D&D for a Younger Audience

[WSmith]

That one caught me off guard. The common wisdom, after all, is that the Fighter's the easiest class to play.

I would say, even though it may not look like it that the fighter is the easist to play. But, just to get them used to the magic I suggested those classes. The idea of the Talismans is a great idea to have fighters and rogues with some magic power.

I wrote up much of the Basic adventure game yesterday. I am so surprised that once I decided to not make it d20 STL compliant, how much easier it was to design, (not that is could really be compliant when addressing CHarGen issues.) The old one was more of a GURPS Lite, where it didn't make much sense to the new player, but the experienced game master could use it as an abridged version of the PHB to help the new player create a character.

I like the more simple version I am doing now. When I get it all fleshed out, I will post it. I can't believe how cool it is, (at least in my eyes. ) Also I agree with the spell prep rules, and they are out in favor of something even nicer. More to come.

Back to the topic.

*Pre-teens like to look at pictures and imagine stories about it. Find pictures of mountains, landscapes, castles, etc. either in the library or on the web to use as props for what the character sees.

*Allow all classes to have animal followers or familiars. Much young reader fantasy involes friendship between the protagonist and their animal companion.

*Puzzles. Kids, (some adults even) find them challenging, but make them solvable and not too hard, or the game will stall. They could be as simple as "Rays of noon, when flowers bloom, Then sunlight flows green, open will the portal clean" scrawled on a piece of parchment the characters found. Later the find at seperate places, they find one yellow crystal and one blue crystal. Later, they come upon a strange pyramid amid the rolling planes of with blooming flowers surrounding it. Once inside the come to a chamber that has an archway to another chamber with a white crystal globe afixed in the center to the wall above the arch. The characters notice a small opening near the top of the roof that allows sunlight to shine on the wall near the globe. As it gets clooser to lunch time the beam of light that is focued through the hole moves closer to the crystal globe. (I am sure that we'll know what to do, but would an 8 year old think of the riddle, his treasure, and how to put them together?)

*Use the game to imrpove the players academic skills if needed. If they need some help with math, have them visit the local merchant to exchange currency, of purchase X ounce amount of a liquid, but with them determining from a big jug how much they need. Caution, you really have to hide this well. If they suspect they are doing a math lesson and not a game, they will be turned off.

*Use terms that will intice them to do research. Anyone else remember finding out what "e.g., i.e., et. al." meant from the 1st edition DMG? Call one location a bay, one an inlet, one a cape, one a penninsula. If they don't know what the word means, have them look it up.

...more if I can think of them.

 

[mmadsen]

Use the game to imrpove the players academic skills if needed.

And critical thinking skills! Roleplaying games naturally put the players in scenarios where they have to analyze the situation and then make decisions. If the scenario is always "the monster attacks you!" and the decision is always "kill it!", then their thinking skills may go dull.

If, on the other hand, they're presented with monsters they can't beat in a straight fight (which might be the norm in a Wizard-PC campaign), they might learn to think a bit. It helps when the DM talks them through it a bit. "OK, what are your options?"

Even gifted kids will make stupid tactical decisions, because they don't step through what their options are and what their opponents' strengths and weaknesses are. I'd much rather see a campaign where our heroes must remember they have a magic feather from the Owl King, and they can summon Giant Owls to devour the Rat Men, than one where they just roll to attack.

 

[WSmith]

Like a lot of ideas on this thread, I wouldn't mind seeing this one in an "adult" game. For a heroic game, D&D certainly makes it hard to get captured instead of killed -- especially for high-level characters with lots of hit points. They take so much damage every round, but they're still only Disabled at exactly 0 hit points and Dying from -1 to -9.

Why not spread out Disabled to cover from 0 to -9 and Dying from -10 to -20, and improve the Stability percentage from 10% to 20% (or maybe a DC 20 Fort Save).

Now that is an interesting idea for both an adult and youth games. I like it! Getting captured sure ain't what it used to be. Remember those darn slave lords?

 

[WSmith]

Quick question: What are your thoughts about the standard AC as opposed to a defensive system like WOT Defense? Which do you think would be more simple to use in a basic game? This also includes the use of armor as DR or DEF bonus or increased AC.

I suspect even thought the AC is the easiest to use, as it has worked for years. I have never actually tried the WOT system in play. And even though SW uses DEF, it also used VP/WP which I like but think adds a little too much uneeded complexity to a low-mid level introductory game.

 

[mmadsen]

Quick question: What are your thoughts about the standard AC as opposed to a defensive system like WOT Defense? Which do you think would be more simple to use in a basic game? This also includes the use of armor as DR or DEF bonus or increased AC.

I think a Defense bonus is perfectly easy to use; it only gets complicated if you have rules for armor encumbrance limiting the bonus, etc.

I think having a hit be a hit and having armor reduce damage is more intuitive, but it may complicate the game a bit. You could, of course, replace hit points entirely. Perhaps a hit forces a Fort roll with armor as a bonus?

And even though SW uses DEF, it also used VP/WP which I like but think adds a little too much uneeded complexity to a low-mid level introductory game.

The Wound/Vitality dichotomy seems a bit much for something that's supposed to be a simple abstraction. I say toss Vitality entirely, just give Con Wound points, and crank up the Defense bonus.

 

[mmadsen]

Dinosaurs.

And yet, as much as I like 'em, I don't think SHARK's raptor-riding Hobgoblins would make a great addition to a children's game...

 

[mmadsen]

The idea of the Talismans is a great idea to have fighters and rogues with some magic power.

It also lends itself to puzzle adventures. "The Lady of the Woods gives you three talismans of great power: the Tail of a Rabbit, that you might bound away at haste, the Scale of the Catfish, that you might breathe water as air, and the Eye of the Owl, that you might see at night as under the noonday sun." Then you just set up a puzzle or encounter for someone with those three abilities (usable exactly once).

 

[mmadsen]

I thought this thread had "fallen off" the server, but I stumbled across it, and it's quite applicable to DnD Junior, so I'm giving it a bump.