Got Kids? Check Out Monster Slayers!

While Monte Cook Games blazes a trail with roleplaying games for kids (see No Thank You, Evil!), WotC is not trailing far behind. Monster Slayers: Champions of the Elements is billed as "D&D For Kids". "Maybe you’re a parent who wants to share the fun of Dungeons & Dragons with your kids, but worried the rules are too complicated or their attention spans are too short. Are you a teacher or librarian who would like to introduce your students to the game, but you’re reluctant to take on the regular time commitment of a full-blown campaign?" It's a free 22-page PDF is designed as a one-shot package to introduce kids to D&D.

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You'll find it here.

Everyone remembers the time they first discovered D&D. It probably made a lasting impression on you, right? I mean, you’re here, reading this article. Wouldn’t it be nice to share that experience with the young person in your life?

Maybe you’re a parent who wants to share the fun of Dungeons & Dragons with your kids, but worried the rules are too complicated or their attention spans are too short. Are you a teacher or librarian who would like to introduce your students to the game, but you’re reluctant to take on the regular time commitment of a full-blown campaign?

There are a great many reasons to share D&D with kids. Besides being just the kind of imaginative play that kids naturally engage in, Dungeons & Dragons develops an array of essential educational skills, including:

Math skills
Reading skills
Writing skills
Cooperation and leadership
Problem-solving
Creative thinking

Over the years, we’ve heard from many of you out there that you want to unlock these benefits for your kids, but you feel that they’re not ready for the basic game or you just don’t have the time to run your own campaign.

Following in the footsteps of the highly acclaimed Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod, by Susan J. Morris, Monster Slayers: The Champions of the Elements captures the flavor of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game in one fast-paced, action-packed package for kids who want to learn the fundamentals of the game. It’s also a fun diversion for experienced players who need their D&D fix, but don’t have the time for a full-length game.

The Champions of the Elements requires no previous knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons, and all you need to play is included in this adventure, aside from a few dice, pencils, and some future roleplayers to play it with. Just think, three decades from now they could be reminiscing about their cool aunt, cousin, older brother, parent who introduced them to the hobby that has helped shape the person they have become. (No pressure.).

 

[halfling rogue]

These are pretty cool, and I like that they are looking to help kids learn D&D, but to be honest, at least with 5e, having kids play the normal game isn't very hard. That's not to discredit Monster Slayers. I think it would be a great game in various settings.

But I'm running a campaign right now with my kids who are 5-10. And when we began the youngest was 4. I wanted to see if they could play the game as is, and you know what? It's gone off nearly without a hitch.

I sat them down and asked certain questions in order to help them create a character, and then I did all the hard work for them. That could easily be avoided with a pregen, but in this way they really did create a character that they wanted to play.

Beyond that, I've only had to adjust the tone and story to their level which really doesn't change any mechanics in the game. It's more of a change in DM style than anything. These games require a grid and tokens, and while that has a great appeal, kids have a better imagination than adults and I think most would be just fine playing Theater of the Mind. My kids love both, but just the other day my 8yr old son (who LOVES minis) just told me that he has more fun playing D&D without minis because it's easier and he likes to imagine it happening. He'd rather play with the minis outside of an actual game just as toys.

So I'd say use this if it appeals to you or if the situation calls for it. But if you're just wanting to introduce kids to the game, I say just jumping in is the best way. Use the Basic Rules and go from there.

 

[TroyBentonGames]

We have many young ones around the office that play Basic and 5e as well. They seem to do just fine.

However, huge congrats to Monte Cook Games and NoThankYouEvil and whoever at Wizards that decided to green-light this project. More games created with a eye towards children will do nothing but give us better perspective about the gamers around us, both little and not so little. Anything that pushes the envelope and allows us to learn more than we did before hand is fantastic.