D&D for my 5 and 6 year old-help please

[Just_Hal]

Ok, kids wanna play D&D after watching the cartoon on Disney. My son wants to be Eric the Ranger and my daughter wants to be Sheila the Rogue. I will give them the special bow and the cloak of invisablity, any ideas on a good level to start them with even though they wont use feats etc...... any help suggestions, or ideas of how to write em up...the bow will have regular bow dmg just be like his.

 

[Drowbane]

Consider making thier PCs like any other D&D character (plus the cartoon influenced free magic items ) and handle all the rules issues yourself. Ask them what they'd like to do, and without getting into the rules involved, describe the outcome. When they're older, you can let them in on the mechanics, for now just stick to the fun.

(I played Champions like this for 3 years... and I was in highschool! lol)

 

[Just_Hal]

Consider making thier PCs like any other D&D character (plus the cartoon influenced free magic items ) and handle all the rules issues yourself. Ask them what they'd like to do, and without getting into the rules involved, describe the outcome. When they're older, you can let them in on the mechanics, for now just stick to the fun.

(I played Champions like this for 3 years... and I was in highschool! lol)

This was pretty much how I was going to handle it, thanks.

 

[Glyfair]

At that age, I wouldn't start them with D&D (at least from a system perspective). I would just go with as simple a "system" as possible. If they can read any, write up a simple character sheet. If not, maybe do so anyway, but find a nice portait of their character online.

Send them through some sort of an interactive story. Have them roll to succeed at certain tasks by rolling a die, but keep it simple (high is success, low isn't).

IIRC, Greg Stafford's Prince Valiant had a very simple mechanical system that required basically flipping coins. Maybe that could be adapted.

 

[Agent Oracle]

Let them play pretend with the rules. Keep the kids gloves on and try to keep it all Johnny Quest level danger (Frogmen have Haji prisoner! Hey! there's Race Bannon!). Keep the CR's low compared to their levels, and allways give them a quest that makes them feel like they are doing a good thing. If they do a bad thing (like steal the crown) guilt them into giving it back, and treat it like the end of a "very special" episode of your favorite 1980's TV show. "Stealing the crown was wrong, but admitting that you took it was the right thing to do. So I won't throw you in the deepest dungeon in the land, instead, you'll be punished, No questing for a week."

-I'm imagining Dora, the Explorer as a recurring rogue class character (think about it: she disarms traps, uses her reflexes to solve problems, and has several powerful magic items, A magical backpack of holding, a map that sings and tells her the exact locations she needs to go to...)

-Bonus points if you can make them kill barney without them realizing it...

 

[Just_Hal]

I talked to some over at CM and yes a Dora episode makes sense and will be easy, A-B-C and win! I was thinking the first one would be a lost and found with some fighting and yes simply roll the dice tell dad the number and lets see how you did will be fine for me at this time, I am planning on having it much more story based anyway.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ask Rel about tot-LARPing

-Hyp.

 

[Zakath429]

Bonus points if you can make them kill barney without them realizing it...

ILMAO. I may have to have my party fight him just for Giggles. Anyone have any idea how to stat him? lol.

Just use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle with the kids. Keep the "role-playing" to a minimum, unless they seem to be enjoying it more than the actual mechanic (ie. Combat). We have two young kids in our group, the youngest, likes the role-playing aspect (she is eight), while her eleven y/o brother gets bored with the role-playing aspect, and only gets into the game during fights.

 

[bytor4232]

Spot on. I play with my 6 year old all the time. My wife plays an elven ranger (big LOTR fan). The daughter plays a homebrewed fairie race as a sorcerer, and casts nothing but magic missle and ray of frost. She loves to hack n slash through random dungeons.

As far as gameplay, use lots of minis and a battlemat. If you don't have either, you can get dnd minis on eBay pretty cheap. As far as battlemats, I use smooth sheet protectors and whiteboard markers with 1" grid paper inside them. Just make sure the sheet protectors are smooth and not textured. You need whiteboard cleaner and whiteboard eraser to clean them effectively, but I think I have less than 8 bucks into a uber portable battlemat. I have like 50 double sided sheets that fit into a spiral notebook fitting neatly onto my shelf.

Oh well. Playin with your kids is uber fun! Your in for a real treat.

 

[Glyfair]

As far as gameplay, use lots of minis and a battlemat.

In fact, depending on your children, larger might be better. Action figures, inexpensive toy castle sets, etc. might be more attractive to them.