D&D 5E D&D 5e suggestions for two beginner children and a first time DM dad?

[Voadam]

I would suggest one character per player and no NPCs, though a pet or two would be OK. This would be to go for them feeling they are the main character focus and not feel like they are in the background tagging along. I would tone down the combats for the two person group, either run them in modules designed for lower level groups or cut down numbers from defaults. I would focus on exploration and some talking interactions, neat things to experience and weird creatures or things to interact with.

A lot of intro modules for kids/new players across the editions have been presented as low stakes training scenarios (arena training or rat killing), which I think is less fun for a participant than something like be a ghost buster and check out a haunted house, or be Indiana Jones style archaeologists investigating newly uncovered ruins.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My advices:

Simple rules, try to avoid lots of dice throwing. More storytelling like a gamebook "Choose your own adventure" or "Endless Quest". Faster and shorter games because they are worse to keep the concentration.

They are more coward but also more impulsive, and worse social skills.

Why not to try any touch of comedy? For example adding some rip-off/affectionate parody of famous characters.

Offer extra XPs if they tell their own stories, good grades at school, helping in the cleaning of the home...

 

[Scott Christian]

Hello EN World!

I used to play AD&D 1e at school when these were the player’s handbook and monster manual:

Now, some 30+ years later, I have two primary-school children aged 8 and 10 who I’d love to get into D&D 5e. They absolutely loved the D&D Young Adventurers Collection:

How might I best introduce my kids to actually playing D&D, in a simple, age-appropriate way, in short sessions of max 1 hour to suit their attention span, and most crucially in a format that just three of us can play - the kids and I? We have a busy family life and I don’t see the opportunity for many four-hour play sessions with three other kids to make a bigger party happening on a regular basis. I don’t know anyone else who plays, or wants to start - yet! Maybe when my two are a bit bigger and have a taste for it we can organise something like that, but I would really love to have options for just us three to play now.

Should I get the kids to play two characters each, with some justification for why pairs of PCs might cooperate so closely? (Maybe the PCs they play are two pairs of twins?)

Should I try to play extra NPC party members to help with balance? Remember I am inexperienced as a DM… but willing to put significant effort in to prepare. It must be fun for the kids, and ideally me too, after all otherwise we will lose interest.

I’ve nearly finished reading the 5e basic rules, and (having a bit more money as an adult than I did back then) I have the core three 5e rule books, plus several others from WotC.

However, I have not yet found any kid-friendly adventures or campaigns suitable for an inexperienced party of two players. Do they exist? Can I realistically adapt other adventures to suit this severely limited party size and experience level?

Keep it simple. Keep it under and hour, two if the kids can handle it. Add something you know the kids enjoy, be it Samurai Jack or a Harry Potter look alike. And, if possible, add a magic item they have not seen; a rope that scales walls and ties itself off or a pair of glasses that slows down combat so they get an auto hit when they miss. Something that is descriptive and allows them to use it once or twice.

That is what I have found pulls in interest.

 

[Parmandur]

I'll throw in another recommendation for the Essentials Kit: it has rules to allow one-on-one play through DM controlled Sidekicks supplementing as few as one players, and the adventures are split into quick bite size chunks. It also slots in with the Starter Set Adventure really well, so getting both is a smooth experience.

 

[LordEntrails]

Keep it in the family. Don't bother with NPCs. Balance will be fine, and anything missing you can easily make do by giving a few extra potions or a wand of detection or some magic items to fill any void. But I really don't think you will have one, 5E works really well that way.

You can run pretty much anything, LMOP, Icepsire, etc. Just keep it rules ight, lots of fun, and end each session with enthusiasm.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would suggest one character per player and no NPCs, though a pet or two would be OK. This would be to go for them feeling they are the main character focus and not feel like they are in the background tagging along.

That's why I went with sidekicks instead of full PC-class NPCs. They're less capable and, in my case, I went with characters that are also psychologically less able (the dwarf warrior tank, for instance, is fatalistic and believes he's destined to die in battle, so all of his plans revolve around charging face-first into certain doom, so the kids have to stop him and come up with a better plan). The PCs remain the star of the show all around.

The sidekick rules let you create anything, so I have another sidekick I sometimes use that's an awakened raven, who can offer scouting and advice. It would be trivial to make a sidekick dog or other pet with the same rules.

 

[Ancalagon]

One thing about keeping it simple - I think that age is suitable for a "twist". The kind of predictable, cliche "it was X all along" works great with them.

But have the shadowy enemy not be some great evil but... something a bit silly. Perhaps fish people?

 

[Kobold Stew]

However, I have not yet found any kid-friendly adventures or campaigns suitable for an inexperienced party of two players. Do they exist? Can I realistically adapt other adventures to suit this severely limited party size and experience level?

First off -- welcome to the boards.

I agree with those who said having only one character is best. Using the intro adventure in the box sets is certainly a way to go. With my son and his friends, we rolled characters, and began. with what were really small, three-room dungeons (initial challenge, development, climax and reward). Just that would usually fill 60-90 minutes, once the characters were made, and the kids felt they had done something BIG.

Here is one example: I think they were 8 and 9. There's some orcs on an island that are bothering a village. (a) get to the island, (b) get past their guard animals, (c) defeat the (one) big orc (the rumour had exaggerated the number, but he was harassing the village). -- The two kids borrowed a rowboat, but one of them was afraid to leave it unattended, in case the boatman they'd got it from got mad at them. The kid was afraid to get in trouble for losing the boat -- it was lovely. He needed permission to break rules, to do what he wanted, and the scenario gave it to him. But that was emotionally taxing for him. It doesn't need to be big monsters all the time.

It does mean that there's a payoff every session (good) and that you can scale up when needed, throwing in complications and traps. In that case, I made them think about whether the were going to kill the orc, or not, when they didn't have to. Then, when they took the captured orc back to the village, they were thanked and called heroes. That was their payoff. Again, the emotional connection was way more interesting for them than pyrotechnics.

Pyrotechnics came later.

Some other things:

• handwritten character sheets. My son at 8 had written dexterity and constitution more times than he had his last name, I think. If they wanted there to be something specific in their backpack, they just had to write it on the sheet. That was parenting payoff, but was also a way for them to invest in their character choices.
• let them leave space for character drawings (or have extra paper). It was a good way for some of his friends to represent what they saw their character doing. They'd erase hats when they lost them, etc. It was wonderful.
• Kids like pets. Give them a pet, or a talking pet.
• whenever a friend would play, I'd give the kid a set of polyhedrals. Everyone gets their own dice, and friends get to take theirs home with them (and bring them next time!).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

• handwritten character sheets. My son at 8 had written dexterity and constitution more times than he had his last name, I think. If they wanted there to be something specific in their backpack, they just had to write it on the sheet. That was parenting payoff, but was also a way for them to invest in their character choices.

I'm planning on running a Strixhaven game over winter break with my kid. I'm thinking of letting the little one's character know anything in the Young Adventurers Guides (and maybe the older Practical Guides created in the 3E/4E era) if she can access the information without much delay. In-game rewards for being a good reader is a D&D tradition, after all.

• whenever a friend would play, I'd give the kid a set of polyhedrals. Everyone gets their own dice, and friends get to take theirs home with them (and bring them next time!).

My wife called last Christmas "the Christmas of dice" because we gave dice or a bag to everyone we played with. We went with dice from Etsy, since you can get hyper-specific stuff like the dice with pandas inside that I got for my daughter.

 

[The Green Hermit]

First off -- welcome to the boards.

I agree with those who said having only one character is best. Using the intro adventure in the box sets is certainly a way to go. With my son and his friends, we rolled characters, and began. with what were really small, three-room dungeons (initial challenge, development, climax and reward). Just that would usually fill 60-90 minutes, once the characters were made, and the kids felt they had done something BIG.

Here is one example: I think they were 8 and 9. There's some orcs on an island that are bothering a village. (a) get to the island, (b) get past their guard animals, (c) defeat the (one) big orc (the rumour had exaggerated the number, but he was harassing the village). -- The two kids borrowed a rowboat, but one of them was afraid to leave it unattended, in case the boatman they'd got it from got mad at them. The kid was afraid to get in trouble for losing the boat -- it was lovely. He needed permission to break rules, to do what he wanted, and the scenario gave it to him. But that was emotionally taxing for him. It doesn't need to be big monsters all the time.

It does mean that there's a payoff every session (good) and that you can scale up when needed, throwing in complications and traps. In that case, I made them think about whether the were going to kill the orc, or not, when they didn't have to. Then, when they took the captured orc back to the village, they were thanked and called heroes. That was their payoff. Again, the emotional connection was way more interesting for them than pyrotechnics.

Pyrotechnics came later.

Some other things:

• handwritten character sheets. My son at 8 had written dexterity and constitution more times than he had his last name, I think. If they wanted there to be something specific in their backpack, they just had to write it on the sheet. That was parenting payoff, but was also a way for them to invest in their character choices.
• let them leave space for character drawings (or have extra paper). It was a good way for some of his friends to represent what they saw their character doing. They'd erase hats when they lost them, etc. It was wonderful.
• Kids like pets. Give them a pet, or a talking pet.
• whenever a friend would play, I'd give the kid a set of polyhedrals. Everyone gets their own dice, and friends get to take theirs home with them (and bring them next time!).

We constantly have starter dice sets as well.