DnD Junior

[smetzger]

My best quick recommendation is the use the D&D adventure game box set. Really good, with everything you need, and simple simple simple. Plus, at $10, you can't beat the price.

I haven't seen the Adventure box set. However, I would recomend using the NWN rules. These will simplify skill and feat choices and will also simplify AoO. But you will still have very much the same flavor od 3e.

 

[Drawmack]

The box set is great for teaching anyone to play. I use it to teach adults that have never played. If you look through the adventures with an experienced gammers eye you can see how each one is intended to teach the players a specific thing about role-playing. I'm going to show my so this thread maybe then she'll let me teach the 5y.o. DnD - she's got a problem with the violence.

 

[Ashy]

As soon as I can find a spare minute or three to get it all down on paper, I am running a campaign with my 13 year old and wife that is filled with these sorts of images and moments. The twist is that both my wife and my son are playing children characters - which is really very cool. So far they have had a blast!

Oh, did I mention that the campaign is in Oathbound? Makes things REALLY interesting...

 

[alsih2o]

i would think that for young people a dm who is "into it" would be particularly important.

snarls and growls, shouts and whispers, anything to really make the badguys and npc's really stand out (without being TOO scary).
if you can slip into storytller mode well i think it would add a special plus for kids. dm's for adults tend to rely sometimes on their players inherent knowledge that when the orc speaks it is gruff or coarse, kids may need this explicitley explained or demonstrated.

making game world scenarios analagous to real world happening will also help, remember that a childs knowledge about medieval history is liable to be rather sparse, so the fact that say, live chickens are being sold in the marketplace may have to be pointed out, or the fact that the streets are generally filthy, or that there aren't streetlights.

remember, when dealing with kids that the whole world is a new and different place, they haven't "been here before" as it were.

 

[mmadsen]

A few "little changes" for a children's game:

• Instead of having a creature die when it hits 0-(-10) HPs, and leave a bloody carcass, have it crumble into dust and blow away (or turn to stone).
• The heroes are animals or children.
• Their allies are animals
• The monsters can be defeated through wits.
• Fewer "boom" spells and more cursing or polymorphing.
• Magic items as gifts rather than loot.
• No distinction between arcane and divine magic, no Law or Chaos, etc.

 

[Ashy]

Yea, I use most of that stuff now, as you will *hopefully* see when I get my storyhour up...

And you *totally* have to be in on the storyteller mode, alish2o....

 

[mmadsen]

My son enjoyed playing with the box set but it gets old fast. As long as you are DMing, I'd go with the core game instead of the boxed set.

It's hard to go wrong with the $10 Adventure Game though, and it comes with a battle map, counters, and some simple adventures -- as well as a couple thin rulebooks and pregenerated characters.

 

[mmadsen]

Pokemon Jr. is great (I mention that in every one of these threads)

But it's long gone, right? Doesn't it seem like someone should write a really simple Tolkien-esque game right now? I mean really simple. With the new Two Towers movie coming out, and the Fellowship movie on DVD, it seems like a natural.

 

[Sam]

It's hard to go wrong with the $10 Adventure Game though, and it comes with a battle map, counters, and some simple adventures -- as well as a couple thin rulebooks and pregenerated characters.

Don't forget a full set of dice too. That's 3-4 bucks right there.

 

[Mithras]

All I can offer is my own account of roleplaying with 9 year olds, although I do roleplay with my own 7 year old son, too. Unfortunately, due to its complexity (I'm a rules-lite junkie) I use my own games.

I am looking to write and run a D&D lite after Christmas though. So I'm up for tips and tricks as regards rules and mechanics (and the simpler the better, I only have 1 hour game sessions!).

My account is here