My daughter doesn't like combat..what's 4e got left?

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

My daughters are interested in gaming but they don't really dig the "let's murder people" aspect of the game. What does 4e have that will interest them? How can I get them interested in this game?

jh

1) The introduction to RPGs in the PHB. It contains a lot of good advice that might be great for newbies. And sometimes even for experienced players to remind them of a few things.
2) The introduction to DMing in the DMG. It contains a lot of good advice that might be great for newbies. And sometimes even for experienced DMs to remind them of a few things.

Of course, 4E is not the only game with such advice.

3) Skills & Skill Challenges. It doesn't matter that the DMG implementation has it flaws here. The mere framework is a very good way to structure any type of non-combat encounters or even entire adventure sessions. (The podcast with Mike Mearls was also interesting on that topic)
It is not something you need the 4E rules for, either. You can use (sometimes with caveats, sometimes without any effort) it in other game systems that include a skill system.

 

[Rel]

Look into Risus as a game with simple mechanics that can focus on stuff besides combat.

 

[Cadfan]

Consider a different game.

If you don't want combat, you don't want D&D. You might want some small selection of the overall rules of D&D, but D&D itself isn't for you. Its like saying that you want to play Vampire the Masquerade, but without angst. It can be done, but you'd be ignoring a large part of the game's architecture.

Consider Fairy Tale. How old is your daughter? Would it be more appropriate?

 

[LostSoul]

I would run The Shadow of Yesterday.

You could run D&D and not use the combat mechanics at all, just Skill Challenges. It takes a different mindset to get Skill Challenges to work right - since the DM doesn't get to roll - but I think it could work.

 

[Novem5er]

Two suggestions:

1) Make 4e a little more like "younger" video games. Almost all video games have some kind of combat system to them, even Hello Kitty. However, instead of killing living creatures with sharp blades, these games usually focus on bashing life-less robots. Take an example from Zelda. Most of the monsters in Zelda are magical creations the just "appear" due to dark and mysterious forces, and when they are killed, they just disappear in a puff of purple smoke. Plenty of combat, no blood, and the enemies are not real, living creatures.

2) Make the game a little more like Harry Potter. Make the characters all young Wizards and give them powers (spells) that are more problem-solving based. This would take some re-working of the D&D system, mainly the powers, but a little bit of work could go a long way. What if "Leviosa" (levitate) was a per Encounter spell? If you or your kids are already Harry Potter fans, it should be easy to go through the books and pick out spells that you could exchange for D&D powers. Everything else could be rituals (remember Polyjuice?). Harry and his friends rarely killed anything, but rather used their Utility spells to get past foes, incapacitate them, or to avoid them all together.

 

[Emirikol]

The real question is "What do they want from gaming?"

That's a little bit like asking "how would you like your derivatives" before you've even learned calculus

jh

 

[Cadfan]

Nonsense. What sort of stories interest them?

 

[Wolfwood2]

That's a little bit like asking "how would you like your derivatives" before you've even learned calculus.

In that case, I'd suggest starting them with a game that reflects television shows or movies they may have watched. It will allow you to refer them to "just like in X", when trying to describe something in game.

The core Storytelling system from White Wolf is pretty good for mundane modern day games (like cop shows and stuff), and the book is relatively cheap.

Mongoose's new version of the Traveller system can be fun if they're sci-fi fans, but keeping track of resources can require a lot of fiddley bookkeeping.

If you feel confident in your abilities as a GM, you could try Nobilis.

 

[Timeboxer]

My daughters are interested in gaming but they don't really dig the "let's murder people" aspect of the game. What does 4e have that will interest them? How can I get them interested in this game?

I dunno, depends on whether they dislike the combat or the killing people. I've been playing in a very successful and long-running City Watch game in which (ostensibly, anyway) our goal is actually to apprehend people alive.

 

[CaptainChaos]

You might want to start with Once Upon a Time, a storytelling card game from Atlas Games. It's a fun game and might be a good way to ease them into RPGs.