Is old school a good way to introduce younger players to D&D?

[Jan van Leyden]

My own experience - introducing my 9 and 11 years old along with some like-aged friends with them - with BECMI as an introductory system is positive, also with a disadvantage that comes up more and more often now.

The players came to grip with the system very easily, just because so little of the rules are fixed, so much is left to improvisation. What they don't like is the high mortality rate. It was cool to have a character die in game and roll up a new one for the first few times, but with time they got more and more annoyed by this.

I also noted that the players have a very character-focused view of the game. showing not much interest in the story. It feels very much like the classic set-up: have the PCs meet a patron, talk to him a bit and then it's off to the dungeon, where there patron and task play next to no role.

For the core group of four players I intend to switch to another system where skills offer a direct solution to more in-game problems.

One observation made in previous posts is very true: plan the game to either last just a short amount of time or schedule regular breaks for the children to get out of the house and blow off some steam.

 

[Shades of Green]

Around the age of 8 or so, I think that Sowrds and Wizardry: Whitebox or BFRPG could be great. Both are simple, easy to learn, VERY easy to DM, and have very few rules so a LOT is left for his imagination.

 

[grodog]

FWIW, I started my nearly-7year-old son Ethan with Dungeon! and an Endless Quest Book when he was ~5 years old, probably also about the time that he started painting minis. We started playing AD&D when he was 6 1/2 back in the summer, and he's enjoyed it (as did his little brother Henry, who will be 3 next month---Henry mostly rolled the natural 20s that made his dart-throwing MU the most effective fighter in the party, some rounds ). I didn't start him with Moldvay or Holmes Basic because I felt that Dungeon! already provided a simplified version of the game.

 

[Bluenose]

It sounds like I should get and learn BECMI for future gaming with my son.

The "roll the dice and Dad makes up the results" method does sound like the beginning of what I'll do with him...and it sounds like something I could do now.

I am not sure that's the best approach. And that's as a huge fan of BECMI. It's better than AD&D, but there are a lot of inconsistencies in the rules for how you do things. Attack rolls, D20 and roll high; thieves' skills, D100 and roll low; other skills, D20 and roll low. Some of the retro-clones have a more consistent approach.

I do think rules light is the way to go, mind you. I'm less convinced that any version of D&D is really rules light. BECMI might be the best version of D&D but I wouldn't say it was the best RPG in that respect.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Something rules light that you are comfortable with. Doesn't much matter what. Old School is not the same as rules light, no matter what some believers in the "Old School Rennaisance" think. (That's not that there weren't a few rules light old school games like Tunnels and Trolls - but there were also games like Chivalry and Sorcery which really weren't, and I believe T&T was the exception rather than the rule.) Avoid AD&D (including OSRIC) and 3.X (including Pathfinder) - but BECMI/Rules Compendium should be OK. Or something like Spirit of the Century, Dresden Files, or Mouse Guard. Dread if your kids like horror.

If you were a 4th edition DM, I'd recommend that with classes initially restricted to the Slayer, the Knight, the Thief, and the Sentinel Druid.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

Since my original post is no longer relevant, I'll say that I think B/X would be perfect for this.

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

I confess, I don't know much about old school D&D.

Do you guys think it would be a good way (perhaps less complicated, fewer rules) to introduce younger players to D&D? My son is 5 now (so too early), but I very much want to play with him when he's older.

True, age 5 is a bit early, but it ain't THAT early. My daughter and I played an incredibly enjoyable D&D Expert (1981 rules) campaign when she was 7. I think when we retired the game we had played weekly sessions for about three months and her Dwarf Fighter was fifth level. Naturally, everyone in the party had magic weapons. Actually, we (my daughter and I, who is eight now) talked about starting a new campaign the other day. I may use Castles & Crusades or dust off the AD&D books for this one.

 

[MichaelSomething]

If you were a 4th edition DM, I'd recommend that with classes initially restricted to the Slayer, the Knight, the Thief, and the Sentinel Druid.

Or a archer Ranger from the old PHB. You only need to know Duel Strike to be optimal!

 

[JoeBlank]

The good thing about "old school" for younger players is the idea that the players do not need to know or understand all the rules. In traditional old school play, the players declare what they would like to do, and the referee/DM applies the rules to their actions.

My sons are now ages 12, 10 and 8. They have been playing for several years, inspired by Gary's advice in my .sig. They have played at least one-shots of 3.0, 3.5, 4e, Castles & Crusades, BASH, ICONS, and the D&D minis game. They have also played a few sessions in my gaming group's regular OD&D game. Now, I am running a campaign for my sons using Basic Fantasy RPG. Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game

Having read virtually every retro-clone, and old-school-inspired RPG, and all of the actual older editions of the game, and having played many of them myself, I settled on BFRPG for gaming with my sons because to me it is the perfect blend of old school style gaming with inspirations from d20 innovations such as ascending AC. It is also easy to convert modules and other gaming supplements to BFRPG. Our current campaign uses Lost City of Barakus, which I mostly convert on the fly.

I recommend you give BFRPG a look.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'm going against the complete grain here and say the old Marvel Super Heroes that used the FASERIP system.

Just change the foes and setting and it works well for a 'Conan' style game and has enough complexity that if you want to add things like a sorcerer supreme you can.

The older editions of D&D have so many things that work against each other in terms of how ability scores work, how each class has its own advancement, how some of the older editions have classes as races, etc... that if you're going to go for that level of complexity, the FASERIP system uses a simple % system.