Does Adulthood Change the RPG Experience Much?

[CrimsonWineGlass]

My group always affects my campaign setting a lot. If I'm running a game for adults in a large, more gritty city, I might throw in some prostitution (more as a side note, not an important thing of course) to add to that feel. I might throw in illegal fight rings, drug trades, similar. With a younger group, it tends to halt the game I've noticed. Sometimes people start making small jokes, and similar that do the exact opposite from what I'm wanting. Sometimes the plot has to change a bit and I tend to be more hesitant to throw out stronger monsters. But age does make a decent impact on my game.

 

[Wombat]

Timing becomes a big issue for games. No way could I expect my players to show up every single weekend, not with family birthdays, soccer matches, vacations and the like. We shoot for every other weekend and allow of hiccups.

Also there are certain ideas that become more important in the minds of gamers with time. I find my players are less interested in being footloose "adventurers" and are more interested in developing a city, a village, or whatever, as safe home base. Some of the characters even want to flesh out their families, something unheard of in most younger-player games.

Yep, my group games a bit differently nowadays.

And it's all good.

 

[barsoomcore]

When I become an adult, I'll be sure to respond.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Does Adulthood Change the RPG Experience Much?

What does it change from? And to?

I've only played with adults so I have no idea what this is aimed at....

 

[Greylock]

Upside: While the DM's mom doesn't bring us chips and soda anymore, his big sister doesn't point and laugh at us, and his father doesn't tell us when it is time for the DM to go to bed. And if we want to play past midnight and drink beer, it's OK.

Downside: Can't play three times a week anymore, much less a month.

 

[Hussar]

Yup, still killing critters and taking their treasure. That's true. But, now the critters are organized, reactive and smart. No longer is PC death something to avoid, but something to look forward to with sinister glee. No longer does every creature simply saunter up to be sword fodder, but, some of them (shock and horror) even try to talk to the party.

Oh and we don't start slave rings in the Lost City anymore.

 

[Kanegrundar]

The experience changes as one gets older. I know for me, I went from clearing out dungeons filled with evil halflings to games that actually had some sort of plot beyond "go here and kill this".

The biggest change to my gaming as I got older is that I don't have much in the way of time to play anymore.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Hard for me to say. I've always played as an adult, at least legally -- I started when I was in college when the drinking age was still 18, which I was for most of my senior year of high school.

In my home group, I've always just played with other adults.

Now, as I'm starting to run some RPGA Living Greyhawk mods for groups which also include kids, I've noticed that younger people have more interest in the action elements of the game, and less interest in the role-playing, puzzle-solving and investigation elements of the game.

 

[William Ronald]

Yes. My tastes in games and my gaming style has changed over time. This is perhaps part of the maturation process, as we develop new interests. I also have less time for gaming.

 

[Tsillanabor]

Adulthood gave me less time to play. Maturity, on the other hand, made me more of a role-player than roll-player. Experience gave me the insight to cater to, surprise, and occasionally even shock my players when I DM.