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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 5637764" data-attributes="member: 3448">Player base matters.  I run one-on-one D&D games for my son, who's just shy of 5 years old, pretty frequently.  They're railroady, somewhat nonsensical, with lots of off the cuff improvisation, and a high degree of willingness to listen to what he wants and make adjustments at any moment.  I also run games for groups of friends roughly my age--30 something, more or less.  In those games, I aim for a consistent, sensible world, where situations make sense and players can figure out what's going on or how to pursue their goals, and where they face tough choices.  In those games, I'm not very inclined to cheapen the players' experience by handing them what they want on a silver platter.I don't run those two game styles the same way, because what is good for a young child would be boring and frustrating for adults, and what's good for the adults would be boring and frustrating for a young child, although in very different ways.  My son would be lost in my normal games, unable to figure out what's going on and unable to solve any of the puzzles or mysteries.  My adult friends would find games I run for my son unchallenging, simplistic, and devoid of interesting choices.  But they're each good for the groups that I run them for, although they're not necessarily the only good options for those groups.In other words:  you might find that what works best for these kids' games isn't what works best in other contexts.All that said... if you tried running a game like this and had a great time, producing a great and satisfying game... it might be worth trying that some more.  There are different benefits to a by the book game versus a wing it based on the mood and the needs of the game.  But it's worth considering that the style that you intellectually think is the "best" one may not be the best one for your purposes.Part of what I would also consider is whether the prior B1 game was aberrational.  When you DM normally, not for the kids, in your traditional style... how do the games go in general?  Is frustration and annoyance common?  Or do you normally run awesome, super-fun games, although once in a blue moon a session falls flat?  If most of the time your games run well, then it probably makes sense to keep running most of your games in your general style.  But if frustrating, not very successful sessions are common, then maybe you should experiment with more sessions like this one, and see how your adult players react.</blockquote>

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