Introducing 10 year olds to D&D

[Deuce Traveler]

Heh. Vin Diesel's character died in his first adventure, but he was still hooked. Whatever you do, focus on creating a sense of wonder and give them at least a small sense of accomplishment. Maybe give them some small objectives. They won't make all the objectives, but making some will encourage them to come back.

However, the sense of exploration and wonder is more important, in my mind, than the objectives. In Search of the Unknown is a perfect module for them in this regards, so great pick! My brother, my little sister and her boyfriend fell into the pit trap leading to the deep pool of water. My sister took out her knife and cut away her armor to avoid drowning. My brother, the wizard, was able to swim to shore with the thief, the boyfriend of my sister. A giant crab came out of the water just as their lantern sunk below the water and was extinguished. I told the thief I would give him one shot to fire blindly in the dark with his crossbow before the giant crab would enter melee with him. He scored a critical and killed it. The entire party of three survived the dungeon and made it their base. Great times!

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

I ran my apprentices through B1/B2 last year and they had a good time with much carnage on both sides. The pool room was pretty fun but I put the ochre jelly in an empty pool and it took out 2 PCs and a hireling before they could flee so I would say watch where you put that particular beastie. Even at 2nd level it was a bit too much.

 

[Bullgrit]

Here are the monsters I'm using:

Goblins (minis are mongrel men)
Dire Lizard (stats = giant rat)
Orcs
Hobgoblins
Skeletons
Fire Snake (2HD, spits 1d6 fire, bite for 1d6, poison will incapacitate for a while)
Giant Spider (poison won't kill, maybe just paralyze)
Imps (stats = goblin w/ wings)
Lizardman Champion (3HD lizardman based on an ancient metal mini I've had for 30 years)
Ogre

The mongrel men and the ogre use clubs as weapons, so I can say any PC reduced to 0 hit points is knocked out -- goblins and ogres like their food alive.

I have a winged cat mini that I want to use, maybe as the cat in the jar in the wizard's workroom, if they find that secret room. I also have a ghostly figure that I may use as a surprise healer/resurrecter if the adventure turns really bad. And I want to include at least one elf, or dwarf, or halfling as an NPC to be found and rescued.

I'm thinking about including an evil magic-user leading a group of goblins so that I can use magic on the boys -- save versus spells to not be charmed. But I don't want to start a fight that might go too hard on the first-time adventurers.

I'm going to drop in magic items pretty liberally: potions, scrolls, at least one magic weapon, armor, shield, and ring.

I'll drop in plenty of treasure: some coins, but more jewelry and gems so that I don't have to tell a gp value and can fudge the xp awards. In a perfect scenario for this game day, I'd like them to level up and maybe have a last hour of play as 2nd level guys.

Although all combat will be rolled out in the open, fairly, I'm going to fudge a lot of the behind the screen stuff. If they think to search for things, I want them to find secret doors, lost treasure, and such. If they think to listen to doors, I'll let them hear the orcs on the other side (that might not have been there otherwise).

Fudging anything is completely against my standard style as a DM -- I literally never fudge behind the screen. So I have no practice at playing it all by ear. I hope I can pull it off without it being obvious. I'm only doing it this time because I'm introducing complete novices and I'm trying to include many adventures-worth of experiences into just one 4-hour game.

If you are familiar with In Search of the Unknown, please give me ideas for ... anything. I've run it about half a dozen times over the decades, but more brains thinking up ideas before playing wouldn't hurt.

Bullgrit

 

[MoxieFu]

Make sure to describe all the gore and violence in graphic detail. Most ten year olds are playing 15+ rated video games these days so you have a high level of graphic violence to compete with their interest.

When I was running my nephew in his first game (Keep on the Borderlands) he rolled maximum damage knocking a goblin well under 0 hp. I described how he pinned the goblin against the cavern wall with his crossbow bolt and his eyes lit up like I couldn't believe. He loved it!

 

[Bullgrit]

Make sure to describe all the gore and violence in graphic detail. Most ten year olds are playing 15+ rated video games these days so you have a high level of graphic violence to compete with their interest.

I thought this was a joke, so I responded with a joke, (re: The Faces of Death).

But for a serious response: Some ten year olds may be playing video games for 15+, but I would not say "most" are. My ten year old is not.

Bullgrit

 

[MoxieFu]

I think in my case it was just the verbal description of "pinned against the cavern wall" that fired his imagination. I didn't go into gory detail and just let his mind fill in the rest. It wasn't a visual depiction or a special effect. I think he wasn't used to using his brain like that and he got excited about it.

Hitchcock had it right about the power of suggestion.

 

[Bullgrit]

I think in my case it was just the verbal description of "pinned against the cavern wall" that fired his imagination. I didn't go into gory detail and just let his mind fill in the rest. It wasn't a visual depiction or a special effect. I think he wasn't used to using his brain like that and he got excited about it.

Pinning a goblin to the wall with a crossbow bolt isn't too graphic, and I might would say something like that. Blood and gore, though, is unnecessary, especially for 10 year olds. Battles can be described sufficiently without blood and gore.

Bullgrit

 

[Kzach]

I was only half serious with my comment. It stemmed from the fact that one of my housemates has his ten year old boy over all the time and they play Play Station games together a lot. Stuff like Red Dead Redemption. Apparently all his friends play these games as well, hence the 'most' comment.

*shrug* I don't have kids. And if I did, I wouldn't acknowledge their existence until they were at least able to hold a civil conversation. And even then, I'd probably hate them.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

Edit: I just bought d20s and d8s for each of the boys to use, and to keep and take after the game.

This, plus choosing characters by selecting a mini and letting them keep the mini, works great for me in the birthday parties and afterschool D&D class I do for Adventuring Parties - heck, it even worked for the bachelor party we did.

Here are some posts I've done about techniques for DMing kids this age:

birthday party setup

introducing new kids and why I do it that way

using what the kids say to provide meaning and set up improvised puzzles

And this tag has most of these posts plus ones by my co-teacher James and some from other blogs.

 

[tanalos]

New Blood to the Gaming Community

I think what you're doing is great especially at that age!
I also totally support the idea of adults getting involved with what their kids do. These kids can learn teamwork, accountability for their actions, have fun and so much more.

My fondest memories included discovery through problem solving or just figuring out the mechanics of the dungeon. (even if this is basic problem solving here)
- The boys may enjoy figuring out a riddle or preventing a cunning trap from hurting the party

- The use of multiple dice I always enjoyed, standard boardgames dont bring in all the funny cool looking ones that you'll introduce to them

- Stoke the fires of imagination with some decent flavor text on the dungeon (which you've done more than once it sounds) and pull out those randomized cards for lulls in activity.

- Learning about character death isnt a bad thing and I agree a positive spin may cause them to rethink their actions next time as opposed to them not caring about a PC. (good job with the caravan for other PCs)

- Be sure to offer chances for them to protect each other (your buddy is knocked down but you still have a chance to save him) offering a teamwork solution as opposed to the 1st person shooter free for all where they all go out and do battle with each of the mobs out there.
If they separate from one another in the party guide them to play together.

Sounds like you have all the bases covered and it'll be a wonderful experience. After this first one please post your results!

Tanalos