were ambushed by orcs and an ogre, they debated whether they should go after the orcs that ran away, or continue toward Silverymoon to see if they can do some research in the library about the sword, her history, and the dwarf's unknown clan. They decided they couldn't leave the orcs to ambush others, plus they might need some money for the library. Two of the three were really leaning toward continuing rather than being sidetracked. And she stopped them from from killing a human they captured since he was no longer an immediate threat and deserved to be treated with respect, even if he was a criminal. They brought him back to town to face justice instead.
They don't need any help from us!
Ilbranteloth
We're playing the full rules (plus my house rules) and they are really into it. Sessions are typically only about 2 hours, maybe 3. We don't get through more than a few encounters each session, but they're always excited for more. And it's been a blast because they come up with some great ideas and things that I don't expect. Depending on which of us is DM, we give them a little help here or there, but not much.
They are 4th level, and the last session the 8-year-old's barbarian attempted to kick in a door and rolled a 1. So when he kicked it in, the orcs on the other side were ready and he was hit with 4 crossbow bolts, which almost killed him. He has a curse where he has to rage against orcs, and the first thing his brother did (elven ranger) was tackle him to keep him from attacking. My daughter is a rogue 2/druid 2 and changed into a giant spider so she could capture him with her web, and dragged him down the hall and around the corner. He failed his escape and she managed to keep him there another round, ending his rage. In the meantime, the elven ranger was leading the orcs down the hall in the other direction, and once the druid was back in elven form and healed the barbarian, they followed and attacked from behind while the ranger was taking care of them from the other end. He had even made a trip wire by using a rope and two arrows to drive into the wood-cladded walls, then ducked around a corner for cover before continuing to pick them off with his bow.
The week before they were at a locked door, and my daughter was suggesting that she could turn into something small and go under the door to see what was there. She and the elven ranger were discussing it and the barbarian decided he didn't want to wait and walked up and kicked the door. My daughter literally slapped her forehead and went 'doh.' It was hysterical.
Oh, and they are searching for the Dwarf's lost clan, the (wood) elven ranger is trying to decide whether he agrees with his parents worldly view of the good civilized races, or the more insular views of his other wood elven friends (in New Eaerlann), and both are trying to help protect the druid and determine what the magic sword given to her by her mother, as well as locate her family and/or Evereska (where she came from). After they were ambushed by orcs and an ogre, they debated whether they should go after the orcs that ran away, or continue toward Silverymoon to see if they can do some research in the library about the sword, her history, and the dwarf's unknown clan. They decided they couldn't leave the orcs to ambush others, plus they might need some money for the library. Two of the three were really leaning toward continuing rather than being sidetracked. And she stopped them from from killing a human they captured since he was no longer an immediate threat and deserved to be treated with respect, even if he was a criminal. They brought him back to town to face justice instead.
They don't need any help from us!
Ilbranteloth
Last edited:
cowboycentaur
Explorer
I've been running a campaign with my 6 year old, 8 year old and their 13 year old cousin for over a year now and its great to hear other parents having fun with their kids as well!
we started out with 4e as it was the only rule set i had experience with, but after i became more experienced with other systems we switched to the fate accellerated as my daughter found the rules very restrictive and really hated the length of combat no matter how much i tried to speed things up.
although theyre pretty happy with the current system id really like to try 5e with them at some point when theyre a little older and have more patience.
right now in our campaign the party consists of Zoltar the war machine, a transformer with a giant electric sword and a flamethrower, (my 6 year old son,) Princess Isabelle saver, a shapeshifting wizard made out of crystals, (my 8 year old daughter) and Slender man, demonic creature of shadows (my nephew) we're in a sort of Wreck it Ralph world where they travel from video game to video game depending on what game theyre currently most excited about.
we started out with 4e as it was the only rule set i had experience with, but after i became more experienced with other systems we switched to the fate accellerated as my daughter found the rules very restrictive and really hated the length of combat no matter how much i tried to speed things up.
although theyre pretty happy with the current system id really like to try 5e with them at some point when theyre a little older and have more patience.
right now in our campaign the party consists of Zoltar the war machine, a transformer with a giant electric sword and a flamethrower, (my 6 year old son,) Princess Isabelle saver, a shapeshifting wizard made out of crystals, (my 8 year old daughter) and Slender man, demonic creature of shadows (my nephew) we're in a sort of Wreck it Ralph world where they travel from video game to video game depending on what game theyre currently most excited about.
halfling rogue
Explorer
So it took a while but we finally got a brief amount of time to play!
The three High Elves: Legolas- former soldier (my 7yr old son), Elsa- lost snow queen/princess...(4yr old daughter), Jackie- an explorer (10yr old daughter). The use of one cantrip was the major seller here.
I really wanted to have them learn the "real" rules of the game (we've played dumbed down d&d in the past) and they literally had no problem. For the most part, I simply just explained what skill to roll for if they wanted to do something that required it. To be honest, I thought I would have to really hold their hands, but to my pleasant surprise, it went off without a hitch! Even with my 4 year old...
Each had their own interesting background (you can read in the OP) and to set everything up I told them that they all happened to individually arrive in Neverwinter around the same time. Each was pretty much down on their luck. Their adventures so far haven't really progressed as individuals and that each was in the same frame of mind that they would 1) like to find some allies to aid them and 2) they were all pretty low on money and looking for a way to find some cash. I said they all met at the same Inn, found a common bond (all being High Elves helped) and became fast friends, and along comes Gundren Rockseeker looking for some adventurous folks for an easy task and some relatively easy money. (I basically didn't allow them to roleplay any of this, as we were short on time and I knew they would respond quickly to action)
So Gundren offered them the job and off they took the wagon on down Phandalin way. Jackie driving the wagon with Elsa seated beside her and Legolas walking along as a lookout. When they came to the ambush site, Jackie was ready to drive the wagon right on to the horses, but Legolas (with a high roll) spotted a goblin off to the side. He asked if he could sneak around and I ruled he could as long as he made the rolls, which he did.
It was here where I needed to explain to the kids that they should remember that their characters in the game wouldn't know information unless it is revealed to them in game. So when Legolas shot off to the right without a word, I had to remind the girls, that even though he spotted a goblin, their characters wouldn't have known that unless he told them what he saw. We could have replayed it, but I wanted something like that to show them that their characters should interact in game. As it is, the girls saw their companion dart off to stealthily to a thicket which slowed their wagon a bit. Then all of a sudden they saw a fiery whoosh in the thicket and a burning goblin run out and drop dead. So we rolled for initiative.
The goblins got the drop. One ran from the bushes toward the wagon (and away from the fire) wielding a sword while two goblins on the other side shot arrows at the driver. The goblin with the sword attacked Elsa who was up in the wagon. On account of this I ruled that he would be attacking with a disadvantage, but he hit anyway for 3hp. One archer goblin missed and the other rolled a 1, so I said as he drew his bow the string snapped. Elsa dispatched the goblin at the wagon with her rapier and Jackie pinned the unfortunately unarmed goblin to a tree (1hp left). Again the second archer missed. The pinned goblin, with a last ditch effort yanked the arrow, grabbed a sword and ran for the wagon. Meanwhile Legolas took aim at the other archer goblin and roasted him within 1hp. Inspired at this Elsa to frost the little bugger running towards them and she did so with success. Now the recently roasted goblin archer wanted no part of this and took off back towards the Hideout.
The kids then investigated the horses and realized it must have been Gundren (they figured this out faster than my normal gaming group of 30/40 year olds...wha?). The explorer found the tracks and impressed grass that indicated bodies were drug and before I could give any more information she said, "Oh! Those goblins took Gundren and his friend. I'm going to go after them!". Legolas brought up his concern for the wagon and wanted to know if they could stash it off the road and cover it with leaves and branches and "make it look all broken so no one will take it".
Now I used the same scenario I did with my other group, in that the goblin who got away actually get's caught in one of their own traps. The adventurers discover the goblin hanging upsided down by one leg, very perturbed with himself and his bad memory.
Instantly Legolas intimidates him and reminds him that he is the one who blasted him with fire and he can do it again. Says he'll cut him down if he shows them the way to the hideout. Even said he'll pay him some money for his help. The explorer wasn't so trusting and wasn't so easy to part with their meager funds.
And then we had to stop
I knew we were limited in time so this was the best place to stop. All of this took about an hour.
On the plus side, none of the kids wanted to stop and are really looking forward to the next session. My daughter and son continued their "discussion" about whether or not it was a good idea to give a grubby goblin their money...
Another point. My son loves minis and was really pumped to play with minis for this session. We partially used minis. They each picked one mini to represent their character and we used the minis to show their marching order. My son moved his mini around when his character was talking, but we didn't use them during combat. I used graph paper and drew the scene as it unfolded. None of the kids thought twice about the minis during it. They all just used their imagination. I thought it was impressive when we didn't use minis in my normal D&D group of adults. Now I'm doubly impressed. I thought for sure the kids would want to use the minis for combat. This was literally the draw for my son. Before we started he wanted to know when we'd play the 'mini game'...
I can't wait to play again. Pretty awesome to have my own home grown gaming group!
The three High Elves: Legolas- former soldier (my 7yr old son), Elsa- lost snow queen/princess...(4yr old daughter), Jackie- an explorer (10yr old daughter). The use of one cantrip was the major seller here.
I really wanted to have them learn the "real" rules of the game (we've played dumbed down d&d in the past) and they literally had no problem. For the most part, I simply just explained what skill to roll for if they wanted to do something that required it. To be honest, I thought I would have to really hold their hands, but to my pleasant surprise, it went off without a hitch! Even with my 4 year old...
Each had their own interesting background (you can read in the OP) and to set everything up I told them that they all happened to individually arrive in Neverwinter around the same time. Each was pretty much down on their luck. Their adventures so far haven't really progressed as individuals and that each was in the same frame of mind that they would 1) like to find some allies to aid them and 2) they were all pretty low on money and looking for a way to find some cash. I said they all met at the same Inn, found a common bond (all being High Elves helped) and became fast friends, and along comes Gundren Rockseeker looking for some adventurous folks for an easy task and some relatively easy money. (I basically didn't allow them to roleplay any of this, as we were short on time and I knew they would respond quickly to action)
So Gundren offered them the job and off they took the wagon on down Phandalin way. Jackie driving the wagon with Elsa seated beside her and Legolas walking along as a lookout. When they came to the ambush site, Jackie was ready to drive the wagon right on to the horses, but Legolas (with a high roll) spotted a goblin off to the side. He asked if he could sneak around and I ruled he could as long as he made the rolls, which he did.
It was here where I needed to explain to the kids that they should remember that their characters in the game wouldn't know information unless it is revealed to them in game. So when Legolas shot off to the right without a word, I had to remind the girls, that even though he spotted a goblin, their characters wouldn't have known that unless he told them what he saw. We could have replayed it, but I wanted something like that to show them that their characters should interact in game. As it is, the girls saw their companion dart off to stealthily to a thicket which slowed their wagon a bit. Then all of a sudden they saw a fiery whoosh in the thicket and a burning goblin run out and drop dead. So we rolled for initiative.
The goblins got the drop. One ran from the bushes toward the wagon (and away from the fire) wielding a sword while two goblins on the other side shot arrows at the driver. The goblin with the sword attacked Elsa who was up in the wagon. On account of this I ruled that he would be attacking with a disadvantage, but he hit anyway for 3hp. One archer goblin missed and the other rolled a 1, so I said as he drew his bow the string snapped. Elsa dispatched the goblin at the wagon with her rapier and Jackie pinned the unfortunately unarmed goblin to a tree (1hp left). Again the second archer missed. The pinned goblin, with a last ditch effort yanked the arrow, grabbed a sword and ran for the wagon. Meanwhile Legolas took aim at the other archer goblin and roasted him within 1hp. Inspired at this Elsa to frost the little bugger running towards them and she did so with success. Now the recently roasted goblin archer wanted no part of this and took off back towards the Hideout.
The kids then investigated the horses and realized it must have been Gundren (they figured this out faster than my normal gaming group of 30/40 year olds...wha?). The explorer found the tracks and impressed grass that indicated bodies were drug and before I could give any more information she said, "Oh! Those goblins took Gundren and his friend. I'm going to go after them!". Legolas brought up his concern for the wagon and wanted to know if they could stash it off the road and cover it with leaves and branches and "make it look all broken so no one will take it".
Now I used the same scenario I did with my other group, in that the goblin who got away actually get's caught in one of their own traps. The adventurers discover the goblin hanging upsided down by one leg, very perturbed with himself and his bad memory.
Instantly Legolas intimidates him and reminds him that he is the one who blasted him with fire and he can do it again. Says he'll cut him down if he shows them the way to the hideout. Even said he'll pay him some money for his help. The explorer wasn't so trusting and wasn't so easy to part with their meager funds.
And then we had to stop
I knew we were limited in time so this was the best place to stop. All of this took about an hour.On the plus side, none of the kids wanted to stop and are really looking forward to the next session. My daughter and son continued their "discussion" about whether or not it was a good idea to give a grubby goblin their money...
Another point. My son loves minis and was really pumped to play with minis for this session. We partially used minis. They each picked one mini to represent their character and we used the minis to show their marching order. My son moved his mini around when his character was talking, but we didn't use them during combat. I used graph paper and drew the scene as it unfolded. None of the kids thought twice about the minis during it. They all just used their imagination. I thought it was impressive when we didn't use minis in my normal D&D group of adults. Now I'm doubly impressed. I thought for sure the kids would want to use the minis for combat. This was literally the draw for my son. Before we started he wanted to know when we'd play the 'mini game'...
I can't wait to play again. Pretty awesome to have my own home grown gaming group!
halfling rogue
Explorer
So we were able to play a few more sessions...I'll not give a play by play like my last post but I will highlight a couple things pertinent to playing with young kids.
My 4 year old is having a blast. She said maybe one of the most cute/horrible things you've ever heard a little girl say. Me as DM: "Okay what do you want to do?" My cute 4 year old daughter: "Stab him in the heart!" She sounded like she was about to eat ice cream...
Initially my 10 year old didn't want to play the second session. Not that she didn't want to ever play again, but she wanted to do something else. I couldn't let the other two down, so we decided that her character would be guarding some treasure that they had found while the others went to scout. She must have heard all of the fun we were having because after about 10 minutes she ran in to join us in the middle of a fight. I allowed her character to come in at just the right time to turn the tide.
We didn't play with mini's again.
We ended our last session with the clearing out of the Cragmaw Hideout. (Okay, quick play by play because it was so fun). They climbed the chimney and worked their way backwards. Killed Klarg and goons, chased a guard across the bridge into the goblin den "guns blazing". The instant they entered, they asked no questions. My son chucked a spear at Yeemik, quickly followed by an arrow from my 4 year old. They made the rolls and Yeemik was dead before he knew what hit him. The rest of the fight was fierce and the explorer went down, to the fear (and anxious delight) of us all. The fight ended and she recovered.
I'm starting to see some different gaming styles play out. My oldest daughter wants to carefully explore every option. My son wants to kill and take the treasure. My 4 year old is happy pretty much as long as she can stab goblins in the heart.
My 4 year old is having a blast. She said maybe one of the most cute/horrible things you've ever heard a little girl say. Me as DM: "Okay what do you want to do?" My cute 4 year old daughter: "Stab him in the heart!" She sounded like she was about to eat ice cream...
Initially my 10 year old didn't want to play the second session. Not that she didn't want to ever play again, but she wanted to do something else. I couldn't let the other two down, so we decided that her character would be guarding some treasure that they had found while the others went to scout. She must have heard all of the fun we were having because after about 10 minutes she ran in to join us in the middle of a fight. I allowed her character to come in at just the right time to turn the tide.
We didn't play with mini's again.
We ended our last session with the clearing out of the Cragmaw Hideout. (Okay, quick play by play because it was so fun). They climbed the chimney and worked their way backwards. Killed Klarg and goons, chased a guard across the bridge into the goblin den "guns blazing". The instant they entered, they asked no questions. My son chucked a spear at Yeemik, quickly followed by an arrow from my 4 year old. They made the rolls and Yeemik was dead before he knew what hit him. The rest of the fight was fierce and the explorer went down, to the fear (and anxious delight) of us all. The fight ended and she recovered.
I'm starting to see some different gaming styles play out. My oldest daughter wants to carefully explore every option. My son wants to kill and take the treasure. My 4 year old is happy pretty much as long as she can stab goblins in the heart.
eric.kiser
First Post
I love threads like this.
