Gaming for Kids

[Grogg of the North]

My daughter, almost 5, has expressed an interest in playing "That game that mommy and daddy play". Now, the wife and I play D&D 3.5 which can be pretty math intensive. I'm worried that all the math would be overwhelming. Does anyone have any tips for running a simple game for a young child? Would you recommend a different system?

My daughter has already stated, many times, that she wants her first character to be a unicorn riding princess.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm going through this myself. I've found OSR games, at least on the kid's side of the table (since they're all largely compatible with all D20 and other D&D retroclones), makes life a lot easier. I've used Beyond the Wall previously and will likely use Basic Fantasy Roleplaying for another group that includes kids soon.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I have a 7yo and 5yo girl that both like to watch and roll dice for me when I have my fortnightly gaming sessions.

I bought Hero Kids and have run 3 sessions for them so far. They both loved the game.

It's super simple to play. I was able to read through the rules in less than 30 minutes The main mechanic uses opposed rolls, so you are comparing 2 numbers. Sometimes you get to roll 2 or more dice for something but, in those cases, you still only take the highest roll, so there's not a lot of math for little kids to worry about. Miss 5 had no trouble figuring out which roll was higher.

The characters are all children, so it's easy for them to relate to their characters. The rules even come with little line art paper minis of their characters and the baddies. My girls had a great time colouring in their characters and the baddies they fought against.

The rules are only $5.99 on DriveThruRPG and come with a starting adventure. For that price you really can't go wrong.

 

[UselessTriviaMan]

I introduced my (then) 5-year-old son to Fuzzy Heroes and he loved it. It's a very simple tabletop wargame where the combatants/miniatures are your kids' stuffed animal toys. The rules are simple enough for a child to understand, and the most math they have to do is adding up the pips on their six-siders.

I created a simple, colorful character sheet for each of my son's stuffed animal warriors; their abilities, attacks and defenses totally depend upon their size, color and appearance. It's surprisingly fun.

 

[dougmander]

Sounds like you need something a bit more freeform than a class-based game if your daughter wants to be a unicorn-riding princess. I would suggest RISUS, because she can just tell you the character she wants to be and you can stat it up for her. The math is pretty easy too.

Regarding easy math for young players, you might find this post from my blog interesting. When my daughter was 5 I looked around for games that would emulate the sort of play she wanted and I decided to make one. Dungeonteller is still our house rules and is scaling very nicely as the kid and her friends grow older.

 

[GrahamWills]

I ran the Big Eyes Small Mouth system for my five-year old daughter; she played a girl who could turn into a kitten with amazing powers of cuteness. Her 8 year old brother, playing the bat-creature, would then assassinate them while in their fascinated state. I was never entirely sure if this was "good playing with your sibling" ....

Anyway, the dice system was simple, you had 3 stats, and I only introduced skills later. Focus on the fun world, be descriptive, have fun, and always say "Yes, But..."

Here's some old material on the game, in case it sparks something for you:

http://willsfamily.org/games/uresia/index.html

Have fun!

 

[TarionzCousin]

Stinky Cheese Man!

My daughter has already stated, many times, that she wants her first character to be a unicorn riding princess.

As implied by nearly everyone, it is much easier for kids to play games that are expressly geared toward them. I recommend making a game for your daughter wherein she can play a unicorn riding princess!

If she still wants to game in your 3.5E game, you might have her play a familiar or a pet. I've done that with kids in adult games and it has worked out well.

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Koloth]

3.5 already has the class you need, with a couple of minor tweaks. Have her run a Paladin with a special mount of a unicorn. Just rename Paladin to Princess. Problem solved. Most of the math in D&D is simple addition or subtraction of small numbers. Good excuse to roll a bit of education into game time.

 

[GMMichael]

5 years old is pretty young for RPGs. Your best bet is a board game that has a fantasy look to it, even though many of those are just as complex as full-blown RPGs.

Now since you need a game and I need a playtester, you could try the game I just posted to ENworld's downloads section, Modos RPG. Some of the features that might work well for young'ns:

- It's free-form, so character design can start at "unicorn-riding princess" and then you can [-]fit the facts around the policy[/-] customize each character element to that.

- You don't do more damage by using tricks times snaps plus modifiers. You just roll a larger die, and what you roll is what you get.

- Character health numbers stay in the teens to twenties.

- PCs can act at any time in combat. So interrupts and instants are welcome. The stumbling block, for a 5 year old anyway, is that you are generally limited to 3 actions per round.

It's not designed for kids, but it's pretty lightweight - and the price is right. Let me know if you give it a go.

 

[GrahamWills]

My daughter, almost 5, has expressed an interest in playing "That game that mommy and daddy play".

Based on personal experience, it is important to call the game you play a simple, recognizable name so that, when your child is in church and is asked if she was going to do something that evening with her family, she does not reply "no, because my parents won't let me in the room when their friends come over to play adult games"