Gaming across the generation gap

[DonTadow]

It does depend on the player as far as age and maturity. In my earlier post I said i had 3 teenagers and one of them was the only one whom was responsible and got it. But I got to play my chances and more than likely, players under 18 just aren't mature enough most of the time. This sucks because I know I"m not giving some fair gamer his chance. Heck, even if my odds are standard (1 out of every 3) there's still a pretty good chance of getting a kid whom hasn't really gotten the full concept of d and d.

Even with older players, I have rigourous screening process to see if our styles mesh.

Sidenote: The 25 year old immature idiot in my earlier post had an eight year old brother whom I had the pleasure of gaming with just before I kicked them out. We were all at a convention and the only dungeons and dragons game was being run by this old guy (whom I suspected may have been some kind of child molester after he whispered to my girlfriend and I at the end of the game "I get little girls to play by putting puzzles in the game" ). In any case this creepy guy was running an all children game but since my gf and i wanted to play d and d we joined in. The other 5 kids at the table were your typical preteen/early teen brats. But this eight year old kid was amazing. He knew all the rules and was poised. He ended up saving all of our characters in the end by making a smart decision. He remained in character the whole time and critizizing the other kids at the table. The kid did a better job than most vets I know.

So I know age isn't based on maturity , sadly I've had way too many bad experiences to take the risk again.

 

[Meloncov]

I'm fourteen and play with a group where most of the other members are in the 30-50 range (with one other fourteen year old). Presumably, I don't bug them too much; they've recently allowed me to run a game and, obviously, the keep inviting me back.

It helps that four of the adults are parents, so they're used to kids, and I at least like to think of myself as unusually mature for my age.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I went harvesting potential new players at the FLGS, and got a few numbers in the hope to round out our group a little.

One lead turned out great, a promising new player with some good experience.

The second one, worries me. I called him and it turns out he's a senior in high school.

We talked for a bit and decided to get together and make some characters. When he asked if it was going to be a problem about his age, I said "it really depends on your playstyle."

But I am worried that he might be playing, well, at the level I was when I was in high school. But at the same time, the last thing I want to do is discourage young players.

So, anyone grapple with issues like this? Have any war stories, good or bad?

Don't hold his age against him. We had a guy join our group when he was 13. Granted we had to watch our actions/language/etc as he was being chaperoned by his mother until she felt comfortable with us. Once she was, then all she did was drop him off and go home, then pick him up after the game or had one of our guys who lived near him to drop him off. But he's one of our better roleplayers and a great guy to be around! He's 18 now and as much of the group as the rest of us who are 30+ in age.

 

[JamesDJarvis]

Don't hold someones age against them (do get guardians explicit permission if the person is under 18). When I was a teenager I DM'd for a group that included players from 12 years of age to 50 something we had a lot of players. RPGs are a good way to learn some social skills (beleave it or not).

 

[sniffles]

My fiance (who got me into gaming) starting gaming in his teens with a group of older players, some old enough to be his parents. I think this contributed to his being the great person he is today, since his parental upbringing certainly can't account for it.

I have to admit I personally would be very reluctant to game with anyone under the age of 20, but I'm 45 so the age gap is more noticeable. We have a group of players who are mostly in the 35 to 45 range, and recently we added a player who is 25. She's the new wife of one of the other players (yes, her husband is 10 years her senior). For the most part the age gap is not a problem, though occasionally we do run into a non-sequitur moment when one of us makes reference to something that happened before she was born. Interestingly, she's also the group's rules lawyer. I don't know if that's an age-related thing or just her nature.

 

[Talmun]

...I tend to think it's harder to run a game "up" a generation rather than "down" a generation. I don't mind a little silliness now and again, but I honestly think it wonder if it would be difficult to maintain authority as a DM when your players are significantly *older* than you are.

In the group I DM for the average age has varied quite a bit as players come and go, but I'm almost always on the younger side of the curve (I'm 29). In fact when I first started running five years ago, I was the second youngest person in the group. The oldest person is in his 50s and has been playing since 1970-something. Initially I was a bit intimidated, but they were gracious and accepting and I really don't even think about the age difference anymore.

As for the original topic...
I generally agree that playstyle matters and that age does not always denote maturity, but the young tend more toward immature and/or disruptive behavior and it's certainly something to watch out for...
I've only had two experiences running a game with players under 20. One was my younger brother who was a perfect player, primarily because I was his legal guardian and he knew he couldn't get away with anything The other was only mildly disruptive every once in a while and not intentionally. So my experience has been limited, but good.

 

[Ace]

We have a no one under 18 rule in our group, 21+ is prefered. This way no one has to be concerned about a bunch of minors hanging out with a group of folks from 20-40.

The only exception to this are the very rare one shots and intro to gaming things. These are always held at the game store and if a youngster gets his parents permission and they tell us in person the minor can play at the store till close -- the youngest we ever had in the group was 10 or 11 -- pure hack and slash as was to be expected but hey -- he was a future gamer and honestly was less trouble than a couple of 18 Y/O guys we tried out

 

[reveal]

Last session we had a funny situation happen. It's been a long time since I've had to yell to one of my friends, "Hey! Your mom's on the phone!"

 

[Thotas]

I'm going to join with those who say that age doesn't necessarly mean anything, but I'll also admit it does affect the odds. Oh, and the wants to play monster characters thing ... very scary to me. I've had too many bad experiences with players who want to do that for all the wrong reasons. And if you have a group that all want to play monsters, all different monsters, with no need for an explanation for what they're doing together, and expect to walk through town without getting funny looks, let alone immediate attacks, from the populace ... run away from them. Hide. Move. Change your phone number.

 

[The Shaman]

But gangsta rap drow ninjas are the sweetest

Word.

I played in an FLGS group for a couple of months that ranged from late teens to mid-thirties (me and the GM) - the most annoying player was in his early to mid-twenties: rules-lawyer, munchkin, spotlight-hog, all-around pain in the arse.

The two high schoolers in the group seemed more interested in emulating my 'retro' style (yeah, one of them actually called it that...) than the munchkin's - apprently they thought that an 'old guy' who played D&D was cool.