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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bullgrit" data-source="post: 5628784" data-attributes="member: 31216">This Saturday is <a href="http://www.totalbullgrit.com/2011/06/16/organizing-a-dd-game-for-boys/" target="_blank">game day</a> for introducing my 10 year old son and his friends, (and a couple of dads), to classic Basic, (Moldvay), Dungeons & Dragons. The adventurers will be delving into <a href="http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/modscans/b1.html" target="_blank">In Search of the Unknown</a> (ISotU).Here’s my plan:5 boys, 2 dads, (plus me as DM) – So that we can get right into the heart of D&D, (the dungeon delving), I’m going to skip character generation and just hand everyone a basic character. The boys will get 1st-level human fighters, (with max hit points), all identical except for what they carry in their backpacks. The dads will get a 3rd-level magic-user and a 3rd-level cleric.The premise for this adventure is that the magic-user and cleric are looking for a magical stone hidden in Quasqueton. The fighters are their henchmen/bodyguards. (I’m going to instruct the dads to let the boys do most of the decision making and exploring – it’s really *their* game day.) The group has brought a small wagon train with them, which will remain camped outside the dungeon. This wagon train will be a source for replacement PCs should someone die, and a place to store/trade loot recovered from the dungeon.We’ll be using a battlemat and miniature figures, because I like using them, and I have a ton. I have accurately representative minis for each of the PCs and the monsters I plan to use.Now, ISotU is left to the DM to populate with monsters and treasure, but I’m going to use this differently for this game than I ever have before. I’m not actually going to place monsters and treasure before the game. I’m writing the monsters and treasure on index cards that I will place as I see fit during the game. As the dungeon exploration goes, I’ll throw in things when I think they’re needed. A small battle when things are lulling, a big battle when a climax seems appropriate, a wandering monster when the boys are getting loud, some hidden treasure when they show curiosity and search around, etc. These boys have absolutely no experience with D&D, and have never read the rule book, so they won’t have hints about searching for secret doors, or listening, or pit traps, etc. I know one of the dads has some experience, and I suspect the other dad may, also. So they may give hints to the boys during play, I don’t know.I’m giving the cleric a staff of healing to help keep things from getting bogged down with having to rest for a day, (or four), to recover lost hit points. This is also why I’m having the wagon train outside the dungeon so we don’t have to break for a trip back to town to replace a fallen PC. I’m also giving the magic-user a crystal ball so I can sort of guide them a little – the dad can have his PC gaze into the ball and I can give a hint for a good direction. With the placing monsters and treasure on the fly, I plan to make sure the party encounters a variety of opponents and discover some cool loot, including some magic items. We’ll have four hours of game time, and I’m hoping to squeeze as much quintessential D&D experiences into that period as possible.Anyone have ideas, advice, warnings, anything to give me before this weekend? What are the quintessential D&D experiences that I should try to make sure occur in this game?One question I have: Should I use the basic “all weapons do 1d6 damage” rule, or use the variable weapon damage rule? I’ve always used the variable damage rule, but I think maybe the 1d6 damage rule would make combat a little easier on the boys, (less deadly for them). But I also want them to see all the various dice in use. Thoughts?Bullgrit</blockquote>

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